Pike County supervisors Wednesday delayed action until next week on hiring a financial adviser for the construction of a new county jail after one board member expressed hesitation.
Supervisors want to hire an adviser to review county finances and determine which method of financing — a general obligation bond or a lease-purchase agreement — is the best option for the county and whether either is affordable for a project that’s expected to cost tens of millions ofdollars.
“We’ve been meeting with advisers about the possibility of building a jail in Pike County,” board president Jake Gazzo said. “It’s just for them to advise us which route, if any, that we have,”
Supervisors have heard proposals from two firms in recent weeks, Government Consultants and Municipal Advisors of Mississippi. If hired, the advisers’ compensation would be less than 2% of the overall cost of the project.
Supervisor Robert Accardo suggested the board hire Government Consultants, which he said appeared to have been in business longer and had a “robust” list of services and a proven track record.
“One of the things that’s important to us is to do this wisely. We don’t want to obligate this county to anything until this project is certain,” Accardo said.
But supervisor Tazwell Bowsky said he wanted to hear more proposals.
“I don’t know right now you should make a decision on which one,” he said. “Make sure we have discussions with all of them that have different points of view to see what these companies will do for us.”
Bowsky, the longest-serving member on the board, said the county has never hired consultants for previous projects.
“If you look at it, we haven’t had any financial advisers as long as I’ve been on the board, and when you all took over the board, this county was in pretty good shape,” Bowsky said.
Bowsky then moved on to the subject of a juvenile detention center, which the county does not have and suggested the county look into acquiring the National Guard armory in McComb once a new armory is built in the Gateway Industrial Park.
“That is a McComb, Mississippi, and Pike County, Mississippi, project that we could do,” he said.
Returning to the topic at hand, Gazzo asked Bowsky if he wanted to talk to both consultants again.
“I just want us to agree on it,” Bowsky said.
“I agree, 100 percent,” Gazzo said.
“We don’t want to get into anything that’s going to put the taxpayers in any unnecessary burden,” Hall said.
He suggested the board revisit the matter when it meets again Monday.
“I think the biggest value the advisers will bring would be relationships” with bankers and other financial professionals, county Administrator Tami Dangerfield said.
Supervisor Lee Fortneberry noted that hiring a financial adviser won’t come with any upfront costs.
“What we’re doing here is no charge, just seeing if we can afford it, what the cost is going to be,” he said.
