NATCHEZ — The Natchez Adams County Port Commission approved a 2016-17 budget Wednesday that will include an across-the-board raise of 5percent for employees.

The budget will bring salary expenses to approximately $835,000 and benefits to approximately $285,000. The Adams County Board of Supervisors will make the ultimate decision on the budget, which will be presented at Monday’s meeting. Supervisor President Mike Lazarus expressed reservations Wednesday about approving a budget featuring raises.

Commissioner Joe Murray, who is also the County Administrator, abstained from the vote due to the salary increases, while Earl Bacon and Michael Winn voted for it. Vice President Lee Jones did not vote, serving as chair with President Wilbur Johnson absent.

“My only reservation is coming from the county,” Murray said. “I’m trying to wear two hats, but the last time county employees received an across-the-board raise was in 2012.”

Port Director Anthony Hauer said over the last five years, the commission has given port employees some form of a raise. During the last fiscal year, Hauer said the raise was 10 percent. The port has fewer than 20 employees.

The 2016-17 budget features projected revenues of $2,638,500 and projected operating expenses of $2,369,336. The projected earnings are $269,164.

Lazarus said the county was not able to provide other department heads with raises.

“I’m not sure if the board of supervisors will approve or not approve with the raises in there,” Lazarus said. “I’d have to give it some serious thought myself.”

Lazarus said the county is still paying off bonds from projects the port needed to get to the point where it is running a surplus and can give yearly raises.

“We are paying off all of their bills, that’s why I think they should contribute a little more to the county,” Lazarus said. “We have a lot of employees that deserve raises too.”

Without county support, Lazarus said he thinks the port would have folded years ago.

“Now that times are good, it’s time for the port to turn around and pay some of that back to the county,” he said. “Sometimes they act like they are not part of the county sometimes. We should all be one family here.”

The supervisors voted for $4,300 annual raises for each supervisor in September. The board approved raises in a 3-2 vote, with Lazarus and David Carter voting no.

Equal raises to what the supervisors are receiving, which began on Oct. 1, were extended by state statute to the two justice court judges and the prosecuting attorney. The Adams County board attorney’s salary was also increased to match the supervisor’s salary of $44,700.

In other news, the port received a clean 2015 year-end audit with one finding related to timely updated financial information.

Independent auditor Deanne Tanksley said payments were being made, but bank reconciliations were not being done and the transactions were not being reported in the port’s accounting software during the last quarter of 2015 and beginning the 2015-16 fiscal year.

“If that part of the puzzle is not being done, how do you know what you are looking at every month is accurate?” Tanksley of the Gillon Group said.

Hauer said the port has been working on correcting the accounting issues since November of last year. The port brought in a new accountant in January and commissioners were also given additional oversight duties.

Hauer said the issue has been corrected going forward.

Tanksley said the port had no non-compliance violations with state law.

The net position of the port, also known as equity, is approximately $5.5 million. $5 million is invested in capital assets, she said, leaving approximately $455,000 unrestricted.

The cash position of the port was approximately $53,000, Tanksley said.

Hauer said the final draft of the audit would be released at Monday’s supervisor meeting.
-During the month of September, 34 total barges docked at the port, with 24 of them in general cargo and 10 at the liquid loading docks.
The total tonnage for September was 76,494, which was up from 50,747 in September 2015. Revenue generated from September is approximately $253,000.
“We saw the peak of the grain season,” Hauer said. “Of those 24 (general cargo) barges we worked, 19 of them were soy beans.”
The grain numbers in September were approximately 43,000 tons.
The year to date tonnage at the port is approximately 675,000.

-The warehouse revenue generated in September was $55,665.01 and the year to date revenue is $658,916.01.