Lowndes Wants More Options for Investments

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — Lowndes County is joining a handful of others across the state in an effort to get more bang for its bucks.

Supervisors voted Monday to ask the Legislature to allow investment options other than traditional certificates of deposits. That’s the only investment counties can use under current state law.

Record low interest rates mean the county is getting almost no return on the $30 million it has stashed away from the sale of the county-owned hospital to Baptist Health Systems six years ago. At current rates, interest income amounts to less than $70,000 a year.

Mutual funds and other “safe, prudent” investments could produce more. Lowndes officials say they only would seek options that include safeguards to protect the county’s investments.

Last year, the Legislature approved a private act allowing Lafayette County and Oxford more investment options for revenue from the sale of their jointly owned hospital. Grenada and Coahoma counties are expected to make a similar request because they also are selling county-owned medical facilities.