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County Officials Dig Deep To Meet Library Funding Request

County Officials Dig Deep To Meet Library Funding Request


By David Howell

Editor


WATER VALLEY – Several county officials stepped up to help with a $6,200 shortfall in the Yalobusha County Library System’s budget request for the coming fiscal year after supervisors revisited the county budget during a recessed meeting Monday. The topic surfaced after supervisors realized the $6,200 request from library director Patty Bailey wasn’t addressed when other library budgetary needs were discussed earlier in the month.

Chancery Clerk Amy McMinn reported she found  $1,000 she could cut out of her budget to assist the library and $1,200 from the Board of Supervisors’ budget, prompting Sheriff Lance Humphreys to contribute $300 from his budget, Circuit Clerk Daryl Burney to contribute $500 from his budget, and Tax Assessor/Collector Linda Shuffield to contribute $500 from her budget to help meet the shortfall. 

Board President Cayce Washington also said Coffeeville Mayor Mack Burns thought his town could contribute an extra $1,200 to the library system, which further reduced the shortfall.  A final $1,261 surplus in the entire budget was then allocated to the library fund, leaving $239.

“I think Oakland could fund the $239, I will reach out to Mayor Riley Swearengen for the remaining money,” Washington said. 

Bailey explained last month that the $6,200 is needed to continue operating the libraries in Coffeeville and Oakland without a reduction in operating hours, citing state funding cuts.

“She fights so hard for the library. These unfunded mandates that come down from the state aren’t fair to any of us,” District Five Supervisor Gaylon Gray said about the state cuts.

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