New offers to provide medical care for inmates could be ready by Warren County supervisors’ next meeting May 3 if legal work is finalized, County Administrator John Smith said.

The move is one of several expected to be discussed and voted on before work starts in earnest to set the 2010-11 budget in August. Supervisors, trying to save money, have not ruled out further cuts to nonprofits, employee furloughs, increasing medical insurance deductibles for county employees and less advertising to narrow the gap between spending and falling revenue.

The county has not pinpointed an ideal cost for inmate care, but is studying contracting out medical services to a single provider in order to stem costs already in excess of $176,000 this year. Up to now, a full-time nurse has been employed to administer prescription medicines to incarcerated people. The sheriff’s department has contracted with a physician for medical visits.

Private providers of health care to jails and detention centers are often accredited by standard-setting correctional organizations. Medical personnel are provided by most in the business of inmate health care, plus training for jail personnel to look for certain medical conditions.

Board President Richard George said the rest of this year’s budget will be front and center when supervisors meet informally Tuesday.

The combined prospect of fine collections from all three phases of the court system running short, less homestead exemption reimbursements from the state, weak growth in the county’s land rolls from new development and the likelihood of a near-future bond issue to pay for a new jail have made the outlook bleak.

“We haven’t gotten to that point yet,” George said of furloughs, already in the works for Hinds County employees one day a month from May through September. Supervisors have pinned the likelihood of days without pay on the most nonessential employees, excluding the road and sheriff’s departments.

Property tax rates were left alone in Vicksburg and Warren County for 2010, though higher tax valuations contributed to higher tax bills in some areas.

Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com