NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams School District expects to request an additional 4 percent in funding from the Adams County Board of Supervisors for the 2016-17 budget year, which might require a millage increase.

NASD Business and Finance Manager Monica Anderson said it would be up to the county if the millage were to be increased.

Adams County Board of Supervisors President Mike Lazarus said for years the county has made cuts to offset this increase from the district, but it’s getting to the point where the board cannot cut anymore.

“It’s disheartening,” Lazarus said. “We can’t legally deny their request if they are under 5 percent.

“I’m just one vote, but if I could deny it, I would and send them back to the board to find something to cut.”

The 4-percent increase equates to an approximately $514,000 difference in revenue to a base funding of approximately $12.9 million from the county. The school millage rate is at 50.91 and the state cap is 55 mills, but based on preliminary property value figures, Anderson said the current rate could be as low as 48 mills.

Board of Trustees member Thelma Newsome said everyone is talking about cutting taxes, but between considering raises for teachers and building new school buildings Newsome said she would not mind additional taxes, personally.

“We are talking about getting people in this district to work, but we have got to pay them a reasonable salary,” she said. “We can’t keep going backward, we have to continue going forward.”

Newsome said the science department at Natchez High School is deplorable, and trustee Phillip West said the whole school is in sad shape.

“When our kids get to college, they acknowledge, ‘Oh, this physics, this biology we are doing in college, we hadn’t had a lot of that before,’” Newsome said. “We have to put money in the budget. We have to get good teachers and pay them reasonable salaries. We have got to get good administrators.”

Anderson said the board also asked for a 4-percent increase in 2015-16.

West said the board needed to remember to do a good job utilizing these funds the public trusts it with, as the dollars are not just coming from parents.

“I know we have a lot of things we need to do, things we need to get done,” West said. “We have a lot of plans, but we need to be very efficient in protecting the taxpayers dollars as it relates to our public school system.

“We need to make sure we use these monies wisely and invest in such a way it will better our schools.”

The total budget is projected at approximately $30.3 million and expenses at approximately $29.8 million. Interim Superintendent Fred Butcher said the figures might change slightly before the public hearing of the budget, which will be at 10 a.m. July 8.