County passes $24.2 million budget

By Adam Koob (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Wednesday, September 16, 2009

NATCHEZ — With no contest from the public and very little discussion on the budget, the Adams County Board of Supervisors adopted the 2009-2010 budget Tuesday morning.

While the meeting was the second in a series of two public hearings for county residents to discuss the budget with the supervisors, no members of public attended.

For financial year 2009-2010, the county will be operating with a budget of approximately $24.1 million, only a slight variation from the 2008-2009 budget of $24.2 million.

“It’s pretty much the same budget,” Adams County Administrator Cathy Walker said.

Walker said this year’s budget was devoid of any surprises or problems.

“As far as budgets go, it was pretty straightforward. Very cut and dry,” she said.

But county departments did see some significant increases.

County grant matches on various road projects, the special election to be Nov. 3, the hiring of four new Adams County sheriff’s deputies and even the increased cost to feed the county’s inmates added $1.2 million to the county’s expenses for the upcoming year.

While the county would have traditionally had to make budget cuts in other departments to cover the increases, new property on this year’s tax rolls covered the new expenses, Walker said.

New properties paying ad valorem tax this year including the Adams County Correctional Facility, Best Western Hotel and several private residences brought an additional $1.5 million to the county and prevented deep cuts in other departments, Walker said.

“It worked out really well,” she said. “We were fortunate.”

The board also used Tuesday’s meeting to officially set this year’s millage.

The state mandated reassessment forced Adams County Tax Assessor Reynolds Atkins to use a newly adjusted building index, which caused the price of property throughout the county to rise.

That rise translated to a spike in this year’s millage.

For the 2009-2010 budget year one mil will equal approximately $215,000, while the previous year’s mill was just $181,000.

This year’s budget calls for the supervisors to levy 62.22 mills, down from 64.39 in 2008-2009.

This year’s budget goes into affect on Oct. 1.