Starkville aldermen have continuously cut outside contributions to the Mississippi Horse Park this term and will do so again in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2015-2016 budget.
Documents released by the city show aldermen again cut the contribution to the Mississippi State University-tied entity again by $10,000, as the organization will receive $20,000 in the upcoming budgetary year after requesting $75,000.
Since FY 2013’s $50,000 allocation, aldermen have cut its yearly giving to the Mississippi Horse Park $10,000 each year.
In all, the city will fund $414,000 in combined outside contributions. That total is down from the current fiscal year’s $1.36 million because a $940,400 line item for the Starkville Park Commission was removed after the city’s takeover of the system. Those funds represent the entity’s cut of revenue generated by Starkville’s 2 percent food and beverage tax. They no longer fall under the outside contribution category since parks are now under direct city control.
Factoring out the SPC line item from the current fiscal year’s budget and comparing it to the upcoming year’s total, the city has allocated $9,723 less for outside contributions.
Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard, who chairs the city’s budget committee, said the continued cuts to the Horse Park do not indicate a lack of support for the entity. They are fiscally prudent, he said, since the organization is capable of standing on its own.
“Unlike the library and other groups, the Horse Park has the ability to generate revenue. The board appreciates all of the activity it generates,” he said. “It is my hope that we can have that much success generating activity at our city facilities.”
Future cuts, he said, are not planned at this time. Oktibbeha County supervisors again pledged $50,000 for the organization. County Administrator Emily Garrard said the board has not cut funding for the Horse Park this term.
When the Horse Park opened in 1999, both the city and county made multi-year pledges of at least $100,000.
Its director, Bricklee Miller, said she understood the outside contributions were not always guaranteed when she took over in 2000.
“We are grateful for the support the city and county have given us over the years and feel this collaboration has been mutually beneficial for all parties involved,” she said. “No public agricenter in the country is self-sustaining. A strong, long-range management plan has prepared us for the budget cuts, and we will operate under normal circumstances.”
Miller said the Horse Park’s 42 multi-day events attracted more than 40,000 attendees and created $2.6 million in economic development.
City budgetary documents show line items for 20 individual requests for contributions, donations and transfers to various services. Of those requests, only three entities — the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District’s meal-delivery program, Oktibbeha-Starkville Emergency Response Volunteer Services and Heritage Museum — received the allocations they sought.
Other allocations
Most of the city’s FY 2015-2016 outside requests were funded at their current levels. Those allocations include: the Boys and Girls Club ($5,000), Brickfire Project ($5,000), Volunteer Starkville ($2,500), GTPDD home-delivered meals ($8,698), Safe Haven ($1,500), OSERVES ($5,000), chamber of commerce ($20,000), Heritage Museum ($5,000), OCH ambulance service ($15,000), Humane Society ($106,000), Starkville Area Arts Council ($3,500), Starkville Community Theater ($3,500), Starkville Symphony ($3,500) and MSU shuttle support ($3,500).
The countywide library system will see its annual allocation increase from $170,400 to $175,400 after the entity requested $190,400, while a new line item was added for a Main Street award match ($7,500)
Three other organizations — Bonafied Southernbelles, Girl Scouts, KMG Creations, and Starkville High School’s JROTC program — received no funding after asking for a combined $1,750. KMG Creations, a dance company in Starkville, was previously allocated $500 in the last two fiscal years.
It was unclear if a GTPDD transportation request for $32,500 was granted after the city previously pledged $27,626 last year.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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