Coahoma County Supervisors have seen the cost of everything they do go up in price from paperclips and paving materials to gravel and garbage collection.
They’ve bought three trucks to ride around it and park them in front of the houses they say the live in. Two supervisors have gone to every seminar and annual meeting they can, stayed in nice hotels and eaten well and now they over budget on their travel expenses. They’ve hired their buddies, have handed taxpayers a monthly county payroll of more than $600,000 and even hired an ARPA Consultant to spend our money for $200,000 a year!
And with a county budget to be hammered out in just two short months they are also concerned about a decline in gambling revenue, property taxes and in this election year certainly don’t want to raise taxes.
When they come looking for your vote this week, ask them how they are going to fix this situation.
As your Clarksdale Press Register has said before, we urge supervisors to go after those who have unpaid fines from a conviction in county court.
It would solve two problems: It would avoid a tax increase, and it would make those who have a debt to society pay up.
Most of us have probably “run afoul of the law” and been given a citation or hauled into court and justice served with a fine. The good folk in this world, admit their blunder, promise the judge they will be more careful and then pay their fine.
But there are some people in Coahoma County Justice Court who admit their infraction, promise the judge anything and then walk out never intending to pay the court.
That is not right and that is not justice.
What could the county do with an extra $2 million dollars?
They could make needed repairs to county boat ramps and buildings. They might hire a couple of extra deputies to patrol rural areas. And if they looked real hard they could probably find a road or two that needs paving.
Your Clarksdale Press Register urges our supervisors, judges, constables and sheriff to look once again at their list of unpaid fines.
Turning up the heat on those who have unpaid fines will certainly help Coahoma County’s bottom line.
We would like to point out these fines would be collected from people who have already been convicted, sentenced and fined by the court.
We hope smart people will just pay the debt they owe society. We also hope smart county officials will put pressure on those who don’t.
And we hope that revenue will be used to make our county a better place to live.
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