County Administrator Daniel Calcote reported to supervisors Monday that they are 75 percent of the way through the fiscal year and have received almost 91 percent of their budgeted receipts. “As expected,” he said, “we are ahead of budget on receipts with the bulk of our collections coming in the first quarter of the calendar year; however, collections will decrease for the rest of the fiscal year, but we should end the fiscal year around our expected budget or even higher.”

Calcote also reported the following on specific departments:

• Supervisors are at 89.7 percent of annual budgeted expenditures due to appropriations and debt payments at the beginning of the year and property-liability insurance premium paid in April

• Tax collector is at 87.8 percent of annual budgeted expenditures due to high personnel costs in February and March and overtime and a bonus to the collector in two high-volume months

• Elections are 160.2 percent due to $223,600 spent on voting machines last October

• The jail is at 86.7 percent due to high food prices for prisoners and high medical costs

• The civic center is at 101.2 percent due to baseball season and construction of a water well that is partially funded from the Civic Center Foundation

• Volunteer Fire is at 89.3 percent

• District 2 road maintenance is at 114.2 percent of budgeted expenditures due to emergency bridge repairs, culverts, a new tractor and paving

• District 3 road maintenance is at 119.1 percent due to payment of invoices and Hurricane Ida cleanup

• District 1 bridge is 139.7 percent of expenditures due to higher than expected payroll costs

In other events, Pam Womack with the Ferst Readers Program spoke to the supervisors, asking for funding to continue the literacy program in the county – the only one in Mississippi to participate. “I think this is the more important thing going on in Lincoln County, and I hope you’ll help,” she said.

Ferst Readers is a literacy group that sends a bookstore-quality, age-specific book, as well as resources, through the mail to children’s homes every month until their 5th birthday. Womach asked the board to consider funding the program by becoming a sponsor. Supervisors said they would take the issue under advisement.

County Attorney Will Allen reported that he sent a letter to the Civic Center about the need for updated rules and regulations as to behavior on the property and how the public can appeal those decisions through the Civic Center Commission. Calcote also said he had met with the commission about working with them to audit their expenditures.

In other news, the board approved the following:

• Tax Assessor Blake Pickering’s reports on solid waste delinquencies, homestead amendments and the recent availability of Land Rolls

• District 4’s Eddie Brown’s request that monies left over from another project be used for culverts on South Washington to alleviate flooding a home in that location receives every time there is a hard rain

• A state-mandated issue-and-collection of permits by the county for new construction. The tax assessor was chosen to be the holder of such documents.

• The high bid of $650 for a 1993 GMC pickup from District 5. The other bids were for $400 and $510.

• Payment of invoices of $88,312 to Forcum Lannon Contractors and $2,519.75 to Dungan Engineering for the AITX Railspur Project.

• Two memorandums of understanding with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, one for $350,000 to be allocated to the county for repair and improvements to the courthouse and one for $500,000 for HVAC system and equipment repairs.

• Acknowledgment of 16th Section land amendment lease from Ronnie and Bettye Rollins to Bettye Rollins and Kenneth Bowman.