NATCHEZ &045; A July 1 Natchez-Adams School Board public hearing is likely to bring news the public doesn’t want to hear.

A reduction in ad valorem taxes due to multiple plant closures in the county and additional costs including teacher pay raises and insurance increases have left the district with no other choice but to consider raising property taxes, Board Chairman Norris Edney said.

The district has already let go as many teachers as it can in order to save salary money and will continue to cut back on supplies and purchases, but that may not be enough.

&uot;We are talking pennies and we need dollars,&uot; Edney said.

If any teachers resign or relocate in the coming months the board will consider a hiring freeze, but Edney said officials were already looking at bare-bone numbers.

Currently the district receives 45.47 mills for operational costs. The board is considering raising that number to 47.46. The highest number allowed by law is 55 mills.

Last fiscal year the board received 45.21 mills for operational costs. In 1994-1995 that number was 40.55.

Board attorney Bruce Kuehnle said the board did not ask for as many mill increases in the past years as they could have.

&uot;Maybe, now, that doesn’t look so smart with what we are faced with at this point,&uot; Kuehnle said.

But Edney said the goal of the board was never to raise taxes.

&uot;Without divine revelation we would be where we are now,&uot; Edney said. &uot;No one knew IP was going to close. The plants were eternal to me.&uot;

Kuehnle agreed the current problems could not have been predicted.

&uot;This board has been pretty frugal,&uot; Kuehnle said. &uot;We are getting caught with a double whammy.&uot;

In addition to the loss of tax revenue, the district must find $1,375,750 to pay the costs of an average 8 percent pay raise for teachers, an assistant teacher pay raise and a health insurance increase.

Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the bulk of state money the district receives, was increased by $147,918 this year, but Director of Business and Finance Margaret Parsons said that wasn’t enough to cover the costs including the pay raise.

&uot;We don’t have an option to say we won’t give 8 percent,&uot; Edney said.

Districts across the state have rainy day funds they started at the request of the state government a few years ago. At the end of the 2002-2003 fiscal year the Natchez-Adams district had just over $3.5 million in the fund.

The fund will be used to cover the $1.2 million lost in ad valorem taxes on the local level, but Edney said dipping into the remainder of the fund was not really an option.

&uot;All schools have a rainy day fund, but the question is, if in fact you do have a rainy day what do you do when it rains?,&uot; Edney said.

Edney said money must be set aside for emergencies, like a broken boiler.

The district also has a portion of the money set aside to purchase school buses, since the only buses currently used are through a contracted service with Durham Bus Services.

Edney stressed even though times are tough financially the district will not cut back on the quality of education.

&uot;The children in the system will be taught,&uot; he said. &uot;Even in the grind we find ourselves in. We don’t have an option on that side.&uot;

The public hearing on the budget situation will be July 1 at 4 p.m. in the boardroom at the Central Office Building, Braden.

The board will vote on a final budget at their next regular meeting, July 8.

A request for increased mills must be given to the county by Aug. 15.