By Christian Coffman

NATCHEZ — Natchez business owners Dana and Kevin Wilson said Wednesday they are confident they will have enough signatures by a Thursday deadline to allow voters to decide whether the Natchez-Adams School Board should raise taxes to borrow $9 million.

Petitions are due to be submitted by 4 p.m. today at the Central Office in the school district’s administration building.

The Wilsons say they, along with other citizens, will be present at today’s regular school board meeting to voice their discontent.

The board meets at 4 p.m. in the Braden Administration board room.

The school board says the $9 million dollars is necessary to build a new high school and complete other construction projects.

If approved, the money will be raised using a limited tax note, which will be paid back from a dedicated ad valorem tax of up to 3 mills, as authorized by the Mississippi Code.

In May, voters defeated the school board’s efforts to raise $35 million in a school bond election for a district-wide building project. Since then the board has sought other ways to borrow the money.

Before the school bond election, the board issued a resolution of intent to borrow money through a lease-purchase agreement. The board originally intended to borrow $10 million before the bond issue was defeated, but is now considering borrowing $25 million dollars.

Mississippi law allows school districts to borrow money through lease-purchase agreements but does not allow for a dedicated ad valorem tax to make payments on that debt. The district must make payments from the district’s available revenue.

The Wilsons  said the district’s efforts to borrow $9 million supersedes voters’ overwhelming rejection of the board’s efforts to build a new high school.

Kevin Wilson said Wednesday afternoon that his business has collected approximately 1,500 signatures so far.

He said 4,500 is the number of signatures needed to force an election on the issue.

He said 40 petitions are circulating among 20 local businesses.

Kevin Wilson said he and his wife will be submitting the petitions to the school board before the meeting.

Kevin Wilson said he has seen much support in the past week since the petitions began circulating.

“Every time word gets out, we get more and more people coming in,” Wilson said.

Kevin Wilson said 300 people walked into his business Ram Rentals to offer their support this week.

“We stayed open late for signatures to keep coming in,” Wilson said.

Dana Wilson said approximately 50 people came in on Wednesday morning alone.

“I would like to say the community is really outraged and are appreciative of the petition,” Dana Wilson said. “They want the school board to understand that they’re very upset and that the board is going against the vote of the people.”

Wilson said that she and her husband will both be at today’s school board meeting.

“It ought to be interesting,” Kevin Wilson said. “We’re going to continue right up until the 11th-hour getting signatures.”

Local businesses, including BB’s Grill, Wilson Supply, Ketco Advertising & Specialties and Black Jack Oil Company, are collecting signatures.