Mississippi Business Journal » appropriations

State’s tax collections come in under expectations

Associated Press — Sun, 05 May 2013 18:56:29 +0000

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi tax collections were $46 million, or 8.2 percent, below the estimate for the month of April. Kathy Waterbury, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue, said the majority of drop may be due to timing of receipts and processing. “We won’t know for certain until all of the income tax [...]

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Auditor releases annual report on costs of Legislature

Associated Press — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 22:54:47 +0000

JACKSON — Just like any business or state agency, the Mississippi Legislature needs supplies, staff and equipment to operate. Lawmakers need coffee to jump-start the day. From April 12, 2011 to May 3 of this year, it took $22,056 of coffee and $13,406 of bottled water to wet the whistles of legislators, staff members and [...]

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Public schools to ask for $320M increase to 2014 budget

Associated Press — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:15:55 +0000

JACKSON — Mississippi’s public school system will seek an additional $320 million for the 2014 budget year, according to figures released yesterday. Each year, the state Board of Education must compute the amount called for under the state’s kindergarten through grade 12 funding formula, called the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. Under the 1997 law that [...]

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Auditor tells Coast city leaders to stay out of reserves

Associated Press — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:54:45 +0000

OCEAN SPRINGS — Auditors have told Ocean Springs to avoid — if they can — dipping in cash reserves in preparing a new city budget. City leaders borrowed $1.7 million from the city’s reserves last year, leaving $822,000. Auditors told the board of aldermen that good financial practices recommend a reserves balance of $2.7 million [...]

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Coast city must make cuts; facing multi-million-dollar deficit

Associated Press — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:27:32 +0000

GULFPORT — Gulfport city officials are being told they are going to have to make millions of dollars in spending cuts. Gulfport is on track to end this fiscal year with a $1 million deficit that could climb to $4 million in 2013, finance director Mike Necaise said. The problems include revenue shortfalls and increased [...]

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MDA leads all state entities in travel abroad

Associated Press — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:58:13 +0000

JACKSON — The Mississippi Development Authority is far and away the state’s leader in government travel abroad. At least 57 MDA officials since fiscal year 2004 have made hundreds of trips spanning the globe, all in the name of economic development. Officials have made trips to aviation shows in France, England and Germany; to the [...]

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Valley State laying off staff due to state budget cuts

Associated Press — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:00:17 +0000

ITTA BENA — Mississippi Valley State University is laying off about 4 percent of its staff as a response to continued state budget cuts. Spokeswoman TaRessa Stoval tells The Greenwood Commonwealth the 21 employees being laid off include clerical personnel, service personnel and mid-level managers. The cuts take effect June 30. She says the affected [...]

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Capital City residents to pay more taxes to support schools

Associated Press — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:10:58 +0000

JACKSON — Jackson residents will soon pay more in taxes supporting the city’s school district. When 81 percent of voters in 2006 approved a $150 million bond issue to build more schools and improve others, it meant they were willing to have property taxes raised to pay that debt. But city leaders didn’t raise taxes [...]

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State tax collections exceed forecast, but agencies still face budget cuts

Associated Press — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:19:53 +0000

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi tax collections are up, but lawmakers say state agencies still might face budget cuts during the 2013 session. Because of a sluggish economy, Mississippi still hasn’t recovered from the Great Recession. Tax collections remain below where they were during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2008. The Northeast Mississippi Daily [...]

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City budgets $175K to finance proposed annexation

Associated Press — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:57:33 +0000

PASCAGOULA — An additional $175,000 will come out of the Pascagoula general fund this fiscal year to finance annexation. The Mississippi Press reports city leaders approved the budget amendment. The city’s plan to annex about 21 square miles east of the city got rolling in fall 2010, and has been a subject of debate ever [...]

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