[03/29/02]With a week to go until the end of the 2002 legislative session, two bills have been introduced to allow Warren County to contribute funds to two city programs.

Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, is seeking state permission for Warren County to give $16,000 to the Vicksburg Main Street program. Rep. Chester Masterson, R-Vicksburg, has presented a bill that would allow the county to put $25,000 toward improvements to the Cobb House.

The two bills have been filed under local and private legislation that allows local governments to take on specific projects otherwise not allowed under state law.

Both bills are onetime allocations. Richard George, president of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, said that funding for Main Street may may be considered again if there is still need in downtown.

“That’s our effort to match the city’s support of Main Street,” George said.

Main Street is funded by the city and through an add-on property tax in the downtown district.

The Cobb House on Crawford Street dates to about 1830 and is the oldest structure in the city-owned Southern Cultural Heritage Complex. The private foundation managing the complex is seeking the money for a restoration project.

Two other bills are moving through both houses and could provide for increased retirement benefits for city firefighters and police officers under Vicksburg’s old retirement system.

A bill introduced by Chaney that will raise the benefits for about 33 people from $500 a month to $700 has passed the Senate and is set to pass in the House. A similar bill presented in the House by Reps. Masterson and George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, has moved to the Senate for consideration.

The 90-day session that began in January ends next week.