Jackson Free Press

Hinds County is looking to dispute a $237,784 severance fee it owes the Pearl River Basin Development District. The state Legislature rendered the county's participation in the multi-county district optional in 2001, and several counties have since jumped ship, including Attala, Rankin and now Hinds. Supervisors voted 5-to-0 to pull out of the district two weeks ago, and must now face the more than $200,000 fee.

Supervisors voted Tuesday to have the board attorney Crystal Martin, county administrator Vern Gavin and board president George Smith fetch from the district a detailed analysis as to what's included in this final bill.

Supervisor Robert Graham said the county has been, for years, paying more than its fair share to the district. "I can't see how they've done anything in District 1 that was substantive," Graham said. "They spent $40,000 or $50,000 on a beaver control study, but I'm not sure if expenditures like that are justified during these economic times. We have to watch what we're spending and prioritize what we're spending to get the most advantages from an investment."

Supervisor Doug Anderson has long advocated the county pulling out of the district, and saw the recent economic downturn as a chance to push the issue. Graham, Anderson and others also criticized the district for not concentrating more on river upkeep instead of park and recreational improvement.

"The price for being in the district has grown over the years," Anderson said. "We once paid $200,000 and then $300,000 and we've been paying about $400,000 for the past four or five years. This last year, I believe we paid $408,000. "

The district's mandate includes maintenance work along the Pearl River, as well as upkeep and investment of parks and recreational facilities throughout participating counties. But supervisors complained during the Tuesday meeting that they believed Hinds County was only eligible for about $4,000 for local park and recreational projects.

"We were unsure of the amount of money we could apply for, and we'd thought all that money we invested was being spent for flood control along the Pearl. But then we discovered about six or seven years ago that the other counties were getting what we thought was an unfair share of that for walking trails and basketball goals and picnic areas and that kind of thing. We were getting back $4,000 for parks, but we'd just thought that the basin was spending much of that money on flood control and on dredging the Pearl, or things connected to the river which may not have been connected to Hinds County. It could have been upriver of us," Anderson said.

Pearl River Basin Development District Executive Director Mike Davis said the county got plenty of return from its investment, be it parks or river upkeep.

"I don't know why they say they didn't get enough," Davis said. "Look at the $280,000 we put to the ball field project in Raymond. Then there was the $20,000 for the Byram swinging bridge. This doesn't even include the maintenance of the Pearl River clearing project, which benefits (Hinds County) 80 percent."

Supervisors sought and gained opinion from a county auditor that they could fund the severance fee through a disbursement from the county oil and gas fund, a fund Hinds extracts from local fuel sales.

Graham said the county was already requesting paperwork to justify the severance fee. He was unwilling to comment on whether or not the board would succeed in talking down the price. "I've learned when it come to legal issues, never try to give an opinion as to what can and can't happen," he said.

Davis said the county owes that amount to finance the continuing maintenance of a Hinds County clearing project.

"They voted as a board five-to-nothing to pay the amount we requested. They actually knew the amount requested and they voted it up and moved on," Davis said, adding that the board is now requesting information that Davis had available to the board the day they voted to remove the county from district participation. "I had information on how that number was derived at that meeting. They didn't ask for it then."

The departure of Hinds County likely spells the end of the district.

"There's no getting around it," Davis said. "We've had numerous meetings with our board to find other means to continue the operation of the district, but with Hinds County pulling out, we're looking at the possibility of surviving as an agency only through June 2011. I'm surprised we can get through June 2010, but our fund balance has remained high because of uncompleted projects, which will keep us operating for another two years."

After that, there will be no governing body to maintain the clearing project along the Pearl River in Hinds and Rankin counties. Davis said the district will discuss future plans with the Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage Control District, a local semi-governing body charged with devising a flood control plan to avoid destruction similar in scope to the infamous 1979 Easter flood.

Davis hopes the Flood and Drainage Control District will agree to take the money in the district's trust fund to pay for future maintenance of the clearing project.