It’s budget time in Coahoma County and Ann Hoskins was named County Administrator just in time to dive into the county’s budget of more than $18 million.
Hoskins was named the new County Administrator last week by the Coahoma County Board of Supervisors. Hoskins will continue her duties as Coahoma County Comptroller.
Supervisors are busy pushing their programs and plans for the next fiscal year and Hoskins will be tasked with turning those requests into a working budget.
The county will hold a public hearing on the budget in August and formally adopt the budget in September.
“I am excited about taking on this job,” said Hoskins. “I am a numbers person and have an accounting and bookkeeping background.”
Board President Johnny Newson, in announcing the decision, said Hoskins will formally take over the post on Aug. 1. The motion to name Hoskins the county’s new administrator was made by Dist. 1 Supervisor Paul Pearson and seconded by Dist. 2 Supervisor Pat Davis. The vote was unanimous.
“I think she will make an excellent county administrator,” said Newson. “She’s done a good job for us as comptroller and I think she will do a wonderful job as county administrator.”
As with most county jobs, Hoskins will serve a 90-day probation period.
“Ann has paid her dues, she has worked on the county’s budget before and she knows county numbers,” said Pearson in making his motion. “I think she will bring an accounting aspect to that job that we need.”
Hoskins was with the Mississippi School of Law Library for 15 years before taking on the comptroller’s post for the county. Her duties there were finance and legal research.
Hoskins was named interim County Administrator after previous County Administrator Morgan Wood was terminated in May on a 3-2 vote.
Newson said at that time the change was prompted because the county was “headed in a new direction.” The county administrator serves at the will pleasure of the board.
As the county’s comptroller, Hoskins’ focus is watching monthly expenditures and monitoring budgets of all county departments.
The comptroller is basically the accounting department for the county and is responsible for financial management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, investments, property and liability insurance, budget and budget control, debt retirement, fixed assets inventory, fleet management and the processing of county mail.
State law requires the county to have a County Administrator under its unit system of government.
The primary responsibility of the County Administrator is to assure that the policies adopted by the Board of Supervisors are carried out and that person acts as the liaison between supervisors and the county’s many departments and other elected officials.
The County Administrator prepares the budget, acquires and utilizes education on federal and state assistance for the county and meets regularly with the Board of Supervisors to implement policy and procedure set by the board. The County Administrator’s staff is made up of the Administrative Assistant, Comptroller, Accounting, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Purchasing, Human Resources and Solid Waste. The County Administrator’s office generates the Board of Supervisor’s agenda, a detailed list of the items to be discussed in a Board Meeting.
According to state statute, the person employed as county administrator shall hold at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and shall have knowledgeable experience in any of the following fields: work projection, budget planning, accounting, purchasing, cost control, personnel management and road construction procedures.
The Coahoma County Administrator has a budgeted salary of $90,000. Hoskins will be paid $100,000. She was making $70,000 as comptroller.
The County Administrator is also required to attend a continuing education courses hosted by the State Auditor each year to stay knowledgeable about their duties and responsibilities and be updated on state auditing law.
