NATCHEZ &045; There’s nothing in the 1988 law that restructured county government that would bar Adams County supervisors from splitting their travel budget five ways, a top official at the State Auditor’s Office said Wednesday.

A motion that would divide county supervisors’ $30,000-a-year travel budget by five, giving each supervisor an equal amount to spend, failed 3-2 in a board meeting earlier this month. In making the motion for the second year in a row, Supervisor Henry Watts said supervisors, after spending $6,000 each, could still go to out-of-town meetings &045; but should be required to pay anything over the amount out of their own pockets

For the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, supervisors are already $8,000 over their travel budget.

Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said dividing the travel budget among districts would violate the county’s unit form of government, in which government operations are more centralized than in the old beat form of government.

But on Wednesday Rhuel Dickinson, director of the OSA’s Division of Technical Assistance, said, &uot;I don’t know of any reason they couldn’t divide the travel budget into subcategories as long as it’s in their general administrative budget.&uot;

If the board set up separate funds for each supervisor to draw from for various purposes, that’s when a legal problem would arise under the unit system, Dickinson said.

The law that required most counties to adopt the unit form of government &045; the County Government Reorganization Act of 1988 &045; only requires counties to adopt a centralized system of road administration, purchasing and personnel and to appoint county administrators, Dickinson said.

Grennell could not be reached for comment later Wednesday afternoon.