Where have you been?

The Public Hearing on the 2012-2013 Tunica County Budget brought lots of folks to the Courthouse last Thu, 30 Aug 2012. Most likely it was the advertised tax increase of 15.83%.


First, I must say, I don't think the amount of this increase is legal. I do believe our taxes may not be increased more then 3-5% per year...don't have confirmation on that yet. What I do know is that I have heard this 3-5% come out of Clifton Johnson's mouth at previous meetings.

And that's the point...where have you all been? A very few of us have been faithfully attending the Board of Supervisors' Meetings. We've been digging up information, sending letters, writing reports and making requests. Has this threat of a huge increase in your taxes moved you to action?

This debt has been piling on at an accelerated rate since the former Board of Supervisors agreed to approve the Schultz and GreenTech Projects. What have these projects done for the citizens of our County? During the approval process we asked if provisions were being made to "hire Tunicans first." Clifton Johnson told us if you can read and write and pass a drug test, you could get a job at these plants. Really?

This year our debt service for all projects was projected to be $3.417M and next year's projected debt service is being budgeted at $4.580M. Not exactly what you were told at the meeting is it?

And the Sheriff's budget: Why is it going up $350K?

And the Health Insurance: Why is it going up $200K? Did you think we would forget about this one Clifton?

And Adolescent Offenders: Why is it going up $73K? Anybody looking at what they are spending on food?

And Garbage and Solid Waste: Why is it going up $70K?

And then there is Tunica RiverPark and Tunica National: Together these two facilities are being budgeted to cost Tunicans about $2M with zero revenue coming back to the County. That's the facts.

Now to the emotions tied to these projects. I understand some folks in Tunica want to keep these facilities open. So, how do you intend to pay for them? What do you suggest if you don't want them closed? We can't afford them. We can at least agree on that. Personally, I don't want to pay a tax increase to keep facilities open that don't have a prayer of turning a profit or even breaking even.

And why was Tunica National built in the first place? Looks to me like Tunica National was built so the new subdivision behind it could be advertised as “Golf Course Living.” If the developers want it, let them pay for it. That’s my idea, what’s yours?

One final thought, please don't blame the new members of the Board of Supervisors for the mess they were left. These new Supervisors didn't vote for these plants and projects. The last Board of Supervisors couldn't even come to an agreement on redistricting and they made the conscious decision to pass that work onto this new Board too. You can rightfully blame Dunn, Burnett and Johnson for this mess but not Nickson, Daley or Phillis Williams.