Supervisors hold purse strings tight for Warren County in 2021

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The Warren County Board of Supervisors ratified the budget that will carry the county from Oct. 1, 2020, through Sept. 31, 2021, during its scheduled meeting Tuesday morning.

Warren County Administrator Loretta Brantley presented the budget figures to the board.

Fiscal year ad valorem taxes will be levied at a rate of 117.77 mills which is the same as the 2020 budget. The assessed value of real property in the county, however, increased by $24,521,875 to $535,263,275, amounting to a $213,090 increase in revenue and no tax increases for county residents.

The projected county budget for FY 2021 is $41,096,763, an increase of $240,540 from the 2020 budget.

Parks and Recreation is one major area of the increase. Funds are budgeted for installation of a golf course irrigation system and equipment replacement at the aging facility at Clear Creek.

Other expenditures include repairs to the Warren County court house, including replacement of windows. Many windows have developed leaks that are damaging the building. The road department saw an increase in budgeted funds for equipment purchases.

Across the board, many eligible county employees will see a 50 cent per hour raise.

Breaking down where tax dollars will go in 2021, for each dollar paid in county taxes, 57.9 cents will go to the Vicksburg Warren School District, while Hinds Community College will receive 4.56 cents. The county general fund, which provides funding to numerous departments, will receive 27.91 cents while 7.12 cents go to maintain roads and bridges. The remaining line items are the library, which receives 1.16 cents, and debt services, which gets 1.35 cents. 

Brantley said that the board had successfully balanced the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Later in the meeting, Chancery Clerk Donna Hardy presented the board with the official documents that must be sent to the Mississippi Department of Revenue for certification.