Clay County supervisors accepted a bid to widen and overlay Airport Road during their meeting Thursday.
The project will widen a quarter of a mile of road from 18 feet to 20 feet and overlay the road leading to Mccharen Field Airport, engineer Bob Calvert said.
Falcon Contracting’s bid of $167,277 was more than $11,000 over the engineer estimate of $155,935 for the project. That is a 7.2 percent overage, which is within the 10 percent allowed by the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction.
Of the amount, $122,000 will be funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Calvert said. The remaining costs will be split between the city of West Point and Clay County.
In other business, the board authorized Clay County Chancery Clerk Amy Berry to advertise for a public hearing on the upcoming fiscal year budget.
The hearing will be held Sept. 15 at the Clay County Courthouse.
Currently, the base millage rate is 48.91, which is not expected to change, Berry said. Each of the county’s five districts also issue their own debt for road maintenance.
“On average, 49 mills is what you pay in Clay County,” Berry said. “That’s give or take depending on which district you live in.”
A Clay County mill is currently worth just over $114,000, Berry said. The value of a mill will increase to $115,842 when the new budget year begins Oct. 1.
The city of West Point’s millage rate will also stay the same as it is now. City selectmen set the millage rate during a special meeting Wednesday. The rate for the city and West Point School District is 94.81. Of that, 54.9 mills go to fund WPSD, with another 31.76 to be used for general city operations. The remainder is for the Bryan Public Library and debt service for both the city and school district.
Mayor Robbie Robinson said earlier this month that the value of a West Point mill was projected to increase from its current $75,000. In June, selectmen adopted a general fund budget of $7,710,789. in expenses between general government, the police and fire departments, public works and parks and recreation.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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