The Leflore County Board of Supervisors has given initial approval to a plan to raise up to $5 million through a bond issue early next year.
The proceeds from the bond offering would be used for upgrades and maintenance on county roads and bridges as well as for the purchase of new road equipment, Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham said. A portion of the money could also be spent on upgrades and maintenance at the Leflore County Jail and the Civic Center.
Because the county has nearly paid off several older bonds, Abraham said payments on the new bond could be structured so that “there would be no large increase in yearly cost to the taxpayers.”
By a 4-0 vote, the board approved resolutions Monday to advertise the bond issue and to hire financial professionals and lawyers to put together the general obligation bond. Board President Wayne Self was absent from Monday’s meeting.
Sam Keys Jr., a bond attorney with the Jackson law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada, PLLC, said that notice of sale for the bond would be posted in January and that the funds should be available to the county by the end of February.
The bond would be marketed through the Mississippi Development Bank, a public nonprofit corporation set up by the state Legislature. Keys said using the bank would help the county structure payments to avoid raising taxes.
Part of the proceeds of the bond sale would be used to modernize and upgrade the county Unit System’s fleet of trucks and equipment with the goal of cutting down on overall vehicle maintenance costs, Abraham said.
Some of the funds would also be held in reserve for future road and bridge maintenance needs. “You don’t want to be where you don’t have money if a bridge goes out,” Abraham said.
Also Monday:
• Fred Randle, director of the Greenwood-Leflore Emergency Management Agency, told the board that three grant-funded storm shelters would be installed at locations around the county today.
The prefabricated storm shelters will be installed at the Greenwood Fire Station No. 3 on Tallahatchie Street, at the Itta Bena Fire Department and at Payne Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Quito.
• The board approved a 3 percent salary increase for Andrew McQueen, director of the Leflore County Agri-Center and Civic Center. The salary increase had been recommended by the boards of those institutions; McQueen will now make about $56,500 per year.
• District 1 Supervisor Phil Wolfe somewhat cryptically announced that he’d become aware of a county controlled board that is “not going by its own rules and policies.” Wolfe said he would raise the issue at next week’s board meeting. In the meantime, Wolfe said he wanted to verify those reports before discussing the details publicly.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
