A tentative operating budget of nearly $1.8 million was approved by the Vicksburg Bridge Commission Wednesday.

Superintendent Herman Smith circulated a list of income and expenses through May, with a full picture expected by the next commission meeting.

It showed the income at $1.77 million with projected spending at a little more than $1.4 million to date. The numbers reflected a huge disparity in the amount actually collected from a lease with Kansas City Southern Railway because of what the commission has been paid versus what it could have been paid if the railway had honored the $14 per-car lease rate being billed this year.

In September, the commission set a $14 per-car rate to be effective in January, but for all but one month since, KCS has continued to pay the previous rate of $4 per car for the first 125,000 cars per year and $3.75 for each car after that. In April, the railroad paid $3.89 for cars beyond 125,000.

According to the calculations, the commission lost out on $2.2 million in income from the railroad because of the ongoing struggle to have the railroad agree to new lease terms.

The five members of the commission, appointed to manage the U.S. 80 bridge over the Mississippi River, have been in fractious negotiations with KCS, the primary customer of the county-owned span, for years with no definitive end in sight.

&#8220I don’t expect any large bills this month,” Smith said, indicating the panel will close out the fiscal year this month with books balanced.

Expenses projected to be higher next fiscal year were related to the bridge structure, property taxes to Louisiana and Madison Parish and utilities. No money was budgeted for track expenses, as payments to those contractors are expected finished, Smith said.

If a final operating budget is approved at the commissioner’s meeting, it will go to supervisors for final approval.

In other business, the commission: