Walthall County supervisors believe the money they allocated for Region XI mental health will be sufficient for the coming year — mostly.
Board attorney Conrad Mord told the board Monday that Bill Rosamond, the state’s coordinator of mental health accessibility, is denying efforts to secede from the region.
Rosamond “told Adams County that pulling out of the mental health region is not viable,” Mord said. “He was going to tell Jefferson and Wilkinson counties the same thing.”
Walthall County adopted a budget last month that included $138,000 for Region XI’s Southwest Mississippi Mental Health Complex. That included $60,000 for continuing operations and $78,000 to help the region catch up on debt payments.
Those amounts would potentially have needed to rise if any or all of the counties balking at supporting the region succeeded in pulling out of it.
Mord told supervisors that, even with the counties likely staying put, there’s a possibility that the region and the state could come back for more money.
“What happens if one of those counties can’t come up with the money?” Mord said. “Y’all can help me worry. Not every county is in as good a shape as Walthall.”
In another matter, the board also voted to amend the start time for an employee pay raise that was budget for this year.
Retired county comptroller Cindy Ginn, filling in for the vacationing payroll clerk, asked the pay raises’ effective date be moved back from Oct. 2 to Sept. 25, the beginning of the current pay period..
“If we don’t change it, we’ll have to figure one week at the old rate and one week at the new rate,” Ginn said.
Supervisors unanimously approved the change.
In other business, the board:
• Enacted a burn ban for the county that county officials said would expire after sufficient rain.
• Fielded a complaint about dumping on Pittman Road and heard a request for ditching around a school bus turnaround to prevent washing, from resident John Magee.
• Learned a tire collection site in the county has taken in too many tires, including tires which are not eligible to be picked up for disposal by the county’s contractor.
• Paid a $15,725 involve to Southern Paving for airport improvements.
• Learned repairs to a sheriff’s department Ford Explorer could run from $2,000 to $6,000.
• Approved a $350 garbage credit.
• Amended the 2021-2022 budget to reflect actual revenues and expenditures.
• Approved an employee pay raise in executive session.
