Warren County will borrow up to $3.3 million to fill budgetary holes left by the steady string of equipment purchases, infrastructure upgrades and disaster-related expenses yet to be reimbursed.

Transfers from the general fund to other pools of money to finance projects such as the T-dock crane support replacement at the Port of Vicksburg coupled with the cash-purchased technical overhaul of the E-911 Dispatch Center left reserves in the county’s primary source of revenue short by more than $2 million, County Administrator John Smith said.

Ending general fund cash reserves for 2008-09 are projected to be $2.1 million, down from $3.1 million for the end of 2007-08. Upcoming spending includes completion of financing for the E-911 center’s nearly $2 million makeover and move to 1401 Clay St., which included more than $413,000 for electrical upgrades. A move is expected next month.

Road fund reserves dropped to $600,000 for this year, mainly due to gas prices. A separate interfund loan approved by the board Monday moved $406,737.86 into the account from the bridge and culvert fund.

Supervisors voted Monday to OK the financial shuffle to include storm-related expenses dating to hurricane cleanup in 2005 and continuing through this spring’s floods. Reimbursement has been held  up over environmental regulations, making for a continually tighter squeeze for the county’s bottom line.

“This is the major cause for us to borrow until we receive our tax collections in March,” Smith said, referring to when the wave of tax revenues traditionally arrives.

Spending cuts will be discussed by supervisors this week, with specifics expected then. Much of the $486,216 in new spending in this year’s budget went for consulting services on a new jail and fuel costs hikes for the sheriff, road and volunteer fire departments.

Millage rates figured into property taxes were raised by 2.79 mills by the Board of Supervisors this year. Rates were left unchanged by the City of Vicksburg and for the schools, leaving the total increase at about $28 for every $100,000 in assessed value to be paid by homeowners starting in January.

Until that revenue is in hand, the loan — referred to as a “tax anticipation note” —  will cover shortages in the general, bond and interest fund and bridge and culvert funds. A hearing is set for Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 9 a.m. unless a written protest is filed with the Chancery Clerk’s Office by 1,500 area residents before that deadline. State law allows counties to borrow only up to 25 percent of the taxes anticipated, with interest according to statute on general obligation indebtedness. Funds must be paid back by April 1, 2009.

Board President Richard George said the move is geared to make timely bond payments on the improvement projects.

“It’s a timing thing more than anything else,” George said.

Also, officials said, deadlines to make payments on general obligation bond issues need to be renegotiated to fit the county’s budget year.

For example, Smith said, a $390,000 payment on bonds issued in 2003 to refinance the Warren County service annex near the courthouse and jail is due Dec. 1 — long before tax collections arrive. Due dates for payments on the $3.4 million T-dock replacement, in its final phases for several months, are Oct. 1, when the financial calendar begins.

Supervisors appear unlikely to be reimbursed for more than $174,000 in costs absorbed when debris from Hurricane Katrina was found to have been buried on private lands instead of approved rubbish sites. State environmental and emergency management agencies asked for a commitment to unearth the debris and relocate it to an approved site in return for full reimbursement. 

Earlier this month, the board OK’d moving $34,673.86 from the general fund to the garbage fund. It was aimed at covering unpaid bills by commercial garbage haulers to a pool of money set up to handle surcharges on garbage bills that keep the county compliant with state-mandated rubbish disposal laws. Supervisors are taking proposals on a new collection agency to track down delinquent bills.

Another transfer to the law library fund brought the total funds moved to cover unpaid amounts there to $12,436.87.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.

On the agenda

Meeting Monday, the Warren County Board of Supervisors:

* Endorsed negotiations to renew the lease to operate the Port of Vicksburg.

Port and Kinder Morgan officials have said locking up a long-term deal hinges on landing a similar deal between the company and Russian steel giant Severstal to ship steelmaking components to its northeast Mississippi plant, located near Columbus.

While that deal has yet to be worked out, port and Kinder Morgan officials have seemed to settle on a $235,000 base annual rent, plus 8 percent if revenue tops $2.255 million. A series of three, five-year options was part of supervisors’ resolution, in keeping with the latest round of discussions. The current contract expires in December 2009.

* Heard no public comment after a hearing to amend the county’s flood protection ordinance to align local laws with state regulations.

Updated flood maps detailing elevations and risks countywide become effective Wednesday. Resulting detail has provided more information on flood prone areas such as narrow drainage bayous county wide and the Kings and Chickasaw communities hit hard by spring 2008 floods.

Points of enforcement to be added to the local flood plain management plan include rights of entry and inspection of properties. Inside Vicksburg, the floodplain manager is the inspections department head. Warren County employs such a position only for enforcement of its subdivision ordinance.

* Approved advertising for a replacement pilot for the Kings Point Ferry.

Road Manager Richard Winans told supervisors one of the pilots, Warren Nevels, quit this week. With the short crew and seasonal shift to 12-hour days already in effect, officials said they will notify proper legal contacts in light of a recently settled court case involving the ferry’s hours.

On Oct. 6, a settlement was announced whereby Warren County would pay $4,418 in legal fees to Greenville-based Henderson Dantone, P.A. The firm represented M&M Property, LP, which sued over the vessel’s spring and summer hours.

The current ferry barge and push boat cost more than $600,000 when purchased in 2005. Annual maintenance of the vessel for this fiscal year will run about $365,000, including fuel, according to figures in this year’s budget.

* Approved a court order from Youth Court Judge Johnny Price Jr. naming Marcie Southerland as Special Youth Court Judge during a temporary absence from the bench for Price that began Friday. A second order approved by the board named James “Buck” Penley as an alternate. Compensation was not determined in either order.