Starkville taxpayers will continue to fund external entities and organizations at the same overall rate in Fiscal Year 2016-17 after aldermen approved a level, $418,723 outside contributions budget Tuesday.
Of the 19 individual line items aldermen chose to fund in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, two funds — a Golden Triangle Planning and Development District transportation line item and the Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System — will see increases, while aldermen continued an annual $10,000 cut to the Mississippi Horse Park.
The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
After dedicating $27,625 to the GTPDD program this year, aldermen Tuesday raised next fiscal year’s allocation to $30,500. The library will receive $180,000 from the city in FY 2016-17 to help offset costs of purchasing and installing a new air conditioner. The system, which is also funded by the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, previously received $175,400 from the city.
The remainder of outside contributions for the upcoming fiscal year were kept at their current levels. Aldermen will give: $106,000 to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society; $22,525 to the city’s chamber of commerce; $15,000 toward for OCH Regional Medical Center ambulance services; $7,500 as an award to the Starkville Main Street Association; $5,000 each to the Boys and Girls Club, Brickfire Project, Heritage Museum and Oktibbeha-Starkville Emergency Response Volunteer Services (OSERVS); $3,500 each to the Starkville Area Arts Council, Starkville Community Theater, Starkville-Mississippi State University Symphony and the MSU shuttle program; $2,500 to Volunteer Starkville; and $1,500 to the GTPDD’s home meal delivery program.
Approximately $500 was also reserved for advertising purposes.
Aldermen OK’d the outside contributions list 6-1 with little discussion. Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn opposed.
While funding remained level, seven organizations overall requests were not fully met. Community Counseling Services, which asked for $12,000, was left unfunded by the board. The organization last asked for money in the FY 2015-16 budget cycle, but that request also went unfunded.
Since FY 2013’s $50,000 allocation, aldermen have cut their yearly giving to the Horse Park by $10,000 each year.
When the Horse Park opened in 1999, both the city and county made multi-year pledges of at least $100,000.
The organization did not ask for a specific amount of funding for next fiscal year, said Ward 5 Alderman and Starkville Budget Committee Chairman Scott Maynard. Instead, he said, its letter to the city said “any support would be appreciated.”
“I think they’re very successful in what they do. They’re self-sufficient,” said Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver.
The Mississippi Horse Park is led by District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller.
Oktibbeha County has not yet presented any preliminary budget figures for the upcoming fiscal year.
Tax increases are expected at both the city and county levels as representatives previously approved funding streams to purchase and develop a new industrial park. Aldermen also previously approved a 1-mill increase to fund Starkville Police Department renovations, but the project is in limbo after work bids came in well over the city’s $5.4 million budget.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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