NATCHEZ, Miss. – The Adams County Board of Supervisors has been presented a preliminary budget with expenses exceeding the $38 million in revenues projected for the fiscal year that starts in October.
As supervisors met Monday with budget advisor Chuck Lambert, no determinations were made about a tax increase or spending cuts, but “it’s going to be tough,” said county board President Warren Gaines. “Everybody knows it’s going to be a hard budget year.”
Among the difficult budget questions pressing Gaines and the four other county supervisors:
– Are they going to increase taxes on county residents to pay for garbage collection or other needs?
Lambert said “expenses went up drastically” to a projected $2.6 million annually for the county’s curbside trash pickup service after the board contracted United Infrastructure Services early this year. He’s recommended the board increase the $15-a-month fee charged to 6,000 Adams County households outside Natchez to have their trash picked up twice a week. An alternative, he said, is to increase their property taxes.
– Are they going to fully close the Adams County jail and continue paying Concordia Parish to imprison Adams County inmates moved out of the largely uninhabitable Natchez jail?
The 48-year-old building has been deemed unsustainable because of its poor conditions and design. Most of its criminal occupants have been taken to the Concordia Parish Correctional Facility about 15 miles away.
A new Adams County jail would cost millions to build and take a couple of years. Supervisors have no plans in the offing to actually pursue this after years of being told the jail is substandard.
– Are supervisors going to give pay raises to the government employees the county struggles to hire and retain because of low pay?
Supervisor Ricky Gray said Monday he’d support increasing taxes to give the 200 or so county employees higher wages. The board has acknowledged for several years their workers are underpaid. Supervisors strongly considered across-the-board pay raises in 2021 but couldn’t afford them.
– Will they and Natchez officials continue to jointly fund and operate the E911 emergency calling system for city and county residents in need of police, fire and ambulance responders?
Natchez-Adams County E911 dispatchers and equipment are housed in the deteriorating jail building, but the county board has bought a building off Liberty Road for relocating the E911 operations center. However, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and city aldermen have not said they’ll go along and continue the consolidated city-county service.
Lambert noted the proposed budget for Adams County reflects about $38.5 million in total revenues and $47.3 million in disbursements for the year beginning Oct. 1. However, as Gaines said, “This is preliminary. There is nothing concrete.”
While various county departments requested more money, Lambert said he reduced some amounts for his proposed budget but left it to supervisors to decide what more to cut or increase.
“You need to make sure revenues equal expenses – point blank,” Lambert told them.
Lambert cited two notable budget increases facing supervisors: higher expenses for employees’ health insurance and pensions provided by the county. The projected cost of health insurance, he noted, is about $2.8 million for the coming fiscal year.
Lambert – a former Pike County supervisor and administrator – was hired by Adams County supervisors to help hammer out the budget that’s to be finalized in September.
He’s performing the job that’s been done for years by Adams County’s chief budget officer, but supervisors voted out county administrator Angie King in January, citing her poor job performance. Chancery Clerk Brandi Lewis has been working as interim county administrator along with her other duties. (King lost her bid to unseat Lewis as chancery clerk in last week’s election.)
In going through the $33 million budget King and supervisors crafted and adopted last year, Lambert – a former state auditor – said various financial records and transactions are confusing “because of the things done. I couldn’t follow the flow of it…I couldn’t figure that out.”
King had been county administrator since October 2020, when she replaced Joe Murray, who retired after 11 years on the job.
The board’s difficult budget decisions to make in the coming weeks come as two supervisors won re-election last week, two others face independent challengers in November and one supervisor will be re-elected without opposition.
Warren Gaines, Wes Middleton and Angela Hutchins retain their board seats. Voters decide in November is Ricky Gray and Kevin Wilson also remain for the four-year term that starts in January.
Correction: Frances J. Ransom, Jr. Independent is running against Kevin Wilson for District 2 Supervisor.
District 2 supervisor Kevin Wilson, Republican Frances J. Ransom Jr., Independent
Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2023/08/07/election-thus-far-over-500-absentee-votes-received/