Supervisors approved Oktibbeha County’s $49.14 million budget Friday with no increase in property taxes for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1.
The decrease of more than $2.6 million from the current fiscal year’s $51.78 million budget came largely from an almost $3 million drop in special revenue and agency funds, according to budget documents provided at the meeting. Special revenue funds pay for dedicated projects, while the general fund takes care of typical expenses.
“The money that we had in our special revenue funds are now in infrastructure, an industrial park and a safe room,” County Administrator Emily Garrard said.
The budget was passed unanimously by the three members present. Supervisors John Montgomery and Joe Williams, of districts 1 and 5 respectively, were both absent from Friday’s meeting.
Montgomery told The Dispatch he had a prior commitment on Friday but was involved with the planning of the budget. Assessed property value has grown a great deal since he took office seven years ago, he said.
“We’re doing a lot of the right things here,” he said. “We’re seeing an industrial park begin and we’re seeing retail come here. We’ve done things to be business-friendly here in Oktibbeha County, which has increased our capacity to perform in our budget.”
Williams did not respond to multiple calls from The Dispatch by press time.
Total revenue increased from $108.2 million this year to a projected $109.6 million next year, with property tax revenue increasing from 43.2 percent to a projected 44.3 percent of total revenue. The board of supervisors chose not to increase the property tax millage rate of 123.57 mills, so the growth in property tax revenue comes from growth in the county itself.
District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard applauded the county’s ability to increase funding in several areas without raising taxes.
“It shows that the board is working hard to find ways to offer more services without a tax increase, and I think it’s showing in the growth of the county,” Howard said.
The assessed value of county property grew by more than $17 million, about 4 percent, from last year to this year. Almost $13 million of that is new growth rather than increased value of existing property, $9.45 million is city growth — $50,000 in the towns of Maben and Sturgis — and the remaining $3.53 million is in the rest of the county.
The growth of land value outpaced the growth of personal property value everywhere with the exception of Maben. District 2, which includes the northeast and easternmost portions of the county, was the only district in which personal property is more valuable in the city than in the county while land is more valuable in the county than in the city.
While the county’s overall millage rate did not change, some individual millage rates increased or decreased by less than one mill for a net change of zero. The millage rates for school maintenance and the volunteer fire department increased, and bonds for the industrial park and OCH Regional Medical Center decreased.
District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller considered recusing herself from the vote on the budget because she is the director of the Mississippi Horse Park.
Board attorney Rob Roberson said Miller does not receive a direct benefit from the budget because she is an employee of Mississippi State University, which partners with the city and county to run the horse park. Additionally, Miller was allowed to vote on the budget because the board would lose its quorum if she recused herself, Starkville city attorney Chris Latimer said.
Other business
During Friday’s meeting, the board unanimously passed a motion for the county to become a member of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District. The Tupelo-based state agency does flood control, cleanup and repair projects on waterways of all sizes in 12 northeast Mississippi counties, and Oktibbeha County is set to become the 13th.
“Nobody who works here now can remember the last county coming in (the district),” executive director David Kennard told The Dispatch. “We’re digging up some stuff right now to make sure we cover all the bases on all the requirements of becoming a member.”
Eventually, the board and the governor will each appoint a member representing Oktibbeha County to the water management district board, Kennard said.
Property taxes fund the services, and Oktibbeha County does not need to increase millage rates in order to receive them, Garrard said.
Kennard said at the meeting that he wished he was aware of the water management services when he was still a farmer in the area.
“This is a really well-kept secret in this part of the state and a lot of people don’t know about it,” he said.
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