NATCHEZ, Miss. — Adams County has sent at least 50 inmates to Concordia Parish’s detention center since December as the county jail in Natchez continues to endure structural problems.
Concordia Parish has billed the county about $37,000 for this, according to Adams County Chancery Clerk Brandi Lewis. She presented a report to the county Board of Supervisors on Monday.
Built in 1975, the Adams County jail is considered substandard with various problems that county supervisors have struggled to fund and fix in recent years as they remain undecided on whether to construct a new facility.
Located on State and Wall streets by the Adams County Courthouse, the facility has the capacity to hold about 100 inmates. Some are being transferred to Concordia Parish to help ease the pressure on the county jail. Most are pre-trial detainees arrested by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Natchez Police Department. Natchez has contracted with Adams County to hold those charged with crimes in the city.
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The Adams County Board of Supervisors is reviewing a proposal to provide tax breaks to property owners who renovate structures and increase their value.
This would be like what Natchez has to encourage property owners to improve structures in the city’s historic district. Enacted in 2021 by the city Board of Aldermen, it lets businesses and homeowners not have to pay higher city property taxes based on the increased value of enhanced structures. The tax exemption is for seven years. The abatement is not applied to what property owners pay the county and the Natchez-Adams School District.
County supervisors said they’ll consider enacting their version of the property tax break after hearing Kevin Walsh recommend it. He told the board he’s spent more than $100,000 to renovate a South Union Street house.
Adams County board attorney Scott Slover noted the county gets most of its revenues from property taxes while Natchez has property and sales tax revenues to fund city government.
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