Cuts in routine maintenance to county buildings and other infrastructure and a second straight jump in assessments on utility companies in Warren County have brought a balanced county budget for 2010-11 — a zeroed-out balance that seeks to maximize effects of the remaining tax appeal lawsuit over values set last year.

A day after a settlement with Ameristar Casino resulted in an expected loss of $68,000 in revenue next fiscal year, supervisors pressed County Administrator John Smith to eliminate any deficit in the still-evolving budget. They settled on one that takes $24,116, from Buildings and Grounds’ money for everyday maintenance, $1,000 each from the chancery and circuit clerk’s offices and reflects $10,000 less spending at the jail after a staff nurse and other medical costs are cut due to privatization after Oct. 1.

Spending and revenue stand balanced at $14,835,526 in the version that’s likely to be adopted following a hearing Sept. 7. Revenues inside the City of Vicksburg are estimated at about $31.3 million for the next fiscal year, up about $200,000 from the current budget year.

Wednesday’s action is another sign, as supervisors have indicated for months, that property tax rates will be left alone on bills due in December.

Though unacknowledged by supervisors, the net effect of the dramatic balancing act — still subject to overruns during the year — takes some heat off supervisors to settle quickly with Riverwalk Casino over its tax liability this year. In fact, recent versions have been written expecting a $4.6 million loss in real property tax revenue due to the Riverwalk suit.

“A few years ago, you had casinos and hotels being built,” Board President Richard George said. “You look across the countryside now, and there’s nothing being built.”

Both casinos had filed suit on grounds the county did not use state-set criteria for casinos of their size for the purposes of taxation.

Cranes seen at the courthouse Wednesday signaled the start of emergency work to replace a bad compressor on the building’s air conditioning system. The board was urged this week by Buildings and Grounds chief Chuck Thornton to set aside $65,000 to replace the whole system next year. That and other repair items could be affected next year if cutbacks there take hold. Cuts in the chancery and circuit clerk’s offices are derived from their respective records fees, Smith said.

Public utility assessments by the state tax commission rose by $11 million this year, thanks to the Midcontinent Express natural gas transmission pipeline coming on the tax rolls. The line was assessed at $7.6 million. Overall, the $90,157,578 in public utilities in Warren County should net $243,422 for tax revenues expected next year, Smith said.

On Friday, supervisors will consider a $177,600 offer from Charlotte, N.C.-based Southern Health Partners to take over prescriptions and medical visits for jail inmates, a move projected to save about $10,000.

Largest among additions is a $50,000 inclusion to hire an inmate population manager to alert judges to instances of people being incarcerated a year or more without standing trial. Whether the task is handed to current staff or another person will be decided by the sheriff once the budget is adopted.

Heading into next year, that and indigent defense costs remain the crux of concerns with the criminal justice system. A public defender rotation of up to four attorneys remains under consideration, but without a decision as to how much to pay them. Officials said no money appears in the coming year’s budget for such a setup, which would scrap the 30- or 40-lawyer list used by the circuit bench and blamed by supervisors for running up judicial costs. Baselines for defending indigent clients have been kept at $300,000 for next year.

Millage rates are expected to hold steady this year despite meager 1.9 percent growth in overall land value. Current millage rates are 40.53 in the county, 46.2 for schools and 35.88 inside the city.