NATCHEZ — Even as President Henry Watts denounced the legislative act forming the Economic Development Authority as “the worst piece of legislation in local government I have ever heard of,” the Adams County Board of Supervisors voted to appropriate $165,000 to the EDA for the coming fiscal year.

The legislation requires that “the contributions of Adams County and the City of Natchez shall be on a basis of 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively,” and that the supervisors and the Natchez Board of Aldermen meet every August to agree upon funding of the EDA.

That meeting — the first to actually take place since the legislation was passed in 2002 — happened Friday, and following that meeting the Natchez aldermen voted to fund $100,000 for the EDA.

But after that joint communication, an apparent breakdown in communication happened with the supervisors.

After Friday’s meeting, while supervisors S.E. “Spanky” Felter and Thomas “Boo” Campbell left the council chambers out one door, Watts, supervisors Darryl Grennell and Mike Lazarus and Chancery Clerk Tommy O’Beirne went out another one and continued to discuss the meeting unofficially.

Lazarus, Grennell and O’Beirne all maintained Monday that, following the Friday meeting, they had agreed to go along with whatever the city decided, and O’Beirne went back into the council chambers and told Natchez Mayor Jake Middleton about the unofficial consensus.

Watts, however, said when he had O’Beirne go back into the meeting, he only meant to tell the aldermen to let the supervisors know how the vote went.

“I may have said that, but don’t you all know I would never approve funding without the approval of the full board?” Watts said.

Watts said he feels that, since the aldermen have voted, the supervisors have been backed into a required compliance that forces them to fund the EDA in ways they might not want to.

One of the issues on the table was funding the EDA director’s position, which is currently open.

“If we are going to fund the EDA salary and it goes on for the year and we are not paying anybody, that is money that is not going to be spent,” Watts said.

Campbell said he did not think an executive director was even necessary.

“The reality is we have not had a director since January and we have got quite a bit accomplished,” he said. “The EDA board with Woody (Allen) as president has done fairly well.

“If you are accomplishing the purpose without a director, why get one?”

But when it came down to it, Campbell said he believes the EDA will hire a new director in the next year.

“Between now and April they will have someone they want to pay,” he said. “If we are going to have to get a director, we are going to have to turn around and put money in.”

The EDA currently has $280,000 in the bank, and Felter said the EDA can use that money to make up the difference.

Watts said it was his understanding that the EDA was stockpiling the money for future land purchases, a move he disagrees with.

“I do not intend to fund a slush fund,” he said.

When it came down to making the funding decision, the supervisors had to choose between levying a tax and making an appropriation from the county general fund.

The county currently has a 0.91-mil tax levied for the EDA funding, and board attorney Bobby Cox advised them to use it.

“You ought to appropriate the millage because we already charge it,” Cox said.

County Administrator Cathy Walker said the supervisors could adjust the general fund millage by that much and then draw the appropriation from the general fund.

If the millage was specifically designated for the EDA, then all of the funds would have to be given to the EDA.

But an appropriation can be adjusted as time passes, either up or down, Watts said.

“The appropriation means (the EDA) has a full line of credit with the board of supervisors,” Watts said.

After the vote to fund the EDA through an appropriation rather than by millage passed, Watts made a motion to give the funds less a salary for a director, including withholding Social Security and PERS.

Lazarus said he was reluctant to make such a move without speaking with the aldermen.

Grennell said whether or not the funding would include the director’s salary had been discussed at Friday’s meeting but not decided.

“My opinion is we should have agreed on that while we were all in the same room,” Cox said.

Campbell said he did not like the idea of funding a director’s position with no director in place because the money would be going into the EDA general fund rather than to its designated purpose.

Gesturing to a copy of the EDA legislation, Watts grumbled, “That document is screwing this up.”

Walker said, however, that the supervisors can tell the county bookkeeping department how much money to give the EDA each month through the appropriation, and can essentially adjust the funding to not include the director’s pay until a director is in place.

When Lazarus said it is possible for the supervisors to take the appropriation back at a later date, Watts responded, “You know in your heart that’s not going to happen.”

The vote on Watts’ motion was Watts and Felter for and Grennell and Campbell against with Lazarus abstaining from voting, citing concerns about the legality of such a decision.

The motion failed for lack of a majority.