NATCHEZ — On Thursday the Natchez-Adams School Board hosted a public forum to discuss the school’s upcoming budget.

Two people, aside from school district employees and board members, attended the meeting.

Armando Ricci had a simple reason for attending the meeting.

“I want to see where my money’s going,” he said.

Barry Hopper accompanied Ricci to the meeting.

Hopper said he was not happy to see such a low turnout for the meeting.

“This is really important stuff,” he said of local public education. “There should be a lot more people here.”

The next step for the school year’s upcoming budget is to be approved at the Natchez-Adams School Board meeting on July 10.

The district’s business manager Margaret Parson said there is no reason to believe the budget will not be approved.

“It went well,” she said of the board’s discussion of the budget.

Parson said the district is scheduled to be operating with a budget of approximately $40 million for the upcoming school year.

And while $40 million sounds like a great sum, Parson said the district is projected to see a deficit.

Parson had previously said the school board would need approximately $23,000 in additional funding from Adams County.

That funding will not impact tax rates in the county, she said.

The deficit will come from a projected earning of approximately $39 million and spending of nearly $41 million.

Parson said the difference will come from the district’s own funding.

While no program cuts are currently scheduled, Parson said the district always examines programs to determine what could be saved.

Parson also said state funding to the district has decreased.

And lower funding rates combined with higher fuel, food and utility costs make for a tight budget.

“We have to pay for more with less,” Parson said.

After approval from the school board the budget must be presented to the Adams County Board of Supervisors by Aug. 15.

The supervisors are not required to vote on the school’s budget but are legally bound to comply with the district’s funding requests provided they do not alter the school’s millage allocation.

Parson said the funding request will not impact the millage.