Oktibbeha County property owners are expected to pay a higher tax rate in the upcoming fiscal year after supervisors unanimously approved an additional 1-mill levy for its bridge repair fund Monday.
The increase is expected to bring in an additional $341,000, which could be used to service debt on an infrastructure improvement bond in the coming year.
Monday’s rate hike, coupled with a 1.75-mill pledge to service bond payments associated with a Golden Triangle Development LINK-backed industrial park construction, could increase residents’ property tax rates by almost 3 mills.
Currently, Oktibbeha County pledges 12.38 mills of the county’s overall 52.96-mill operating rate toward road and bridge improvement. Of that total, 7.1 mills specifically service bridge projects.
In all, Oktibbeha County has 146 bridges and about 550 miles of road.
District 2 Supervisor and Board President Orlando Trainer said the county could use flexibility in a future bond intent notice’s language to develop a special fund that services both road and bridge projects with the yearly 1-mill subsidy.
Trainer did not specify how much the county would attempt to acquire through bonds, but the 1.75-mill increase for the industrial park is expected to service $7 million over 20 years.
“Almost $5 million could be easy, but we’ve still got to talk to our financial advisers about the numbers,” he said. “Both roads and bridges are critical. Everyone fusses about the conditions of some of our roads, but go talk to the person on the other side of a bridge when it goes out. (County Engineer Clyde Pritchard) says we get excited about roads and argue about them, but bridges are big ticket items that don’t get a lot of respect. I’ve spent $400,000 before on bridges, and people still want to fuss about gravel roads.”
Trainer called for a 1-mill increase to subsidize a road bond earlier this month after a budget work session. After Monday’s meeting, he said reallocating funds that should be freed by the additional levy and possible bond proceeds could, in turn, be diverted for additional road projects or to service a specific road bond itself in the future.
“The more you have, the more you can get done,” he said. “These are the things I think need to be done in the county. We’re in exciting times, and I want people to be aware of what we have going on. Do the due diligence. Ride around and see how many projects we need to tend to.”
The overall millage increase marks the first time supervisors, outside of minor adjustments, have hiked rates in the last four years, said District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery.
“This will give us a boost, no matter if it just goes into the bridges fund (without servicing a bond). County residents will see an impact,” he said.
The rate increase will not take effect until Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, and must be approved as part of the county’s overall budget.
Public budget hearings will be scheduled in the coming weeks.
Supes OK Stroudwater contract
In other business, the board rubberstamped an agreement with Stroudwater and Associates for an assessment of OCH Regional Medical Center’s finances and future capabilities.
Supervisors approved the contract unanimously after entering into executive session to clear up issues with the group, including a public allegation that the firm shared a Franklin, Tennessee, mailing address with Capella Healthcare, a system that previously attempted to acquire OCH from the county.
Before entering the closed-door session, District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard asked his fellow board members if they were comfortable tasking Stroudwater with the study, even though a primary analyst with the group previously worked for Capella.
Stroudwater’s Douglas Johnson worked as Capella’s vice president of acquisitions and development when the group approached supervisors about a transaction in 2013. Johnson also worked for Quorum Health Services when hospital consultant Frederick Woodrell served as president of Quorum Intensive Resources, a QHR subsidiary.
Phone calls were made to the company, District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams said, and supervisors learned that the two entities no longer share office space.
Stroudwater’s study is expected to take 60-90 days and cost $45,000-$50,000. An upfront payment of $11,250 from the county is expected once the firm initiates the deal.
Oktibbeha County’s contract allows supervisors to terminate the deal at any time.
“It’s not a perfect scenario with the connections, but Stroudwater was clearly the best group that interviewed,” Montgomery said. “We’re going to work with them and OCH representatives, who were present during the interviews and did not raise these concerns, to keep this going in an above-board, transparent way.”
An assessment is the first step mandated by law before a governing body can formally entertain sales or leases of its publicly owned health care facility.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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