STARKVILLE – Residents will see their utility bills rounded up to the next dollar beginning in July after aldermen approved changes to Starkville Utilities’ Power of Change program.
The board voted 6-1 Tuesday to shift the program to a voluntary opt-out model, with Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins of Ward 6 casting the lone dissenting vote. The program currently requires customers to opt in, rounding their bills up to the nearest dollar to support the Starkville Community Foundation’s utility assistance fund.
Mayor Lynn Spruill voiced support for the change.
“This is one of those things that helps the community,” Spruill said during the board’s regular meeting at City Hall. “It is a small measure. It is a round up opportunity, or if you wish to do more than that you can do more than that. … I think it’s a worthwhile program.”
Aldermen heard a presentation on the proposal during their Friday work session. Starkville Community Foundation Executive Director Stacey Parvin said the fund – supported by donations from utility customers, the foundation and local churches – assists five residents per week who cannot pay their full utility bill. That assistance totals roughly $1,250 per week.
Participation in the current opt-in model has been limited, she said. In the last quarter, 31 Starkville Utilities customers opted in to the program, contributing about $2,300, enough to cover less than two weeks of assistance, with donations from elsewhere covering the difference.
If more utility customers donated through their bills, Parvin said, the program could help more customers.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Ward 2 Alderwoman and Budget Chair Sandra Sistrunk said Starkville Community Foundation receives at least 100 weekly requests for utility assistance during slower periods and up to 300 during peak usage seasons.
“There’s not a lot we can do, but this is something that we can do that will allow us to help our community and people who struggle with their utility bills,” Sistrunk said during the meeting. “It also provides those people who either can’t afford it or don’t want to do it for one reason or another, the ability to not participate.”
Utilities Director Edward Kemp did not have an estimate by press time on how much additional funding the opt-out model could generate.
Perkins did not speak during board discussion, but said after the meeting he characterized the change as “a mini tax.”
“If it had been a voluntary election by the taxpayers, I would be fine, but it was a mandatory inclusion by the city that would require the rate payers to opt-out,” he told The Dispatch following the meeting. “I’m not against the concept of individuals if they want to make contributions, but the government doesn’t need to be involved in social programs, and that’s what the board did tonight in my opinion.
“Additionally it goes to the precedent,” he added. “… There may be other organizations that may want similar assistance, so we have to be really careful legally, and I don’t think my colleagues, in all due respect, understood that tonight.”
Getting a head start
Aldermen also approved initial steps for a multiphase improvement project along East Lee Boulevard, though construction is not expected to begin before 2028.
The project, a planned partnership between the city and Mississippi State University, is part of a broader effort to improve connectivity throughout Starkville, Spruill said.
“It’s a continuation of trying to make the entire city walkable, bikeable and connected to MSU and … (offers) a way that you can always be using alternative transportation in the city,” Spruill told The Dispatch following the meeting. “It’s a net positive for the city.”
The board approved, on consent, a contract with Neel-Schaffer to conduct a topographical survey of the roughly 1.3-mile corridor from Highway 182 to the geosciences building on MSU’s campus. Atlanta-based Tunnell, Spangler and Associates will handle planning and conceptual design work. City Engineer Cody Burnett said that phase should be completed within the next few months.
The broader project, which would include sidewalk improvements, additional street lighting, new trees and dedicated bike lanes on the roadway, relies on securing a Transportation Alternatives Program grant through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Burnett said the city plans to apply in September.
“That’s what we’re planning for now, but you never know what funding source is going to be released in the next year,” he told The Dispatch on Friday. “We’re prepared to pivot if we need to, but we’ve had a lot of success with (the TAP grant). The state is a great partner. They’ve funded us in that request for the past five years in a row.”
If awarded, the grant would provide about $1 million, enough to fund the first phase. Burnett estimated the total project will cost “several million” dollars and take three to five years to complete.
Burnett said MSU has verbally agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding and will play a significant role in planning and design.
Sid Salter, MSU vice president for strategic communications and director of public affairs, said a key part of the university’s plans for the project includes a multi-use path connecting East Lee Boulevard to the new Starkville High School, which is under construction on the north edge of MSU’s campus, next to Partnership Middle School, through a wooded corridor.
“At this stage, the project remains in its early planning phase, and details are still being developed,” Salter wrote in a text to The Dispatch on Tuesday. “The proposal is due this fall, and, as with prior projects, a formal Memorandum of Understanding … would be executed once the project advances.”
Reporter Braden Simmons contributed to this report.
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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 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
