Operating on a tight budget with five months remaining this fiscal year, it is getting difficult for county leaders to give the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility what it wants.
The Yazoo County Board of Supervisors expressed concern over Warden Gary Edwards’ recent request to purchase a $9,000 lawnmower. The board said it felt the purchase is too costly for the facility, with its budget “already right on the line.”
“Your budget is not looking very healthy over there,” said Supervisor Jayne Dew, to Edwards.
Edwards said the lawnmower the facility currently uses is a 2010 model that is burning oil.
“I am going to tell you what we actually need, not want we want,” Edwards said, during the county board meeting Monday. “(The lawnmower) is running, but we have to constantly put oil in it. It’s smoking.”
Edwards said the zero-turn lawnmower he would like to purchase is priced at $8,700. The board showed reluctance to purchase such an expensive piece of equipment, particularly since $100,000 was recently spent on a camera system at the facility.
“Gary, your budget is hurting over there,” Dew said. “I’m serious. We have had to put a lot of things there.”
Dew said the facility’s budget is “right on the line,” adding that the budget must last until September.
“We still have until September,” Dew said. “When you are running a place as big as that, too many things can go wrong. A zero-turn lawnmower is unnecessary.”
Dew said the facility was holding up to 280 inmates, allowing more to be done at the facility. But now there are about 237 inmates currently there.
“We now also have to send our murder cases to another facility,” Dew said. “We paid $10,000 out of their budget to send those inmates to Madison County. That is money we are sending out as well.”
Dew said she doesn’t feel the facility should continue spending money “just because it is there.” She said they should be lean with so many month left in the budget year.
“I just don’t believe in spending every dime you have just because you got money in the budget,” she said.
