State-set assessments on utility company assets are up $10 million in Warren County, cheerful news for the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

The valuations on gas pipelines, telephone wires, power lines and railroads usually arrive in late August or early September — just before or just after spending plans are adopted by counties statewide.

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Supervisors have been expecting a lean year and directed most county departments to expect up to 10 percent less money after the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. They and trustees of the Vicksburg Warren School District have said they do not plan to impose an increase in the overall tax rate, although both boards expect more money due to higher property valuations and, now, more taxes from utility companies.

The City of Vicksburg also is creating a spending plan.

The bulk of the increased utility assessments comes from two of three large-scale natural gas pipelines completed in the past two years.

Of the $78,454,474 in utility assessments for 2009 on 16 companies that own utility infrastructure in Warren County, more than $13 million comes from the Southeast Supply Header LLC and Gulf South Pipeline. The two firms spearheaded separate pipeline projects that cross about 25 miles of land in Warren County. A third, Midcontinent Express, was expected to begin carrying gas at portions laid in Mississippi by fall. It was not assessed for 2009.

In 2006, supervisors considered a fee-in-lieu of property taxes for the 272-mile Southeast pipeline, which begins in Delhi and runs through territory near Yokena on its way to Mobile, Ala. The request was dropped because labor benchmarks weren’t met, supervisors said. Gulf South’s line, the 242-mile East Texas to Mississippi Expansion Project, roughly follows Midcontinent’s path entering just south of the Mississippi River bridges and underneath about 15 miles to the Big Black River on its way to northwest Simpson County. More territory covered meant more material to assess.

Benefits of the newly found anticipated revenue appear to flow to the Vicksburg Warren School District, which will receive an extra $431,320 from its 2009-10 funding request. Funds available to the Road Department for maintenance and materials will grow $68,054 from a version reviewed by supervisors last week. Also restored is more than $37,000 in maintenance, improvement and branch support areas for Hinds Community College.

Spending by county government will grow more than $700,000 over this year in the recently reworked budget, with offsets from the extra tax revenue and departmental cuts bringing the deficit in the general fund down to nearly $400,000 in 2009-10 from $2.1 million this year.

County Administrator John Smith said the current budget is the last one supervisors will consider before a public hearing set for Sept. 8.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com