NATCHEZ &045; With the area’s economic woes &045; including the closing of International Paper earlier this year &045; candidates for supervisor in Adams County are touting ways to cut expenses and increase revenues.

Those, the candidates said, range from tighter travel policies to ways to entice new industries to the area.

Candidates facing each other in the November general election include incumbent Sammy Cauthen and Jerry Lyles in District 1 and Brad Fondren and Henry Watts in District 2.

Sammy Cauthen

Incumbent Sammy Cauthen, who’s running for re-election as District 1 supervisor, said he’ll continue to look for ways to further cut the county’s budget.

At this point, &uot;we’ve trimmed as much as we can trim without firing a bunch of people,&uot; Cauthen said.

Although county officials thought layoffs might be necessary, it looks though that can be avoided during this fiscal year, especially with the loss of three positions due to retirement.

Still, Cauthen said there may be more opportunities to cut expenses in the future, and he will seek such opportunities if re-elected.

One example, he said, is the county’s road manager may be able to sell some pickup trucks.

Through an equipment buy-back program, the county is sometimes able to sell equipment at retail after using it for three years, &uot;and you can actually make money&uot; that way, Cauthen said.

As far as attracting industries &045; read, revenues &045; is concerned, Cauthen said that as a supervisor, he will work to make industrial prospects aware of incentives for new industries.

Those could include tax exemptions and industrial property the county has available, Cauthen said.

Jerry Lyles

District 1 supervisor candidate Jerry Lyles said that if elected, he would keep a close watch on the amount and use of county vehicles and equipment to make sure money isn’t being wasted.

He also said he would make sure prevention maintenance is done on equipment to save the costs of repairing or replacing such equipment in the future. &uot;And there may be ways to save in fuel and insurance, for instance,&uot; Lyles said.

Lyles added that he is in favor of looking at the energy costs, and the budget in general, to see &uot;where we could cut fat and be more conservative.&uot;

That process, he acknowledged, is already taking place to some extent, with county officials cutting well over $1 million to make ends meet, according to county officials.

On the revenue side, Lyles said he would constantly work to establish contacts with economic development agencies and possible industrial prospects to attract jobs.

Lyles said he is interested in researching federal government contracts that local businesses might be able to secure. In addition, he said he would support the development of recreation such as a equestrian center to bring in visitor dollars.

Brad Fondren

District 2 supervisor candidate Brad Fondren said he would investigate all county spending to determine where fat could be cut from the budget.

That’s not to say that some efforts have not already been made by local governments, he said.

&uot;There are probably more cuts to make, but obviously the aldermen and the Board of Supervisors made a concerted effort to cut the 2003-2004 budget,&uot; Fondren said.

Still, Fondren cited a recent campaign flier in which he said he would &uot;aggressively investigate all county spending, purchasing, hiring and funding policies.&uot;

Fondren also said he would vote to cut his own salary by one third &uot;until the county’s budget crisis is solved.&uot;

As far as raising revenues is concerned, Fondren said he would work with the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority to help market the county’s amenities to prospects.

&uot;We have the river and our port facilities, and we have an asset in a trainable workforce that’s willing to work,&uot; Fondren said.

But perhaps the best thing supervisors can do to attract business and industry, he said, is to keep a close eye on finances &uot;and run this county right.&uot;

Henry Watts

To cut county expenses, District 2 supervisor candidate Henry Watts said he would research consolidating some city and county services.

&uot;We’re partly consolidated already with city-county rural fire protection,&uot; he said.

Watts said he is in favor of liquidating any unused county vehicles and equipment and is researching possible advantages of going back to the beat system of county government instead of the current unit system. &uot;Of course, that’s something the people would have to vote on,&uot; Watts said.

Watts also said he is in favor of putting a strict travel expense policy in place for both supervisors and county employees.

With regards to increasing county revenues, Watts said one of his first priorities would be to make sure that the county negotiates a share of the revenues from a casino development being proposed for Natchez by developer Charles Cato.&uot;The county, in my opinion, needs to be at the bargaining table,&uot; Watts said.

With such gaming revenues coming in, he added, &uot;the county might even be able to lower taxes or go back to two-day-a-week garbage pickup.&uot; The county could also use the revenues to offset the expense of operating the port, he said.