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NATCHEZ — A full board room attended the Natchez Adams School District Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, when the district hosted a public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which includes a proposed 3 percent increase in ad valorem tax contributions.

Those in attendance asked general questions about the budget, with some questioning whether the district could afford to cut more costs.

Henry Watts, a former Adams County Supervisor, asked about the $16 million loss in district revenue from the FY 2025 budget, which school officials say came from a decrease in state and federal funding.

Officials said a 3 percent increase is estimated to bring another $400,000 in revenue to the district, which is a drop in the hat compared to the $16 million lost in other funds.

But Watts argued that large developments announced in recent months like Hobby Lobby in the Tracetown shopping center should result in more tax revenue and a reduction in taxes to the individual taxpayer.

“Hobby Lobby is talking about investing $40 million,” Watts said. “If you take the ad valorem of that $40 million … that should be excess cash flow coming … plus another shopping center coming next to Walmart. … It looks to me in the future you all are going to have a bigger cash flow because you can’t exempt school taxes.”

Kevin Wilson, who is the president of the Adams County Board of Supervisors, questioned the district’s Per-Pupil Expenditure (PPE), an amount that is calculated by taking all of the district’s expenses apart from construction and other one-time purchases and dividing it by the average daily attendance.

The district calculated its PPE at $18,090 in 2024, which is up from $16,930 in 2023.

The Mississippi Department of Education calculated NASD’s PPE to be $14,948.93 in 2024 and $14,279.46 in 2023, which Superintendent Zandra McDonald said is based only on instruction costs and not building expenses.

Even so, Wilson said the PPE is higher than most districts. “Take Vicksburg, for example. They are way less than we are and they have 7,500 students.”

NASD’s business manager Timothy Byrd said NASD ranks 30th out of 147 school districts for PPE in Mississippi. “So we’re not the best but we’re definitely not the worst,” he said. “Number 30 is not too bad out of 147, but we’re working hard to do better every year.”

Wilson also questioned the need to leave the former Robert Lewis Magnet School and Joseph Frazier Elementary Schools standing, saying that they were adding a needless expense to the district for utilities and maintenance.

“We were under the impression that these buildings would be torn down and we’d no longer have to maintain them,” Wilson said. “It just seems like they’d be a big drag on the school board financially.”

However, McDonald said the district had to consider the historic value of the schools.

Frazier is being utilized by the Pretty Girls with Brains organization to provide community enrichment and recreation programs.

“We’re looking to do the same with Robert Lewis,” McDonald said of leasing the building to community organizations. “We want to make certain that they’re not vandalized and that we put something in those locations. … We’ve had community members request that those buildings not be torn down, so we’re trying to be conscious of those requests as well.”

Wilson also argued that as the county’s tax base continues to decline as people pass away or move to other cities, the district needs to look at more ways to cut costs and lower taxes rather than increase them.

“Losing all those people that were paying taxes, not only are we grieving them but we’re starting to realize the effect that has,” he said. “And the other thing that is happening in Adams County is most of our kids go off to college and they don’t come back. They end up somewhere else and eventually they have children and the grandparents start leaving. … It’s getting harder and harder for the people who are here to pay their taxes.”

The last thing Wilson questioned was whether the district could afford to delete any more employee positions.

“The salaries are killing us, because we’re having to pay all of that money into PERS (Public Employee Retirement System),” he said. “I know PERS is probably the biggest expense you all have in salaries because it is with the county. It’s like a ball and chain around your neck. You’re going down and there is nothing you can do about it.”

McDonald said she and the school board members are also Adams County taxpayers and have the same concerns.

The requested tax increase for 2026 would generate $14.815 million.

Last year, for the 2025 levy, the district requested a 1 percent increase and received $14.384 million.

McDonald said the district had previously not requested an increase in taxes since 2021.

In 2021, the district received $14.2 million in tax levy funding. McDonald said a county error reduced the 2022 tax levy funding to $13.955 million, which was below the district’s requested amount.

The 2023 and 2024 tax levies generated $14.246 million for the district each year.

“That’s despite insurance costs increasing by $1 million and transportation increasing by $300,000,” McDonald said. “Internally, we’ve looked at where we could decrease expenses through attrition. If someone is retiring or there is someone who has resigned a position, we share those responsibilities with those who remain with the district.”