The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Friday approved the city’s $31.376 million fiscal year 2025 budget and set the city’s millage rate at 35.88 mills.

The budget goes into effect at the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. City of Vicksburg Director of Accounting Doug Whittington said the millage rate remains the same as it has since first being approved in 1993.

“This is probably one of the most frustrating and, at the same time, accurate budgets that we’ve had to adopt,” Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. 

Flaggs said more than $700,000 in revenue was lost due the closing of the Baxter Wilson power plant, which, coupled with the more than $400,000 in raises for city employees, contributed to the $2.8 million difference from the FY 2024 budget of $34.189 million.

Flaggs pointed to notable numbers such as: A total of $403,959 in raises for employees making $50,000 and below, covering both salaries and benefits; the promoting of the city’s IT employee from part-time to full-time employment; a raise for crossing guards to $15 per hour; and a raise of minimum wage to $10 per hour as notable increases in expenditures.

Flaggs also noted that the city is currently on a “hiring freeze” and added expenses for sponsorships, donations and contributions will decrease in 2025 as ARPA funds have been depleted.

“We are not saying that your request will be denied; however, please understand that what you initially request may not be granted,” Flaggs said. “This decision is based on the 97 percent rule, which states that our regular budget will not exceed 97 percent of the prior year funding.”

During Friday’s meeting, Flaggs and Ward 2 Alderman Alex Monsour also spoke individually about their conflicting views regarding a recently approved hike in trash collection fees for residents and businesses outside the city’s downtown district. Tuesday, the board voted 2-1 to raise fees from $16.50 to $21. The rise in fees is a $4.50 jump Flaggs said is due to the city’s contract with Waste Management – the only company to bid on the contract for services. Monsour, the lone dissenting vote, said the hike is not only not enough, but is illegal under state law if it does not meet the $27.50 fee charged to the city by Waste Management.

During Friday’s meeting, Flaggs said, while he is not yet proposing a millage increase, it is an option for meeting the state’s criteria without raising trash rates citywide.

“We can do this,” Flaggs said of the current structure. “It’s very dangerous, but we can do it. It’s my understanding that a millage increase can, at least up to $1.7 million and $300-and-something thousand dollars a person, we’ve got a safety net. At the same time, this budget is balanced based on the back of the reserve fund. We must be frugal in our spending, in our travel, in everything, at least until April.”

Monsour said a millage rate to bridge the gap in the trash rate charged to citizens and what is owed to Waste Management is out of the question in his view.

“I’m adamantly opposed to raising the millage rate, because it only affects a certain portion of our community, which owns property,” Monsour said. “That’s unfair to put the burden of cost on them for everybody else’s garbage. I just want to let people know, I said I wasn’t going to vote to raise taxes and I’m not.”