The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors have approved the annual budget for Starkville's leading economic development authority at a meeting Monday morning.
The Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority's newly approved budget sits at $806,200, and includes money received from the city's 2 percent food and beverage tax. OCEDA nets $291,748 from the special tax, something OCEDA President Jack Wallace said was extremely helpful for the group.
"The revenue really makes up for some of the existing deficits within the budget," Wallace told supervisors on Monday.
Last year, the city collected $1.84 million from the special tax. Revenue from the tax is distributed to the Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Starkville Parks and Recreation, OCEDA, Mississippi State University and the city's general fund.
SPRD receives 40 percent of the revenue collected, followed by 20 percent for various MSU student groups; coupled with 15 percent each for SCVB and OCEDA. The remaining 10 percent is deposited to the city's general fund.
OCEDA oversees operations at the Thad Cochran Research Park, and leases spaces to various businesses and private partners.
"We appreciate everything that OCEDA does for the area," said District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery.
The authority also executes the $100,000 contract on behalf of the city and county with the GTR LINK for recruiting economic development prospects in the area. The agreement was started in 2012. Last year, the city and LINK mutually decided to forgo future retail recruitment.
In this year's budget, $285,000 will go towards major building repairs in the research park, Wallace said. The allotted funding is up from $115,900 for building repairs last year, according to OCEDA budget data.
After the short budget presentation, Wallace thanked the board for its help in securing the industrial park site.
Efforts on the site near the Highway 389 and Highway 82 interchange will pick up later this month, and officials hope to begin construction on the site in the spring of 2017, while marketing the site for a tentative opening in 2018. All rezoning and land transactions must occur at the site before construction can begin.