A focus on operational spending with little money for new equipment or inventory was a hallmark of budgets approved separately by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Warren County Board of Supervisors. No tax rate increases were in either spending plan although many taxpayers will pay more due to higher values placed on their real estate and vehicles.

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Adopted without comment, the Vicksburg plan allocates $31.1 million to its 30-plus departments. Overall, it’s $500,000 less than the spending plan that ends on the last day of this month.

The biggest drops are in fire, landscaping and recreation — which saw allocations reduced by nearly $850,000. Mayor Paul Winfield noted many of the cuts were for one-time spending in the current budget that will be repeated.

The police department — the city’s largest budget allocation — will have $6.41 million to spend in the coming year, up $87,342 from the budget presented for the public hearing.

Estimated spending for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 in Warren County’s budget equals $15.03 million — down more than $730,000 over this year — and shows $14.5 million in revenue. Most of the spending will be for law enforcement, court and jail operations and roads.

The county expects $921,702 more in real property tax revenue than this year, thanks to higher land values.

Funding for the Vicksburg Warren School District will equal $25,423,800 from its request on the same millage rate, while cuts to Hinds Community College will be about $236,000.

The goal in mind has been to rebuild cash reserves hit hard this fiscal year from employee medical claims and slower auto sales over the past two years, the latter of which has decreased car tag revenue to the county by $5.95 million, County Administrator John Smith said.

That, coupled with more than $1.2 million siphoned from the cash reserves for 22 major medical claims, has made “for the worst year of my 23 years in government service,” said Smith, an auditor for the City of Vicksburg before his appointment in 2005 as money manager for the county.

No raises appear in either local government budget projection for the 550 city employees or the 273 county employees, except for the merit- and tenure-based structure of small raises city police officers, emergency dispatchers and county road employees receive each year.

Job cuts were limited to unfilled, part-time slots in seven departments including the Information Technology Department, Tax Assessor’s Office, Justice Court, Extension Office and Warren County Jail. Retirements also are hitting the Tax Collector’s Office and the Department of Human Services.

Current millage rates are 40.53 in the county, 46.2 for schools and 35.88 inside the city to make the total 122.61 mills. Figures provided by the Tax Assessor’s Office after the hearing indicate baseline estimates on tax bills should remain the same, though they do not take into account areas closest to high-end development that hiked land values 5.9 percent on this year’s land rolls. The state tax credit on car tags has also been reduced, making new or renewal tag purchases more expensive.

For every $100,000 assessed on a home inside Vicksburg city limits, taxes due after homestead exemption should equal $926.10 on bills to arrive in December. For the same amount in the county, a tax bill should equal $589.80, which includes an extra 2 mills levied by the county’s six volunteer fire districts. Property taxes are due in January. Car taxes are paid on the anniversary of each purchase.

Supervisors heard comments from four residents during a public hearing just before its unanimous adoption of the budget, ranging from the state of gaming funds to how much it should control who receives private construction jobs.

“The primary reason the taxpayers of Warren County voted gaming in was for our school system,” said resident David Burton, referring to the local-option vote in counties that helped legalize gaming in Mississippi. Gaming passed muster with Warren County voters Sept. 8, 1992 — precisely 17 years before Tuesday’s hearing.

District 5 Supervisor Richard George, board president, addressed the common misconception about casinos and education. The Legislature allocated no state taxes on casinos directly to schools. The state revenue tax totals 8.8 percent with 8 percent to the state general fund and .8 percent rebated to cities and counties. The local 3.2 percent revenue tax is split with 60 percent to the city, 25 percent to the county and 15 to the Vicksburg Warren School District. Where local schools get the greatest benefit is from the property tax levy on the five casinos in Vicksburg along with their hotels, restaurants and vehicles. The largest tax payments to local schools come via property taxes and schools have the highest millage rate of any of the three local taxing entities.

Former mayoral candidate John Shorter asked for answers from a largely silent board on how tax bills were likely to break down from one area of town to the next, referencing higher taxes in his Enchanted Hills neighborhood despite multiple foreclosures in the neighborhood.

“Homes are overvalued in Vicksburg,” Shorter said. “We have a ridiculous level of living that needs to come down and we can do that by bringing the tax rolls down and by stopping the propaganda that everything is hunky-dory here in Warren County.”

Roughly two-thirds of the city’s revenue comes from property, sales and gaming taxes — with each of those sources accounting for about $7 million annually. The rest comes from contributions from the state and county, as well as various permit fees and fines. The city anticipates property and gaming taxes to be down by a combined $221,000, while it estimates sales taxes will remain flat. An estimated $3.74 million will be brought in by permits, fees and fines — an increase of $153,150 over the current year.

More than two-thirds of the county’s total revenue comes from property taxes, with the rest coming from revenue- and population-based taxes on gaming, fees collected from court fines, reimbursements from the state on homestead exemptions, penalties and interest and various other taxes.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com

Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com