Winter weather makes it unlikely that improvements would begin on any of the roads in Gluckstadt, Ridgeland, Canton or Flora listed on the 2026 Funded Projects Plan adopted by the Madison County Board of Supervisors.
But that’s not the only reason.
Before the improvements can be made, each city must sign an interlocal agreement with the county, have it approved by the state attorney general’s office, get the work done, pay the contractor for the work and then be reimbursed by the county after providing the bills and proof of payment.
Now, the interlocal agreements are part of a lawsuit the city of Madison filed against the Board of Supervisors over its 2026 Funded Projects Plan because the plan doesn’t include any projects in the city of Madison.
The city of Madison filed suit in Madison County Circuit Court against the supervisors on Dec. 23, 2025, after the supervisors excluded two districts from the county’s 2026 Funded Projects Plan. The plan includes about 30 roads in Canton, Flora, Gluckstadt and Ridgeland and a $1 million wastewater improvement project.
The city of Madison has asked in a legal document for the Madison County Circuit Court to overturn the county’s interlocal agreements with the cities of Canton, Gluckstadt and Ridgeland and the Regional Economic Development Alliance Agreement. The agreements with the cities were for road and drainage improvements, and the one with the Regional Economic Development Alliance for the wastewater improvement project.
When asked when the street improvements that are paid for by the 2026 Funded Projects Plan could begin, Mike Espy, Madison County attorney, said: “It’s up to the judge.”
The 2026 Funded Project Plan lists road improvements in these locations: Charmant Village, Muirwood (plus drainage repair), Shadowood I and Shadowood II, Old Agency Village, the Old Town area, Savannah Square, and Silas Trace; the plan also lists Stout Road in Gluckstadt.
The 2026 Funded Project Plan was amended during the supervisor’s Jan. 5 meeting to include Acorn Cove, Business Park Drive, Denim Way and North Oak Drive, each of which is in Gluckstadt.
Last December, Gerald Steen of District 3, Karl M. Banks of District 4 and Paul Griffin of District 5 voted in favor of the 2026 Funded Projects Plan and again in January, Casey Brannon of District 1 and Trey Baxter of District 2 voted against it.
During the Jan. 5 meeting, Espy said the action of the board during its December meeting did not violate the state’s open meeting act as some citizens have suggested.
“There are some members of the public that believe that it’s illegal for an item to be discussed in an open meeting that wasn’t put on the agenda,” he said, referring to the 2026 Funded Projects Plan that was not on the Dec. 15 agenda.
“That is not true. The Mississippi Open Meetings Act does not restrict a public body to acting on only matters that have been included on the meeting agenda.”
Brannon said during the Jan. 5 meeting that “the public was inflamed” about the supervisor’s decision in December. “Forty percent of the county had the benefits they pay into the county stolen from them,” he said.
Greg Higginbotham, Madison County administrator, said that between 2023 and 2025, county spent $69.4 million in the city limits of Madison, about $2 million in Gluckstadt, $900,000 in Flora, $900,000 in Canton, and $10 million in Ridgeland.
Brannon questioned the dollar amount the city of Madison received, saying two phases of the Reunion Parkway project are not within the city limits. Both sections were included in part of the city of Madison’s recent annexation, but Gluckstadt is appealing the annexation to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Brannon said during the Jan. 5 meeting that he would like to see a chart that shows the amount of the county dollars each district received and not just one that shows what the municipalities received. “Leaving those numbers out is doing a disservice,” he said, later referring to the numbers the county presented as “cherry picked.”
Steen said during the meeting that he hears from mayors and others asking, “When are you going to invest in our city the amounts you are investing in the city of Madison?’ The answer is we’re looking out for the county as a whole, not just one city.”
Both Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee and Gluckstadt Mayor Walter Morrison thanked the board for its support of road projects during Jan. 5 meeting.
“I’m here to say thank you,” McGee said. “It is very hard to make ends meet without your help.”
McGee said he could remember a time when the city of Ridgeland received little from the county. “We did not file lawsuits,” he said, going on to say the city has a “great relationship” with the county.
Morrison said he was not there to interject himself into the political discussion but to thank the board for its support over the six years Gluckstadt has been in existence.
After the January meeting, Steen later posted on the Madison County, MS Government social media page: “Mary Hawkins Butler recently filed a lawsuit alleging the city of Madison did not get their fair share of funds. I deal in facts; not frivolous lawsuits,” he said. “I would much rather see the city of Madison spend money on infrastructure instead of lawsuits that have no merit.”
The post shows a pie chart of “Madison County Spending within the Municipal Limits 2023-2025.” The chart shows the total spending between 2023-2025 for the city of Madison as $69,394,147.54, 84 percent; Ridgeland, $9,848,143.09, 12 percent; Gluckstadt $1,838,989.53, 2 percent; Flora, $842,190, 1 percent; and Canton, $893,582.17, 1 percent.
