It all comes down to this: If you want better roads you must be willing to pay for them.
That balance between the desire for low taxes and the desire for better roads has plagued the Simpson County Board of Supervisors for the last several years.
In the board’s effort to hold down taxes, the road system in the county has continued to worsen. The only way for it to improve is to raise taxes enough to impact the problem.
Following literally years of debate the Board of Supervisors has decided that the only way to improve roads is to raise taxes, and this is most likely not a one-time issue.
Their goal, they said at their last meeting, is to set aside $700,000 to start repaving and repairing the existing 600 miles of county roads. Using an estimate of $28,000 per mile, the county would be able to do 25 miles of paving. The board is estimating $20,000 for the actual paving and $8,000 for the preparation of each mile.
The plan is to locate the most critical roads in each district. It sounds a bit like the beat system, but the general consensus is that all roads are equally bad and, truth be told, they are, so this way each district’s constituents would be able to get some work done.
The next question is what the improvements will cost the taxpayer.
According to County Administrator Rhuel Dickinson, if a resident owns and occupies a home valued at $100,000 the annual taxes will increase $35 to $40 a year. This increase represents a 3 1/2 mill increase to fund the $700,000 for paving.
While the county’s annual budget has not been approved, the board did go on the record as voting for and approving the $700,000 initial funding with a motion by Mickey Berry and a second by Randy Moore. All supervisors voted in favor.
Last year, because the budget was so tight, no pay raises were given to county employees. Because of budget constraints last year the board decided this year to give a general 3 percent raise with some exceptions.
Raises considered include the following:
Circuit Clerk’s office
$2,504
Tax Assessor $8,479
County Administration
$7,454
Building and Grounds
$965
Veteran’s Service Office
$318
Chancery Court $925
Circuit Court $223
Youth Court $870
Justice Court $4,588
District Attorney $692
Emergency
Management $1,795
DUI $414
E-911 $5,379
Special Reappraisal
$2,344
Volunteer Fire $244
Road Main $32,021
Bridge and Culvert
$6,567
Solid Waste $12,000
The board also approved an additional 2 percent for employees who reach 10 and 20 years employment.
Another issue surfaced in the Sheriff’s Department. Most of the employees were being paid about the same rate despite their skill set and responsibility. In an effort to compensate those who had extra responsibility the board agreed to adopt some slight variations from the original pay structure. The Sheriff’s Office would see an increase of $35,413. The jail budget would increase $34,500.
The cost of the increase for pay raises to the county is approximately $170,000 for the upcoming year.
Items that made a notable negative impact on the budget included a reduction in fines through Justice Court of $25,000. The decline is attributed to the fact that Mississippi Highway Patrol officers are not writing citations on Highway 49.
There is a decline of $150,000 in budgeted revenues in oil severance because of lack of production.
There is a budgeted increase in legal fees in Circuit Court for court appointed legal representation, which went from $500 to $8,000. The county must also cover court mandated raises which increased salaries and benefits for court personnel this year in the amount of $17,607.
The special master for youth court will see an increase of $7,200 to $28,800 and also health insurance for Russ Sykes in the amount of $5,000.
The budget for elections was reduced by $$22,637 because no equipment purchases are scheduled this year.
Currently 62 vehicles are registered to the Sheriff’s Office. Of that number 45 are in service, 35 Crown Victorias, seven Tahoes and three pickup trucks. The remainder of the fleet is used for parts. The board told the sheriff they wanted to reduce the number of vehicles and go with the purchase of seven to nine later model patrol cars.
Plans are to purchase these vehicles from a state program in Missouri. The vehicles will have 50,000 miles and already be equipped for law enforcement. The goal is to get rid of the existing fleet and replace them with better, lower mileage vehicles.
The sheriff said the average mileage on the Crown Victorias is around 200,000 with some in the 300,000 mile range. The county is expecting to replace the vehicles for about $108,000.
At this point, the budget is preliminary, and there will be a budget hearing prior to the approval and acceptance of the finalized budget. Then a determination will be made as to what the final millage will need to be in order to fund that budget.
