Lee County supervisors approved budget with money for library bookmobile, deputy pay raises
Sep. 14—TUPELO — Lee County's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $23.5 general fund budget on Monday that appropriates money for pay raises in the sheriff's office and provides some funding for a new bookmobile.
During a Monday meeting, the five-person Board of Supervisors voted to adopt a budget that will impose no new taxes during the upcoming fiscal year that begins next month.
"Some may be disappointed that they didn't get what they wanted, but I think we've got a good workable budget," said District 5 Supervisor Billy Joe Holland, current Board of Supervisors president.
As previously reported by the Daily Journal, the budget proposal includes a 2% cost of living increase for all city employees, but also would appropriate enough money for more targeted pay raises for Lee County sheriff's deputies.
Benson said that a salary survey showed starting deputy pay in the Lee County Sheriff's Office falls below the entry-level salary of some local police departments and sheriff's offices.
Sheriff Jim Johnson will have discretion over implementing raises, based on qualifications, but Benson said the budget includes sufficient funds to raise the entry level pay from $15.50 to $17.
The budget also sets aside $12,500 toward a new bookmobile for the Lee County Library, the county administrator said. Along with grant money from Toyota, private fundraising and money from the city of Tupelo, the library should now have sufficient funds to purchase the bookmobile.
