NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams School District is fighting a Natchez man’s appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court over the district’s decision to proceed with a 3-mill tax note to fund $9 million in school improvements.

In the latest filing in an ongoing court battle over funding for a new high school building and renovations to the existing high school building, the school district is asking the court to consider whether the Adams County Circuit Court has authority to review any aspect of the school board’s decision to issue the 3-mill tax note to fund the school improvements.

Natchez-Adams School District vs. Kevin Wilson et al was filed Jan. 15 in the office of the clerk of the Mississippi Supreme Court of Appeals as a petition for interlocutory appeal, meaning the appeal is filed while other matters in the case are still pending before the courts.

The school board’s appeal is just the latest filing in a court battle that has been building ever since voters defeated a measure at the polls in 2017 that would have allowed the school board to issue $35 million in bonds to fund construction of a new high school and improvements to other school buildings in the school district.

The school board’s appeal is filed as the Supreme Court is considering Wilson’s Supreme Court appeal of a chancery court ruling last year that would allow the school board to proceed with a limited 3-mill tax note to raise $9 million to fund improvements despite the similar bond issue measure being rejected by voters in 2017.

The interlocutory appeal asks the Supreme Court to consider “whether the Adams County Circuit Court erred in finding that it has subject matter jurisdiction to review any aspect of the proceedings of the board of trustees relating to the sale, issuance and/or validation of the limited tax notes.

“Secondarily, if the Circuit Court of Adams County does have such subject matter jurisdiction, whether the issues reserved by the circuit court are res judicata (redundant) by virtue of the ruling of the Adams County Chancery Court validating said limited tax notes.”

The interlocutory appeal also asks that “preceedings in the Circuit Court of Adams County, Mississippi, should be stayed pending this court’s decision on appeal so as to avoid unnecessary expense of discovery and trial preparation relating to issues which have already been adjudicated by the Chancery Court of Adams County, Mississippi, and are on appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court.”

As the dueling lawsuits are filed, however, school improvements are left in limbo and legal costs are mounting.

Case history

May 23, 2017

Voters rejected a $35 million bond referendum put forth by the Natchez-Adams School District that would have funded construction of a new high school and funded renovations to the existing high school building.

On July 26, 2017

Despite voters’ rejection of bond measure, the school board on July 26, 2017, adopted a resolution to proceed with issuing $9 million in limited tax notes “to be repaid by a special tax not to exceed 3 mills on the dollar of accessed value of taxable property with the district.”

The measure also included $25 million in a lease agreement to build a new high school and renovate many existing buildings.

Aug. 3, 2017

Wilson, a Natchez resident and businessman, filed a lawsuit in the Sixth District Circuit Court challenging the school board’s decision to proceed with the 3-mill tax note and hinging on events of a July 20 school board meeting to discuss the issue that ended after the meeting devolved in to a melee.

Wilson’s lawsuit contends, the school board improperly adjourned the meeting and failed to vote on the matter as outlined by the public notice published to give citizens a chance to dispute the matter.The lawsuit further states the board failed to notify the public “15 days prior to the date upon which the school board is to take final action upon the question of authorizing the borrowing of said money.”

Also stemming from that July 20 meeting, Wilson and his wife, Dana, filed lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Western Division against school board member Philip West, activist Jacqueline L. Marsaw and the NASD board of trustees.

That lawsuit claims the defendants slandered them by “repeatedly, intentionally, maliciously and negligently stating with hate before the public that the plaintiffs were racist and were taking racist actions.”

The court has since rejected motions from the defendants to dismiss those cases and the lawsuits continue to work through the system.

Sept. 17, 2017

The Natchez-Adams School District filed a motion seeking to have Wilson’s circuit court challenge of the limited 3-mill tax note issuance dismissed, claiming the Sixth District Circuit Court did not have proper jurisdiction for the case.

Wilson filed a response to that motion to dismiss on Oct. 30, 2017.

Dec. 21, 2017

The NASD filed a proceeding in Adams County Chancery Court for the validation of the 3-mill tax note.

Jan. 26, 2018

Wilson filed an objection to the 3-mill tax note validation proceeding.

Feb. 26, 2018

The NASD filed a motion to dismiss Wilson’s objection or to transfer the matter to a bill of exception proceeding for a hearing in Sixth District Circuit Court where the matter was heard on March 12 and at the conclusion of the hearing was taken under advisement, according to the interlocutory case file.

Meanwhile, the Adams County Chancery Court set a 3-mill note validation proceeding for an April 25, 2018, hearing where all objections to the 3-mill note validation were heard.

July 9, 2018

The Adams County Chancery Court issued final judgment in favor of the NASD for the 3-mill note to proceed.

Wilson filed an appeal of that chancery court decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which is still pending on the Mississippi Supreme Court docket as number 2018-TS-01049, according to the interlocutory case.

Dec. 26, 2018

The Sixth District Circuit Court “entered its order with respect to the motion of the NASD to dismiss the petition for bill of exceptions for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. … ruling…that the Chancery Court of Adams County ‘clearly has jurisdiction over the issuance and sale, and validation of bonds,’” the interlocutory case states. “The circuit court further held that ‘all claims for relief dealing with the taxpayer objections and validation of the 3-mill note are transferred to the chancery court, which have already been heard and ruled on and is [sic] now moot.’”

Interlocutory appeal

The above Dec. 26, 2018, decision is the basis of NASD’s Jan. 15 interlocutory appeal to the Supreme Court.

“Despite these findings, the circuit court denied the NASD’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or transfer to the Chancery Court of Adams County on three issues that it concluded were not related to the validation of the notes proceedings,” the interlocutory appeal states.

“The circuit court retained jurisdiction to deal with ‘the allegations of publication of the Natchez-Adams School District initial notice not being a complete period of fifteen days prior to the final action; the improper adjourning of the July 20, 2017, meeting by the Board President without proper authority and vote and the purported “special meeting” of July 26, 2017, when the final action was taken, without providing actual or constructive notice to the petitioners are within the circuit court’s jurisdiction are not clearly excluded.’

“The Circuit Court of Adams County reached this conclusion even though the specific issues it purports to retain jurisdiction over were definitively addressed by the chancery court order dated July 6, 2018, and which is the subject of an appeal by Mr. Wilson before this court as docket number 2018-TS-01049. …”

Calls and messages seeking comments for this article from attorneys for the Natchez-Adams School District and Kevin Wilson were not returned.