The Leflore County Board of Supervisors approved its annual contribution to Delta Council on Monday, but not without some of the scrutiny that marked last week's penny-pinching budget session.
The $21,698 the board earmarked puts it fourth among Delta counties in contributions to the public interest group, behind Washington, Bolivar and Tunica counties. The payments are equated at a .1-mill value for each county.
They are usually a given every year to Delta Council, which in turn lobbies on the Delta's behalf in Congress and the Legislature and assists communities in attracting industry and training workers.
But as the county prepares to enter a tight fiscal year, supervisors aren't letting even the most routine items slip by.
"My question has to do with performance," Board President Robert Moore said, speaking to Delta Council spokesman Frank Howell.
Moore said he has heard a few complaints about Delta Council's activity.
"Some of our folks have been concerned about where you show up," he said.
"I didn't know that," Howell responded.
And Moore added, "Well, you need to know that."
Howell assured Moore that the Stoneville-based council has served Leflore County well in the past and will continue to do so.
"I think this past year I spent more time in Greenwood and Leflore County than with any other community I serve, and I say that without equivocating," Howell said.
Much of that time went into shopping the county around to 10 prospective industries. While the results reflect the poor economy that's cramping such efforts all over the region, Howell said the lack of recent success hasn't flagged Delta Council's commitment.
Also Monday, the board voted to submit an insurance claim to recover money the county lost in a 1999 accounting discrepancy in the Justice Court Clerk's Office.
An investigation by the state Auditing Department turned up $14,117.67 in missing funds - $12,196.12 owed to others and a negative balance of $1,921.55. Then-Justice Court Clerk Alberta Baker eventually resigned from her post.
