Local legislators could know by next week if three major Oktibbeha County projects will get state funding after the Mississippi Senate unveils its final major bond bill.
The funding requests—totaling around $20 million—include: a new Starkville-Oktibbeha County Consolidated School District-Mississippi State University partnership school, a substation for the Mississippi Highway Patrol's Troop G headquarters and renovating the Starkville Police Department building.
The requests now sit with Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, according to District 37 Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus.
A Senate proposal is expected next week, Chism added.
"We will probably know something for sure on Monday or Tuesday but I don't expect us to know before then," Chism said.
Chism was confident both the partnership school and highway patrol projects would receive at least partial funding.
"I think the Lt. Governor has a favorable opinion of both the MHP bill and the partnership school," Chism said. "I think [MSU President Mark Keenum] has done an excellent job telling [Reeves] how important that is."
The partnership school request includes a three-way financing plan to build a sixth and seventh grade campus for all county students. MSU previously committed $10 million for the project.
District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said he's hopeful for the funding requests, but couldn't specify final funding amounts. If the partnership school funding isn't allocated, it will get submitted in the next session, Roberson said.
"I think that we are going to have a bond bill that our local projects will be included in," Roberson said. "What that will look like is very hard for me to say. I don't want to say anything that's going to harm them."
The $6 million request from lawmakers for the MHP headquarters came after the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority donated a parcel of land.
The fate of the SPD remodeling plan remains unclear, Chism said.
"I doubt the [SPD] bill makes it unless it's included with a bunch of other things," Chism said.
It's possible the funding request could be filled under a separate bill relating to historic properties, he said.
"It may be in competition with other cities for other historically labeled properties," Chism said. "It won't be specific, but it would be in a bigger bill that would deal with a range of options."
City officials approved $3 million for the SPD renovations, but costs increased and now sit over $5 million for the intensive redesign plan.
Aldermen previously asked the state for $2.4 million in funding.
During the final remodeling presentation in February, officials said the city could start the project by approving additional financing options or possibly narrow the project to meet the available budget.
Legislators are in for a busy week, after individual bond bills passed by the House stalled in the Senate this session.
The conversations between the House and Senate leadership could impact what the final bond bill looks like, Roberson said. Legislative leaders have been discussing various tax cuts, from eliminating the franchise tax to weighing options of reducing or striking income taxes.
"One of the bargaining chips the leadership feels like they have is to use the bond bill as a chip to negotiate some of this stuff," Roberson said. "It's not how I would prefer dealing with this, but it's where we are at right now."
Roberson isn't opposed to tax cuts in certain arenas, but was concerned that the discussions had fused together.
"I am more in favor of a discussion on how this is going to affect our overall budget," Roberson said.
The legislative session ends April 24.
"We will see what manages to come out if it," Chism said.