OKTIBBEHA COUNTY – Supervisors on Monday declared their intent to issue up to $16 million in bonds to address countywide needs, though a funding source to service the debt has not yet been identified.
After brief discussion about potentially increasing the amount to $20 million, the board unanimously approved a resolution to issue general obligation bonds not to exceed $16 million during its regular monthly meeting at the circuit court building. Supervisors also voted to hire Butler Snow as bond counsel and Government Consultants as adviser for the issuance.
Board President and District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard said the bonds would help fund a range of road and capital projects across the county.
“We want to do infrastructure projects all over the county,” he said during the meeting. “We also want to address some of our facilities’ needs. … I think we’re making a wise decision right now to simply move forward with getting some projects done … because by waiting, all we’re doing is increasing the costs (of projects) and getting less bang for our buck.”
The bond proceeds are expected to be available within about 90 days. In the meantime, supervisors are compiling a list of potential projects to justify the issuance and evaluating potential revenue sources to service the debt.
Howard said the board is considering two primary options for debt service. One comes from about 2.46 tax mills that were freed up after the October sale of OCH Regional Medical Center. Those mills were repaying hospital debt before the sale.
County Administrator Wayne Carpenter said he, along with Government Consultants, will determine how much debt those mills can support.
“I don’t imagine that I’m going to come back and say we can’t support a $15-or-$16 million bond,” Carpenter told The Dispatch following a March work session. “… I want to be able to come back and say ‘This many mills will support X number of dollars,’ and that way they have a good place to make a decision.’”
At the current mill value of nearly $492,000, the old OCH mills could generate more than $18.1 million over 15 years. However, upcoming state-mandated reassessment could raise the tax revenue a mill will generate by as much as 20%.
Another option would be to use interest earned on the Oktibbeha County Reserve and Trust fund, Howard said. In February, the board declared its intent to place millions from the sale of OCH into a long-term endowment, which must be established through local and private legislation.
However, Carpenter cautioned supervisors during Monday’s meeting against relying solely on interest revenue for debt service.
“The market will determine how much interest we make,” he told the board. “There very well could be years we’re not able to draw down anything out of the trust, so I would be reluctant to use that as a funding mechanism for the bond.”
Howard told The Dispatch there is “no concern” about the county’s ability to service the debt.
Wish list
During a March 25 work session, supervisors identified several countywide road and capital improvement projects the bonds could fund. They also discussed how to allocate the remaining funds from nearly $10 million in bonds issued in Fiscal Year 2024.
At that meeting, Carpenter presented a “wishlist” of county obligations totaling about $3.2 million. The board has roughly $658,069 in unspent funds remaining from its 2024 bond issue to apply to that list, with plans to address the remaining needs – and then some – through the 2026 bonds.
That list includes road improvement projects in each district, an equipment shed for grinding and paving equipment, a boiler for the chancery courthouse, a small administration building for the road department, renovations to the AbilityWorks building, which houses state agencies such as the Mississippi Department of Human Services and Child Protection Services, as well as other projects.
Howard said his top priority for the 2026 bond issue is replacing roofs at the justice court, youth services and 911 buildings. The board will continue adding projects to the list, with plans to finalize the list to be shared with the public by the end of April, Carpenter said.
“We’re never going to be able to bond our way out of the need here in Oktibbeha County,” Howard told The Dispatch on Monday. “So if we can do something to address a portion of it, that’s still a win for the county.”
In other business the board:
■ scheduled a recess meeting for 2 p.m. Friday in the Circuit Court building to discuss funding appropriations for active projects in Districts 1 and 2; and
■ authorized the purchase of a 2026 Ram pickup truck and a heavy duty dump trailer for roughly $56,000 to support an additional trustee litter crew at the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office.
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