Lincoln County Supervisors vote on buyout for City’s stake in courthouse

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Supervisors voted Monday to issue a $5.5 million bond and use half of it to pay off the City’s 20 percent stake in the Lincoln County/Brookhaven Government Complex.

“This bond will not increase taxes at all for the taxpayers. We will be able to make the bond payments on this through our general funds,” said County Administrator Daniel Calcote.

The Board voted after a closed-door executive session to discuss property acquisition involving the courthouse renovation.

The City of Brookhaven and Lincoln County reached an agreement for a buyout of the courthouse in July 2024. An interlocal agreement from 1980 required the County to buy the City’s 20 percent stake in the courthouse if they left for a new City Hall. Lincoln County agreed to pay $2.745 million to the City for that 20 percent.

The City entered a lease agreement with Brookhaven businessman John Lynch for the building and property at 101 W. Chickasaw Street in May 2024. The City is renovating the former Hartman-Harrigill Funeral Home which will include a drive-up window for water department payments and a park area.

City Attorney Bobby Moak gave the County formal notification in February that the City will vacate the courthouse no later than 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2025.

The remainder of the bond will be used to remodel several areas of the courthouse including the portion being vacated by the City, Calcote said.

The Board also heard an update regarding the July payments of $1.2 million from the state for the internet use tax.

The State Legislature began collecting an internet use tax from all online sales in 2020 and it divides that money between counties in July and January.

Calcote said the previous board chose to take out an $8 million bond in 2020 for a large road paving project and elected to use one payment each year from the Internet Use Tax each year to payoff that bond.

“That effectively allowed them to receive an advance on this Use Tax money,” he said.

The January payment from the state to the county is split between the supervisors’ road funds.

 In other business, the Board:

• Approved a grant extension request for Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Waste Tire Grant.

Calcote said the grant reimburses the County for the cost of recycling used tires. The grant was originally $50,000 when it was awarded in 2023. Calcote explained since there is still $6,000 available to spend on the grant, he will extend it for a year but will most likely use it by the end of September. He will then apply for another $50,000 grant.

• Awarded financing for the purchase of dump trucks for District 3 and 4 to Trustmark.

The bid was to finance the purchase of dump trucks already purchased. The County is borrowing the money from Trustmark at 4.2 percent interest to offset that purchase to pay them off over the next three years, Calcote said. Trustmark was the low bid opened Monday. The other bidder was BankFirst with 5.06 percent.

The trucks are 2025 T480 Kenworth Tandem Axle dump trucks purchased from Truckworx for $171,000 each. District 3 bought two, and District 4 bought one.

• Approved personnel report for Sheila Killingsworth, who is retiring as a deputy clerk in Chancery Clerk Alisha McGehee’s office.

• Approve the travel for Kimberly Bright, the county’s VA service officer, to attend the fall training 2025 conference in Oxford on Sept. 29-Oct. 3

• Approve the travel for Coroner Blake Wallace to attend death investigation training in Springfield, MO Oct. 26-Nov. 1

• Approve the bill for Boerner Law Firm for work on Sagewood Subdivision in the amount of $9,315.

Sagewood Lane is a public road with a small section near the end that is not public that has caused disputes among residents.