Oktibbeha supervisors temporarily shift use-tax and unassigned bond funds to cover district road shortfalls

Oktibbeha County supervisors agreed in a work session to use short-term internal financing to keep road construction projects moving, voting to borrow from the county use-tax cash balance and to appropriate some unassigned bond funds to cover immediate shortfalls.

The board debated three funding gaps on contracts already issued notices to proceed: a grouped District 2 road package (including Rockill Road East and other local routes), a shortfall on New Light Road, and a $169,000 change order for a TPST at Robinson Moore High for which District 2's share was reported as about $84,500. County staff told the board that locking the bids now preserves current prices, and delaying work risks higher costs when contractors restart.

Mr. Collins, the county projects presenter, told the board the District 2 package had been grouped to lock prices and that the grouping left a roughly $1.9 million shortfall after accounting for previously allocated funds; the transcript contains garbled figures for the precise total, so the exact shortfall should be confirmed in the official minutes and accounting records.

Faced with contractors ready to begin and notices to proceed already issued, supervisors weighed options including having a supervisor front costs for later reimbursement, moving $54,000 from unassigned bond funds, and borrowing temporarily from the use-tax cash balance. A staff calculation presented during the meeting estimated a near-term cash gap of about $45,000 to fully cover the immediate bills; supervisors discussed using state-aid funds or use-tax cash to fill that gap.

Supervisor Frank moved to authorize a temporary transfer from the county use-tax cash balance to pay contractors for projects with notices to proceed, with the intent that the use-tax account would be replenished once the new bond proceeds are received. Supervisor William seconded the motion. The motion was recorded in the transcript as passing (transcribed as "motion passes 4-0"). The board also agreed to appropriate $251,000 from unassigned bond funds to cover New Light Road’s remaining shortfall and to reallocate remaining balances as needed to cover the Robinson TPST obligation.

Road manager Victor (identified in the meeting) and other staff said materials and staging costs are significant and time-sensitive — for one preparatory job staff cited roughly $40,000 in immediate material costs and $138,000 total material cost for a full job — and emphasized that construction season and material lead times argue for moving forward.

Supervisors directed staff to prepare clear written motion language, have contract and change-order language ready for the next meeting, and present final, itemized estimates from county road staff so the board can document appropriations and replenishment plans when bond proceeds arrive. The board also asked Mr. Collins and bond counsel to finalize options for the pending bond issuance and return with timelines and precise amounts.

The meeting record notes an outstanding item: Cross Point Church had submitted a permit request for a sewer tie-in; engineering review was reported as pending and the board did not take final action on that request pending receipt of the complete engineering submittal.

The supervisors closed by thanking staff and emphasizing the need to keep substantive items on the public agenda so the public and county staff have time to review details before votes.