Budget talks have begun in Hinds County, and District One Supervisor Robert Graham is painting a bleak picture of the county’s finances.
The county is facing what could be tens of millions of dollars in federally mandated spending.
At the same time, the cash-strapped county is losing a major state appropriation, and is suffering from stagnated revenues.
On top of that, the county also has to build its reserve fund to improve its credit rating.
Some supervisors are proposing raising property taxes. However, Graham has not committed to the proposal and wants to hear from his constituents before he makes a decision.
“I’m non-committal,” he said. “Times are hard for everyone, not just us.”
He’s urging Northsiders to call him at his office or e-mail him in the coming weeks.
Other supervisors are proposing a two-mill increase, which would equate to a roughly $60 increase on property taxes for a $300,000 home.
The increase could come on top of a tax increase the city of Jackson is considering putting in place as part of its budget.
The board of supervisors would have to approve the increase on a 3-2 vote.
Budget negotiations will continue throughout August and early September. The county must approve its budget by September 15, according to state statute.
The budget will cover expenses for the 2018 fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
“We have major issues throughout the county. One of the things is the unforeseen problem dumped on us by the state in the form of LSBP (Local Street and Bridge Project) funds,” he said
LSBP funds are provided by the state through the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction to help counties address local bridge and street needs.
“No county got a dime for road or bridge repair,” Graham said. “In the past, we’ve always counted on some funds to help with bridges.”
The county has seven bridges that are out, all of which are outside the capital city.
Because the county will likely have to use other funds to repair those bridges, fewer dollars will be available for road work on the Northside, he said.
“I can’t tell you how important it is when a bridge is out unless you live on the street and have to drive an extra 15 miles to go to the grocery store,” he said.
Hinds leaders are also facing expenses associated with two federal consent decrees. The county entered into consent decrees years ago to make improvements for inmates at the Hinds County Detention Center and at the Henley-Young Juvenile Detention Center.
Among upgrades, the county must find a new location to house juveniles who have committed felonies, while at the detention center, the county must make repairs to its booking area and hire additional guards to oversee inmates.
Recently, the federal government handed down another mandate, requiring the county to ensure all of its polling locations are compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
The county has more than 113 precincts, according to the circuit clerk’s Web site.
Graham did not know at press time how much the work on the consent decrees or the polling places mandate would cost at press time. It was also not known how many polling places would have to be brought into ADA compliance.
“Eventually, we’re going to have to do something,” Graham said. “Do we try to fix all of the problems now or just some of them?”
The county is facing other shortfalls. “As of June we were running $150,000 in the black with our inmate medical expenses. In one week, we had a prisoner come in who had to have immediate emergency surgery. His bill was $600,000. We have a program called re-insurance, which reduced the amount to $300,000, but we went from being in the black to being $150,000 over budget,” he said.
In June, Moody’s downgraded Hinds County’s bond rating from Aa3 to Aa2, which will affect about $40 million in outstanding debt, Moody’s Web site states.
“The downgrade … reflects the county’s below average financial reserves relative to comparably rated counties, below average wealth levels and elevated pension obligations,” the firm wrote in a June news release.
“They wanted (our reserve fund) to be at $11 million. Now it’s at $6 million,” Graham said.
Unlike the city of Jackson, which previously dipped into the reserve to make up for a decline in revenue, the county’s reserve funds have always been around $6 million or $7 million, Graham said.
“In this budget, we’re trying to put $500,000 more in the fund.”
For more information, contact Graham at (601) 714-6219 or e-mail him at rgraham@co.hinds.ms.us.
