Aldermen pass $8.8 million budget
Senatobia has approved a balanced general fund budget of just over $8.8 million for the next fiscal year without increasing taxes.
Aldermen officially endorsed the budget Tuesday, Sept. 5, which is largely the same as the current fiscal year budget expiring at the end of this month. It includes a millage rate of 30.70, with no change from the previous levies imposed the last two years.
City leaders were able to maintain the current millage rate while giving a five percent raise to all city employees. Five percent of the gross salaries of the Senatobia Police and Fire Departments will be divvied up among officers and firefighters according to the current pay scale dependent upon rank.
“We have a fiscally responsible and conservative budget that adequately meets the needs of our city,” Mayor Greg Graves said. “We were able to increase funding for several of our departments without raising taxes.”
The largest portions of the budget are police and fire departments, which combine to make up around $4.5 million of the city’s total general budget. Another $731,028 is set aside for customary repairs to city streets.
With the millage rate set to stay the same, Senatobia will work with revenue of $8,833,118 for the 2024 fiscal year. Most of that revenue will come from sources other than taxes. Just over 17 percent, or $1,559,022 will be financed through an ad valorem tax levy.
Like any budget, a simple breakdown of expenditures reveals where taxpayer money is being spent.
A summary of Senatobia’s expenditures for 2024 includes:
• Finance and Administration (City Hall) - $659,846
• Police Department – $2,681,183
• Fire Department – $1,876,451
• Waste Disposal Department – $548,033
• Street Department – $731,028
• Judicial Department (City Court) – $232,777
• Dispatch – $292,434
• Parks & Recreation – $286,713
• Animal Shelter – $186,642
• Street Lighting – $150,000
• Library (yearly support, building maintenance) – $108,000
• City attorney and prosecutor – $68,803
• Prisoner Care at Tate County Jail – $91,000
