Departments hit with 3.4-percent cut.
Supervisors have prepared their 2019-20 budget with departments seeing a reduction in funding and taxpayers seeing a tax increase.
Supervisors will present their budget Thursday and adopt it later this month. The proposed budget has a four mill tax increase.
“This is only the second time in over 20 years that I have voted on a tax increase,” said Board President Paul Pearson. “We have been faced with declining revenue and we did what we had to do this year. This was a very tough (budget) year for us.”
The board started with a budget of $9,346,158 requested by other county officials and department heads. Over several work sessions that budget was trimmed by $648,470 to $8,697,688.
Supervisors cut 10.79-percent from their administrative budget and will ask other offices and departments to cut their budgets by 3.4-percent.
“We cut our budget first,” said Dist. 2 Supervisor Pat Davis. “We will now ask them to take what they get from us and manage that as they see fit.”
Two of the biggest cuts came in the Jail and Sheriff’s Department budgets. The jail will see a $168,187 reduction in their budget. The Sheriff will see a $67,400 cut in his budget.
Supervisors are charged with four major duties: setting a yearly budget, hiring non-elected county employees, setting policy for the county and managing county assets.
Sheriff Charles Jones has worked hard to provide services and found a way to cut the amount of medicine provided inmates from over $100,000 last year to $5,000 this year by hiring a medical firm to provide prescriptions.
The county also cut funding to regional economic development agencies Delta Council and North Delta Planning and Development by almost half.
CARES animal shelter saw their budget cut from $30,000 to $20,000. Coahoma Opportunity saw their budget cut from $30,000 to $15,000.
The county is also looking to turn the Coahoma County Youth Outreach over to the Boys and Girls Club. The county funds CCYO at around $450,000 a year. The county funds Boys and Girls Clubs at $40,000 for both Jonestown Elementary School and a similar program at CCYO.
Dist. 3 Supervisor Derrell Washington said the county looked hard at actual services offered and what taxpayers got for their tax dollars.
Washington said he was also disappointed some county agencies did not appear before the board with their budget requests.
“Just because they said they needed a specific amount doesn’t mean can give it,” said Washington. “If it was important for them to receive this funding, they needed to come before us and explain their needs.”
Johnny Newson said declining casino revenue also hit the county hard. It was explained that 25-percent of that revenue is allocated to purchasing county equipment, 25-percent to capital projects, 25-percent to tax reduction and 25-percent goes to the city and schools.
The gaming fund has dropped for several years as other states have offered gambling to their residents.
Supervisors also pointed out rent from the hospital and clinics goes back to replenish the Hospital Reserve fund. The county spent over $5 million from that $30 million fund over the past year to make payroll at the hospital since if filed bankruptcy in mid-2018.
Thursday’s public budget hearing will see the board hear public comment and then vote on the budget. If approved, the budget will go into effect Sept. 30.
