The Warren County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a 2020-2021 budget that does not call for any tax increases and allows for a slight pay increase for some county employees.

This marks the first budget compiled by the new Board of Supervisors, four of which had not been through the budget process before. It also is the first budget for Loretta Brantley as county administrator.

It was that unfamiliarity with the budget and budget process, that proved to be valuable, county leaders said.

“We went through the budget line-by-line and found a number of savings,” Warren County Board of Supervisors President Dr. Jeff Holland said. “These saving were then reassigned to other high priority items, one of which was the employee salaries, something that was not able to be done last year.”

The budget, which goes into effect Oct. 1, gives the county a $41.09 million operating budget, which is marginally higher than the 2019-2020 budget which ends Sept. 30.

In the budget, the county will provide a 50-cent per hour pay raise for county employees whose salaries are not set by state statute. Salary for county supervisors, for example, are set by state statutes, making them ineligible for this raise.

It also includes capital improvements for the county’s parks and recreation department, which includes irrigation and the replacement of some equipment at the county-owned Clear Creek Golf Course.

The budget also includes repairs to the courthouse, a generator for the Board of Supervisors office, and equipment for the county’s road department.

The ad valorem tax level in the county will remain the same, which means there will not be any increase in property taxes, automobile tax renewals and other property tax-eligible categories.

The budget includes operating budgets for E-911, Port Commission, public library, and all six of the county’s fire districts, among other departments.

For every dollar of tax collected for the new budget, 57.9 cents will go to the Vicksburg Warren School District, while 27.91 cents will go to the county’s general fund. Roads and bridges will receive 7.12 cents.

Projected revenues for the coming year are also expected to be slightly higher, which helped supervisors in their move not to include ad valorem taxes. The projected revenues for 2020-2021 are $41,096,763, which is more than $200,000 higher than the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

 

Vicksburg Post staff writer Terri Cowart Frazier contributed to this report.