Stevenson: DeSoto County Sewer and Road Challenges

Note: The following opinion-editorial article is written and provided by Jon Stevenson, a DeSoto County businessman and head of the DeSoto Integrity and Government Political Action Committee. Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily that of this publication.  

By Jon Stevenson

I have found that good decisions are made by having the proper perspective.  That probably sounds like a bit of gobbledegook to you, but hear me out.  We all have to budget our household spending.  If we don’t we tend to run out of money and things go bad. Car gets repossessed, electricity gets turned off, kids don’t have anything to eat.  But even if we budget bad things can happen.  If all we look at is making sure the monthly bills are paid and nothing else, then we don’t have anything for retirement.  If all we look at is retirement then sometimes we don’t have enough for our immediate needs.

Good decisions are made the same way in government.  The people we elect at the city, county, state and national level must keep the proper balance of the short vs long term to make our communities prosper.  We here in DeSoto County are a little spoiled.  Our County government has a long history of conservative, competent government.  That’s not to claim that it’s perfect, but our County has an AA Bond Rating, which is a notch next to the highest you can receive.  Bond ratings are a good measurement of fiscal management which tells you we have been competently governed for a long time.  No millage rate increases are a positive as well.  All in all a good problem to have.

Our State government has been trending in the right direction too.  Ever since Haley Barbour was governor and Tate Reeves became Lt. Governor, Mississippi’s fiscal financial situation has steadily improved.  When Tate Reeves became Governor and Delbert Hosemann became Lt. Governor this progress supercharged due to the competent way in which the Governor and the Legislature managed government to lower taxes, shrink the size of state government and invest in communities that has dramatically increased economic development in the State.  

Now both our County and our State are at somewhat of a crossroads!  DeSoto County, despite its well managed finances, has enormous infrastructure investments that are needed not only to maintain growth, but to support the existing population base.  The Horn Lake Creek sewer that supports Southaven and Horn Lake is a critical $300 million problem that has to be solved in 7 years due to a Federal Court order.  The rate payers of DeSoto County can only afford $150 million of that so we need help from the State and Federal Government for the rest.  

Our Interstate 55 is a nightmare of congestion that needs improvement, and while the State of Mississippi just allocated $115 million for the first phase of that expansion project, there is another $450 million that is needed to complete it.  Highway 305 in Olive Branch and Lewisburg is another problem road that needs north of a $100 million in upgrades and improvement to relieve congestion and dangerous road conditions on the East side of DeSoto County.

This is where the decisions in Jackson and Washington will have a positive or negative effect on DeSoto.  Jackson is considering expanding the Medicaid program in the State.  Medicaid expansion, it is claimed, will provide healthcare for the poorest of our citizens, but that is not entirely accurate.  They get medical treatment now due to treatment laws, it’s just hospitals will get more funds for those treatments if they expand Medicare.  

If Medicaid expands you can forget state support for our infrastructure projects without tax increases.  Being blunt, there’s not enough for both in the state budget.  Couple that with expected cuts in Federal Medicaid subsidies and you have a toxic mix of financial obligations that will hit DeSoto County like a sledgehammer.  

Another proposal in Jackson is the Income Tax elimination.  I am in favor of this in principle, but again the budget is tight and for DeSoto County to be able to prosper we cannot afford to lose revenue that could support infrastructure spending here.  Don’t believe politicians that say that we can cut the Income Tax and not replace it with anything.  If they try to do that, we in DeSoto County will suffer.  More than likely if they try to eliminate the Income Tax we will see an increase in the Sales Tax, Gas Tax and or Tobacco Taxes and probably all three.  The upside of the income tax elimination from a DeSoto County perspective is that we would probably see increased growth from people moving from Memphis.  Again that makes our infrastructure funding more critical.

Finally, PERS reform is front and center in Jackson this year.  The Mississippi Public Employees  Retirement System, PERS, has a $25 billion deficit!  This is supposed to be the year that the Governor and legislature finally puts it on a path to sustainability.  The problem is that the path will take money and that funding will directly compete with DeSoto County’s infrastructure problems.  Now you can see how having the proper perspective can impact our future finances.  

DeSoto County is in no immediate financial danger due to competent government and leadership, but we are in real danger of some financial landmines if we don’t adequately address some of our pressing infrastructure concerns.  DeSoto County collectively has over $1.2 billion dollars in critical infrastructure needs that must be addressed over the next decade to continue our growth and maintain our standard of living.  

Our political leaders are focused on this, but unfortunately our business leaders and community leaders are not as focused as they need to be.  We need all of our citizens to engage in the political process in Jackson by voting.  Voter turnout will move the needle for DeSoto County’s political influence in Jackson making us more important to the Statewide elected officials that need our votes.  Encourage your friends and family to vote, stay up to date on the news out of the legislature in Jackson.  Only by engaging in the political process in Mississippi can DeSoto County get our needs accomplished in Jackson.

Jon Stevenson is a DeSoto County businessman and Chairman of the DeSoto Integrity & Government Political Action Committee (DIGPAC). DIGPAC is focused on lobbying for Infrastructure improvements for DeSoto County.