Dissatisfaction over how Oktibbeha County supervisors decided to divvy the proceeds of an upcoming $14.5 million road bond remains two weeks after their decision as District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard called the split a “cut-throat … and thuggish” act by fellow board members.
Howard continued a verbal assault Monday first launched last month by District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery. He singled out District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer and said the longest-tenured supervisor “stooped to a new low” by joining District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams in supporting a formula that guaranteed their districts would receive more funding than Districts 1 and 3.
“We came to an agreement that if (the road bond) were to pass, we would split it equally. The fact of the matter is it wouldn’t have passed if we didn’t come to that agreement,” Howard said. “What happened … was a below-the-belt, cut-throat move. I’d go as far to say it was thuggish activity, because what happened was a majority of this board got together, ganged up and decided that, regardless of what we agreed upon, we’re going to pull an ambush and we’re going to take what we want.
“If that’s what this board wanted to do, this board should have been man enough and woman enough to say from the beginning that’s what we want to do — that’s how you handle business,” he added. “What you did was without any dignity and integrity, whatsoever.”
On Jan. 23, Miller, Trainer and Williams voted to split the pending proceeds according to the amount of road mileage in each of Oktibbeha County’s five districts.
District 4 (25 percent) and Districts 1 and 5 (22 percent each) contain a majority of Oktibbeha County roadways, while District 1 (19 percent) and District 3 (12 percent) both fall below the 20 percent threshold of overall mileage. Districts 1 (26 percent) and 4 (30 percent), however, constitute more than 50 percent of overall county assessment.
Approximately $4.5 million of the upcoming $14.5 million bond was previously earmarked for Blackjack Road improvements in District 5, meaning supervisors would split the remaining $10 million between the five districts for discretionary projects.
An equal, 20-percent division would have given each district supervisor $2 million, but the road mileage divvy means Montgomery will receive $1.9 million and Howard will receive $1.2 million, while the other two districts will each receive more than $2 million.
Trainer apologizes, others stand firm
Trainer apologized to Howard and asked forgiveness for “any act that was inappropriate or out of order” without admitting any wrongdoing, to which Howard replied, “That’s what the Bible tells us to do.”
Miller and Williams, however, stood firm on their votes to split the money, with Miller saying District 4 has not received its fair share of infrastructure funding with equal divvies in the past.
“I did not feel like with District 4 having the highest tax-assessed value and having the most road miles, it should be split equally,” she said. “Road miles are fair in this situation.”
“It would not have been rational to divide it any other way than it was divided,” Williams added.
Again, Howard said the three supervisors should have led off bond discussions by stating their intentions up front, instead of saving the road mileage argument for after its passage.
Montgomery signaled his intent to push for more funding to match state aid money in the future, saying his district has a much larger percentage of those roads than other districts.
“If (mileage) is the precedent we’ve now set, I don’t feel like the board would have a problem splitting it like that in the future,” he said.
Bond process continues
Butler Snow attorney Sam Keyes, who assists the county with road bonds, said the intent notice for the $14.5 million road bond is still running through its protest period, a timeframe in which 1,500 registered voters could attempt to block an issuance. The timeframe on the protest period should close by the board’s second meeting this month, he said, which is expected to be held Feb. 20.
Supervisors are expected to identify district-specific projects in the meantime and have those out to bid in early spring, before weather conditions improve and workers ramp up their efforts.
Bond issuances, which could come in phases, could begin this spring, he said.
A $14.5 million issuance is likely to require a 2.4-mill tax increase for debt service. That figure could be reduced to 1.4 mills if a previous 1-mill tax hike for maintenance is applied to the bond, but Trainer previously said he would prefer to keep the allocation on as is.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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