More than a quarter-million dollars must be handed out to pay utility bills for Leflore County’s poor before the end of the year.
“We need to spend it,” said Robert Collins, a board member at Central Mississippi Inc. “We don’t need to send this money back, or we need to find some way to carry it over.”
Collins said CMI returned $50,000 in 2009 that was left over in Leflore County’s fund.
The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program block grant comes through the state Department of Human Services to CMI, a private nonprofit.
Collins said he requested that CMI’s board hold a special meeting to discuss the matter. The board is tentatively set to convene Nov. 29 at CMI’s Winona headquarters.
Leflore County had nearly $266,500 left in its fund as of Nov. 10. That’s 42 percent of its yearly budgeted amount remaining with less than two months left before the year’s end.
The program pays light and gas bills and can fill butane tanks with 100 gallons and possibly more, Collins said.
Also, CMI has awarded only $100 out of its more than $33,000 budget in Leflore County for a program for people undergoing hardships even though the county’s unemployment rate was 13.6 percent in September.
Collins, a Leflore County supervisor, said it appears CMI needs more than two employees in its Greenwood office. Each employee can see only eight new clients per day, he said.
“We just need to come up with a better way of servicing the people than we got going now,” he said.
Collins said to call CMI at 455-3497 for information about applying. The office will be open on Saturdays through the end of the year, and Collins said he’s going to approach the Board of Supervisors about opening satellite spots in rural areas.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com
