District 4 Supervisor Phil Fisher was the lone dissenting vote on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors this morning when the board voted to borrow $1.5 million to cover a budget shortfall for the 2009 fiscal year, which ends today. While discussion of the move was limited at today's meeting, Fisher told the Jackson Free Press Sept. 29 that he would oppose the loan out of principle.
"I don't reward irresponsible spending with irresponsible borrowing," Fisher said.
Supervisors voted 3-to-1 to accept a loan from Regions Bank to make up declining property tax revenue, which has suffered in the dismal economic climate. Fisher, the Board's only Republican, voted against taking out the loan. District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham was not in attendance.
The county has already funneled $6 million generated through property reappraisal and $943,000 from its public works budget into the general fund, Fisher said. A fiscal conservative, he opposed using so much new money to pay for the county's operations.
"That's why this budget is so broken," Fisher said. "That's why the county's in the position it's in."
District 2 Supervisor Peggy Calhoun called the loan "necessary."
"Because of the shortfall in taxes, we did not collect enough money to pay all of our bills," Calhoun said.
She also disputed Fisher's criticism of the new money in the county's budget.
"We had a very lean budget for last year," Calhoun said. "The shortfall in taxes caused the discrepancy in what was budgeted."
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