Starkville employees asked The Dispatch and a Starkville resident to file Freedom of Information Act requests Thursday for its upcoming Fiscal Year 2014-2015 budget, an act that could shield the intricacies of the city’s guiding financial document from public inspection before Tuesday’s board of aldermen meeting.
City staff members have, however, uploaded an 11-page summary to Starkville’s website, but not the fully detailed document sought Thursday. In comparison, a 90-page FY 2013-2014 budget was uploaded last year after aldermen approved the city’s financial plan.
While the summary budget provides a rudimentary explanation of expected city revenues and expenditures, it does not fully flesh them out as in the full version, which was given to aldermen after Tuesday’s special-call meeting on Starkville’s new plus-one insurance plan.
Starkville’s resolution establishing procedures for Mississippi Public Records Act compliance gives the city seven business days to produce or deny requests, meaning any resident who wanted to view the full budget before Tuesday’s meeting must have filed a request last week.
Staff could produce the full budget when it publishes the city’s e-packet, an action usually completed by the end of Friday’s business hours, but former Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill, who was responsible for compiling meeting agendas in the previous term and in former Mayor Dan Camp’s administration, said the city previously did not mandate FOIA requests for the document.
It is not known who ordered the new policy. CAO Taylor Adams facilitated The Dispatch’s records request but did not comment on the matter, while Mayor Parker Wiseman was unavailable for comment Thursday.
Adams said both requests would be forwarded to board attorney Chris Latimer, but a response was not received by 5 p.m. Thursday.
Aldermen will hold the city’s budget hearing during Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. board meeting at City Hall.
Starkville is projected to operate take in $18.42 million in revenue next fiscal year, which is a $4,576 drop from the budget approved last September.
While revenues will dip, the city is expected to operate with the same 21.98-mill ad valorem tax rate; however, a notice states 20.53 mills would produce the same amount of revenue from local property taxes as last fiscal year.
Maintaining the same millage rate means residents will not pay more in ad valorem taxes on homes; automobile tags; utilities; business fixtures and equipment; and rental property, unless the assessed value for those properties increased for the upcoming fiscal year.
A 2-mill tax increase associated with bonds for the Innovation District, a Golden Triangle Development LINK-backed industrial park development near the Miss. Highways 182 and 25 bypass, is not expected to hit the books until FY 2015-2016 since the issuance is not expected until 2015.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.