OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — Supervisors want to add $2.66 million to the county’s general fund budget for next fiscal year, but they are not planning to increase taxes to pay for it.
Natural growth from the mill value will only cover about $303,035 of those increases. The rest, roughly $2.3 million, supervisors will have to cover with the county’s cash reserves, if other funds do not appear.
During a Tuesday afternoon budget workshop, supervisors discussed changes to a preliminary budget with Golden Triangle Planning and Development District Government Specialist Tony Green and former County Administrator Emily Garrard. GTPDD is assisting the county with its budget process after supervisors terminated County Administrator Delois Farmer in August.
Among the changes were creating 11 new positions — five sheriff’s deputies, a human resources manager, an information technology director, a part-time engineer and expanding the road department by three laborers. The board also wants to include new vehicles and road equipment in the budget.
“Those are needed positions that we’re requesting,” Board President Marvell Howard told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “We’re a growing county and we require more and more services, and that means more and more employees to handle the demand.”
The budget also includes a 3% raise for full-time county employees, Howard told The Dispatch immediately after the Tuesday workshop.
Green told The Dispatch on Wednesday that with those changes and all others included, the general fund’s budget is increasing from $17,503,220 last year to $20,161,162 in the upcoming fiscal year.
While the size of the county budget is increasing, the overall millage rate remained at 124.61 mills in the preliminary budget. Of that figure, 58.62 is Oktibbeha County’s tax request, with 29.59 going to the general fund and the other 29.03 going to specific funds dedicated to county bridges, OCH Regional Medical Center, East Mississippi Community College and more. Shifts between the levies resulted in the general fund levy increasing by 0.43 mills.
The Starkville-Oktibbeha County Consolidated School District is levying 65.99 mills, the preliminary budget said. The mill value — the amount of taxes 1 mill is expected to generate — increased from $467,753 last year to $480,317.
A mill measures taxes on real and personal property. One mill typically generates $10 from homeowners and $15 from businesses per $100,000 of property value.
Using reserves
During Tuesday’s workshop, Garrard broke the news that the projected revenue for the general fund is not going to cover all of the expenses in the proposed budget increase.
“So we’re not bringing in enough money to fund the budget?” Comptroller Deanna Collier asked during the meeting.
“That’s correct,” Garrard answered.
While the board went through the budget and made a few line-by-line cuts during the meeting, discussions around raising the millage rate were short. Instead, supervisors looked to the county’s cash reserves to fund the difference, though the amount the county has saved was not listed on the preliminary budget documents.
Green said he is working on a combined budget for the county, which will include the total amount of cash reserves it has on hand. That budget will be available to the public during the board’s public hearing at 9 a.m. Thursday, he said. But he is confident that the county’s cash reserves can cover the $2.3 million shortfall in the general fund.
Howard told The Dispatch that using cash reserves instead of calling for tax increases is a way for the county to show respect to taxpayers. By being financially responsible and saving money in the past, he said, the county can afford some of the bigger one-time expenditures — like equipment costs — this year.
But Howard hopes the projected growth of the mill over the next few years will help with covering the recurring salary costs in the future.
“We’ll pull from beginning cash to set this budget, but going forward, we will have extra cash and more money coming in because of the growth of the mill, which means this budget will be sustainable without increasing taxes,” Howard said.
The county is also due for a reassessment in 2026 based on new values set by the Mississippi Department of Revenue for appraising building materials. The average home value is expected to increase by 18% when reassessment takes hold, which Howard said could also help to give the county “room to breathe” in FY 2027.
Grants, other funding possibilities
Howard also said it’s possible the county may not spend the whole amount from its cash reserves, since it may not fill all the positions added to the budget this year, and other funding sources could present themselves throughout the year.
Board Attorney Rob Roberson, who also serves as the District 43 representative in the state legislature, offered to try finding grants and other appropriations throughout the year to help cover the additional costs.
Roberson also alluded to another idea during the workshop — asking to reallocate the $1 million he secured from the state legislature in 2023 for the demolition of the Felix Long Memorial Hospital building and the construction of a new courthouse to cover other costs.
“That tear down has just stalled,” Roberson said. “So, at this point, I’d rather y’all be able to use this money for something that’s usable. And that may be something that we can switch over to plug in either for the court system or the sheriff’s department.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
