NATCHEZ &045;&045; An ordinarily straight-faced group of men was on the verge of giggles even before Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell looked up at an empty room and asked if there were any public comments at Thursday’s public hearing on the county budget.

When the empty chairs said nothing in response, every face at the head table wore a big grin.

The public hearing was a formality required by law before the board can pass a 2004-2005 budget &045;&045; a budget that will not require a tax increase.

That lack of an increase was the most obvious explanation for the empty chairs.

&uot;I think the public is more or less commending the board and the county for its budget that did not include a tax increase, even with the things we faced, the closing of IP, Johns Manville and other economic losses,&uot; Grennell said.

&uot;The public appreciates that we were able to pull through without an increase.&uot;

The county announced last week that they had made enough cuts in the coming year’s budget to avoid a tax increase despite a reduction in tax revenue based on the tax rolls.

County Administrator Charlie Brown said 30 departments, out of a total of 62, had to cut their budgets.

Sheriff Ronny Brown was on hand Thursday to thank the board for working with his department throughout the budgeting process.

The sheriff’s department had one of the largest cuts, Brown has said.

&uot;We are going to work within it the best we can,&uot; Brown said.

Supervisor Henry Watts asked that the board meet with the department heads again in six months to make sure they were staying on budget.

&uot;We can look at ways to cut the budget now (when they meet) and not wait until May or June,&uot; Watts said. &uot;Have them come in six months and see if they’ve over spent or under spent.&uot;

In other business the board passed a resolution honoring the memory of former Governor Kirk Fordice, who died this week.

The resolution was delivered to the Capitol building in Jackson to be given to the Fordice family.

The board also approved the placement of speed humps on Starnes Drive.

All residents on the street signed a petition asked for the humps.

The board will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday for the final public hearing on the budget before they pass the proposed $16,737,163 budget. Last year’s budget was $17,023,338.

The Natchez-Adams School District has already levied a 6.36-mill tax increase to meet their budget.