Lowndes County supervisors unanimously approved an amended interlocal agreement that will allow the county to pay off its debt for the Communiversity in 10 years.
Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Operating Officer Joey Deason presented the new agreement to supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting. The LINK is under contract to provide Lowndes, Clay and Oktibbeha counties with economic development services.
Bond attorney Chris Pace said the bonds are serial bonds, with the last being due in 20 years. However, he said they become callable, or redeemable, after 10 years, which would allow Lowndes County to finish paying its debt for the project then. The county cannot finish repaying the debt faster than that.
Supervisors asked the LINK to determine if paying the debt after 10 years would be possible, instead of the originally proposed 20 years, to save on interest payments. The shorter repayment period is expected to save Lowndes County about $1 million.
“In effect, what’s going to happen is Lowndes County is going to pay their debt of in 10 years, which will save them additional interest charges,” Deason said. “Clay and Oktibbeha could pay theirs in 10 years if they choose.”
A payment schedule in the agreement shows Lowndes County making payments of roughly $1.2 million per year through 2027. The agreement includes 20-year schedules for Clay and Oktibbeha counties, with Clay owing roughly $69,000 per year and Oktibbeha paying about $172,000 per year.
EMCC will operate the Communiversity, which is currently under construction on Highway 82 just west of PACCAR, as a advanced manufacturing training hub tailored specifically toward area industries. Lowndes County is contributing $10 million to the project, Oktibbeha County is contributing $2.5 million and Clay County has committed $1 million.
The $42.6 million project also has funding from the state and federal governments.
Deason said the LINK will seek approval for the amended agreement from Clay and Oktibbeha counties.
Supervisors in Clay and Oktibbeha previously approved an agreement before Lowndes supervisors first sought a 10-year payoff earlier this summer. After the LINK began looking into the issue, it discovered that EMCC had issued the bonds for the $13.5 million in local funding in May, rather than later in the year, as expected. At the time, LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins said the LINK would have to get an amended interlocal agreement to the three counties after the error.
Pace said EMCC will make the first interest payment on the bonds in the fall, which would have cost Lowndes County $147,000.
Public defenders
Lowndes County Justice Court judges Chris Hemphill and Peggy Phillips went before supervisors on Tuesday to request a public defender for justice court.
Hemphill said the request comes due to federal rules that took effect in July that requires the justice court to determine if a defendant is indigent and, if they are, appoint an attorney.
“With that they are putting more burden on the justice court to determine who is indigent and then making sure they have counsel before any other step is taken,” Hemphill said. “Before, in the past, we have pretty much, if you wanted counsel or wanted to be considered indigent, we’ve sent them to the circuit court to go through their application process with the advice that, unless it involved jail time, more than likely they were not going to get a public defender.”
Hemphill said justice court has generated more than $300,000 from fines since October. He asked that supervisors consider using some of that money to pay a public defender who can work Tuesdays for justice court.
“We’re being mandated that we have to do more to determine indigency, advise people of their constitutional rights and give them the opportunity to get counsel, even if they cannot t afford counsel,” he said. “The way the rules are written, if you are on any kind of public benefit or Social Security disability, you are pretty much entitled to an attorney.”
Board President Harry Sanders said the county could use one of its five public defenders for justice court. Supervisors will consider the matter further as the county prepares its Fiscal Year 2018 budget.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.