Jackson Free Press

The Jackson City Council agreed to transfer $250,000 in forfeited drug money to the police department's budget in a Dec. 18 meeting. The money will finance uniforms, generators for precincts, police gear and an attorney who will provide legal representation "directly to the police department," according to Administration Director Rick Hill.

"In addition to providing legal advice to the police department, (the attorney) will be working on freeing up the forfeiture fund. The attorney will pay for himself," Hill told the council.

Council members were wary of giving the go-ahead on the budget transfer in the Monday work session, but approved the transfer at the Tuesday regular meeting.

Hill said Police Chief Malcolm McMillin had recommended more uniforms and gear after looking over the department. Hill added that the forfeiture fund contained almost $1 million, with $250,000 available now and another $150,000 "available soon." The money is only available for purchases relating to the city police department.

Council members heard that the city is still facing a daunting backlog of street repairs at the Monday work session.

"Many of Jackson's streets have not been re-surfaced for over 25 years," said Department of Public Works Director Thelman Boyd.

Boyd explained that the city is responsible for maintaining more than 1,100 miles of streets, and more than 150 miles of those are in critical need of resurfacing, at an estimated cost of $29 million. More than 30 miles of Jackson streets need reconstruction work, which usually involves tearing up the road and removing a significant amount of clay underneath, at an additional cost of about $39 million. A tally of the city's total required resurfacing and reconstruction, added to the costs of critical bridge repair, leaves the city with $75 million in needed repairs.

"Unfortunately, the city has been able to spend only about $1 million annually over the past 10 years for street resur-facing," Boyd told the council, adding that the city risks adding to its "reconstruction" list if it doesn't address resurfacing needs soon.

In 2005, the city spent as little as $200,000, resulting in only six miles of resurfaced streets. The city spent $800,000 in 2006, resurfacing seven miles of streets. The City Council approved a fee increase aimed directly at police salaries and road repair in 2006, resulting in $2 million in expenditures for street resurfacing, though that expenditure resulted in only one extra mile (a total of 8 miles) in street resurfacing, according to public works data.

The council balked at the $75 million figure, with McLemore saying the city would have to speak further on the matter in the near future.

"We've been pressing and pressing this issue for years," McLemore said.

Boyd suggested the city could push for some sort of gasoline tax to generate new revenue for street repair. A 1-cent tax on gasoline sold in the city would generate an estimated $500,000 a year for repairs.

The move would require legislative approval, however, and legislators representing the city say a possible gas tax increase was not part of the city's lobbying package for the upcoming legislative session.