For the first time in several years, Washington County and the City of Greenville have entered into an interlocal agreement for certain services and equipment, anticipated to take effect as early as one month.
The agreement was voted upon unanimously and was per the recommendation of Washington County Board of Supervisors attorney Willie Griffin at a previous regular meeting.
Though the City of Greenville and Washington County have long maintained what could be described as a symbiotic relationship for the overall betterment of the two entities, especially with regard to infrastructure, the four-year agreement provides certain protections which Griffin alluded to during the meeting.
“The law provides that you have to have an interlocal agreement before you can perform work in the municipalities because there are separate local entities who have their own tax structure. Hence, if you utilize funds, employees, equipment or other resources of the county to perform work in the municipality, you offer an interlocal agreement to ensure you’re not just showing favoritism to some over others,” Griffin explained. “So, in consequence, I took a look at various statutes and opinions from the attorney general and drafted a proposed interlocal agreement to deal with Greenville.”
AG Lynn Fitch’s director of the opinions and policy division, Kyle Williams, states that though the subject matter of interlocal agreements vary, the most submitted are agreements which pertain to the collection of municipal ad valorem taxes by the county.
Griffin further explained that Greenville, unlike most municipalities, and maybe to a lesser degree, legally, has flexibility to assist the county in some respects.
“They can provide some services in exchange and if they do, there needs to be an interlocal agreement to spell that out. In other words, if you provide a service in the interlocal agreement, there should be an opportunity for “quid pro quo,”” he said.
Griffin also pointed out the majority of counties in Mississippi have interlocal agreements and it is the AG’s recommendation that interlocal agreements are made rather than just mere agreements.
He noted state law requires that a separate interlocal agreement be made with each one of the municipalities before any services are performed in that municipality, and so, the BOS also voted unanimously for Griffin to draft such agreements for approval.
The four-year interlocal agreement with Greenville, subject to renewal, will be official once it is submitted and approved by the office of the Mississippi Attorney General.
As the BOS is the primary entity as it relates to performing services in the municipalities, the agreement needs its approval first.
“Initially, any request for services has to originate from the municipality,” Griffin clarified. “The municipality will pass an order and request that the county provides the service, identify those services and then if that is done, the county is not obligated to do them, but the county has discretion if it can assist the city with providing those services.”
What prompted the proposal and drafting of the interlocal agreement with Greenville was a request from Greenville city councilwoman Tasha Banks of the county to provide equipment and manpower for certain improvements to be made to Netho Drive and Oxford Place.
Griffin said of the project, “This one is primarily street repairs and the county will provide equipment and labor under this agreement; the city in turn will provide engineering services as well as all materials and agree to do that before the county proceeds,” noting the agreement has to be approved by both parties and then approved by the AG.
BOS president Carl McGee solely voted opposed on the approval of the county’s assistance with both Netho Drive and Oxford Place with his reason being Netho Drive is a major thoroughfare and Oxford Place, on the contrary, is a neighborhood street.
“I don’t have a problem with assisting with thoroughfares, but let the city do neighborhood streets,” he said, citing a request that was already made to assist with repairs on Old Leland Road.
District 1 Supervisor Lee Gordon said in reference to Old Leland Road, the county is simply assisting and the bulk of the responsibility lies with the city council.
He also pointed out that approval for the Old Leland Road project had been approved years ago, the work just had not begun.
Councilwoman Banks was pleased with the BOS’ decision and expressed her gratitude for the county’s assistance.
