Port Gibson officials were denied a $500,000 bank loan last week after voting to override the mayor’s previous veto of the borrowing, Mayor Fred Reeves said Tuesday.

Trustmark bank officials would not approve the loan, said Reeves, who on May 19 had vetoed the aldermen’s resolution for the emergency borrowing. Bank officials declined to comment.

Reeves cited the need for aldermen to get spending under control.

Reeves vetoed the loan, which aldermen approved May 9, because, “I told them we need to talk about making cuts, and (pointed out) the money was not specified as to where it was supposed to go.”

Aldermen, however, attempting to bolster the city’s operating funds, unanimously overrode Reeves’ veto at a called meeting Thursday afternoon, the day after a veto override attempt failed for lack of a quorum.

“They told me they’d have to shut the city down if they didn’t override the veto,” Reeves said. “So they did.”

The city repaid a 2010 loan in anticipation of tax revenues in March, said Reeves. Port Gibson also borrowed in anticipation of tax revenues in 2008 after 10 checks totaling more than $10,500 bounced. Loans to stay current on bills also were frequent during the term of previous Mayor Amelda Arnold, said Reeves.

Borrowing funds in one fiscal year for repayment the next is a violation of the Mississippi Code, said Ed Smith of the state auditor’s technical services division.

The city’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Counties have the authority to borrow and repay in the next fiscal year, but not municipalities, Smith said. They must repay tax anticipation loans by March 15 of the same fiscal year.

Port Gibson city attorney Paul Winfield, who also is mayor of Vicksburg, said he did not attend the Thursday aldermen’s meeting but had been informed the board had met. He said he did not know the loan had been denied.

“My understanding is that the city is looking at financial options, something short-term, based on anticipated revenue,” Winfield said. “There are different financial vehicles open to local governments.”

Winfield said he is working to compile a list of possible revenue increases for Port Gibson, including the option of annexing additional areas into city limits. That choice would not come without costs, however, he said.

“As the numbers have shown, our revenues have gone down,” Winfield said. “The city is operating in the red. It’s a tough situation.”

Winfield said perhaps as many as 70 percent of Mississippi municipalities are in the same condition.

Reeves said he has notified the Office of the State Auditor and has been working with its technical assistance division.

Port Gibson is facing overdue electricity bills from Entergy and has not made payments to the state retirement system since April, said the mayor.

The city’s account with Entergy was past-due last fall, and $10,000 was paid toward overdue bills in October, $30,000 in November and $25,000 in December.

More than 100 of the city’s 415 street lights were turned off in an attempt to cut the utility bill.

Should Port Gibson not have the operating funds it needs to pay its bills and its employees, it would probably fall under some sort of state emergency management, said Winfield.

“(But) I don’t think Port Gibson is in danger of it happening,” he added. “They do have revenues and there are options available to them.”

Two years ago, RiverHills Bank denied a similar borrowing, Reeves said, citing the city’s need to get expenses under control.

The next regular meeting of Port Gibson aldermen and the mayor is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

“I have to let them know that for us to borrow money we need to make some cuts,” Reeves said.

Port Gibson, about 30 miles south of Vicksburg, has a population of about 1,800 and an annual budget of $1.9 million, said Reeves, who was elected in 2008 after a campaign in which he called for more conservative financial practices.