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Petitioners Work To Force Road Bond To An Election

By David Howell
Editor

WATER VALLEY – A petition circulating in District Three could force a general obligation bond issue to an election.

    The petition comes after an August 4 vote by supervisors to allow District Three Supervisor Butch Surrette to begin a notice of intent to issue the general obligation road and bridge bonds. In that meeting, held in Water Valley, Surrette said a 1992 bond issue had just been paid off, and he wanted to keep the same millage assessed and sell new bonds.

    The millage currently assessed to the 1992 bond was 1.9 mills. Surrette said he wanted to keep the same millage assessed, and District Three taxpayers would not see an increase or decrease in the millage rate they currently pay. A legal notice currently running in the North Mississippi Herald reads that the total number of bonds sold will not exceed $250,000.

    According to the legal notice, an election can be called if 20 percent of qualified electors in the District filed a written protest on or before 9 a.m. on September 2. Circuit Clerk Daryl Burney said that 20 percent of District Three voters total 384 people.

    A former District Three Supervisor, Bailey Walker, is going door to door seeking the signatures for the petition.

    “I think it ought to be before the people,” Walker said about the petition. “The other four supervisors are not asking for a bond issue, they are going to make it with their budget,” Walker said.

    “It certainly not personal, it is business,” reported Greg Jones, who is helping Walker gather signatures for the petition. In addition to operating Shelter Insurance Agency in Water Valley, Jones has property scattered all over the county.

“I pay in excess of $10,000 in taxes (annually) between city and county taxes,” Jones said, adding the petition is about demanding fiscal responsibility.

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