Oktibbeha County supervisors are looking to borrow up to $10 million for infrastructure projects next fiscal year without raising the property tax millage rate.

In a work session Wednesday, supervisors discussed using the funds toward roads, as well as toward such projects as replacing the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam and building a new county administrative complex.

Lynn Norris, with Madison-based Government Consultants Inc., told supervisors the county could take on $10 million in new bonded debt while leaving its millage rate at 58.49. Five years ago, when the county borrowed $14.5 million to fund its last major infrastructure plan, supervisors approved a 2.4-mill increase to support it.

“The whole purpose of this (new plan) is it’s not going to cost the public any more because you won’t be raising taxes,” Norris said.

Mills are used to calculate property taxes. For example, a person who owns a $100,000 home without a homestead exemption pays $10 in taxes per mill.

It will take 2 mills to cover the $10 million capital improvement bond, but County Administrator Emily Garrard said the county can shift a mill each from general operations and roads/bridges to handle the debt.

“We have (the money),” Garrard said. “We just have it sitting in different places, and we’ve got to shift our plan of how we’ve been operating if we’re actually going to have capital improvements that we want to continue going.”

Supervisors still must vote on final approval for borrowing the funds. They discussed possibly dividing the money among all five districts, but they have not finalized a plan.

District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard suggested wanting to see the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam renovated due to its decades-old structural issues, while District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery wanted to put funds into road repair projects, such as mending Maben Sturgis Road, which Montgomery said residents have continuously requested him to fix.

“Once we have this debt, we will be able to do projects like working on some of our roads in the county,” Montgomery said.

Roberson said while county roads should be a priority, they are a continuing cost for maintenance and upkeep. He told The Dispatch he believes funds should be used to finance the first steps of building a new county complex.

“From my perspective, I think one of the big priorities for us needs to be brick and concrete for administrative buildings…” Roberson said.

While there will be a constant income for projects from this capital improvement fund, Roberson said the mills will still not be enough to cover all of the projects the board wants.

“You don’t have enough peanut butter for the bread,” Roberson said. “Somebody’s not going to get what they think they deserve.”