Budget highlights: Most Lowndes County offices see increase in funding
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Lowndes County supervisors are not raising taxes but are giving most employees a pay raise. County leaders approved the $80 million budget for next year.
Hourly employees will receive a $0.50 raise and most salary employees will see a pay increase.
The county plans to withdraw $1.1 million from the hospital trust fund to use in the budget. That’s money in an account from the sale of the hospital.
Supervisors will also spend $2.8 million in ARPA funds leftover from this fiscal year.
Most county offices did have a budget increase.
“There were a couple of nuances in the budget this year that we have not had to deal with before. One is budgeting for the Sportsplex. So, obviously, there were some increases in recreation so we could figure out what to do there. In the road department, we are pleased to say that we allocated more money for asphalt. Of course, that may not pave any more roads than what we’ve been paving because of the increase in inflation with that. You know, we’ve gone from $105 a ton to $160 a ton in the last three years for the cost of asphalt,” said Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston.
Tax Assessor Greg Andrews said Lowndes County has an assessed value of just over $1 billion.
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