Lawmakers in Lamar and Forrest Counties were able to secure more than $4 million in earmarks this week in connection with the $750 million settlement from oil giant BP in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The funds were authorized with the passage of the BP Settlement Bill – formally known as Senate Bill 2002 – which was approved in the recent special session of the Mississippi Legislature.
In all, some $750 million was distributed statewide with a bulk of it going to coastal counties.
Lamar County will receive $3 million, while Forrest County will get $1.25 million.
Rep. Brad Touchstone, R-Hattiesburg, said of the $3 million coming to Lamar County, $1.5 million will be used for safety improvements to the intersection of Mississippi 589 and Scruggs Road in Sumrall, $1 million will go to the Lamar County School District to help pay for facility repairs and improvements at Lumberton schools and $500,000 will be set aside for parks and infrastructure improvements in Sumrall.
In Forrest County, the entire $1.25 million was earmarked for road improvements including $750,000 for Leeville Road/Main Street and Smithville Road in Petal, $400,000 for Hardy Street from US 49 to Pine Street in Hattiesburg and $100,000 to resurface 38th Avenue, also in Hattiesburg.
Touchstone said being able to help secure those funds for Lamar County was a top priorty.
“I was ecstatic,” he said. “Lamar County being the third-fastest growing county in Mississippi, certainly I felt like a portion of these funds should go towards the quality of life of our kids and our residents, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
The $1.5 million for safety improvements will allow officials to straighten out the curve at the intersection of Mississppi 589 and Scruggs Road, which has been the site of several automobile accidents over the past few years.
“You have about five subdivisions there, three of them brand new,” said Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall. “The traffic count there has gotten crazy, as you can imagine with all the new subdivisions going in off of that road.
“If you’ve ever driven on it, it’s a really steep curve in the road … and it’s very dangerous. Lots of people have had accidents and wrecks trying to turn in or wait to turn in, and so we’ve been working Lamar County Engineer Don Walker to come up with a feasible solution to that very dangerous intersection.”
Tess Smith, superintendent of the Lamar County School District, said she would like to see the school district’s $1 million go toward improvements to the cafeteria and hallways at Lumberton High School, among other repairs.
“The hallways, they have lockers that are not in use, so I want to take the lockers out and put new flooring in most, if not all, of the buildings,” she said. “They need some HVAC improvements, and we’ve already put a few new security measures in, but we’d like to do some more fencing and more security gates.
“So I think that this will help tremendously to show the community our commitment to the school. We were already working on funds that we had access to, but this will just make it so much easier for us to put some new things in down there.”
The $500,000 for parks and infrastructure will be used to help fund new administration buildings, tennis courts and soccer fields in Sumrall.
“Obviously, I think it was a great achievement that we were able to get that much money for Lamar County specifically,” Fillingane said. “As chairman of the Finance Committee, I had some input into how that drill would be drafted, so I tried to use my influence there to get as much money as I could for the county.”
The funds are a result of Mississippi’s lawsuit against BP for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in which 210 million gallons of oil were spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Seventy-five percent of the money will go to what have been deemed as the six coastal counties – Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison and Jackson – while 25 percent will go to the rest of the state.
“It wasn’t just to make us whole for the environmental impact, but to make the state whole for any losses that we incurred as Mississippians as a result of that accident,” Touchstone said. “A lot of people don’t realize that not only was the Coast affected, but the entire Mississippi economy was impacted, including the state of Mississippi’s sales tax revenue.
“The state of Mississippi incurred extensive expenses responding to that disaster, so that’s what this money was for – to make our state whole. Of course, most of that we’ve decided to put back in the Coast, but since Lamar County was indirectly affected as well, I’m glad that some of that will go to the taxpayers here.”
During the special session, the Legislature also passed the Mississippi Infrastructure Modernization Act – formally known as House Bill 1 – which will give Lamar County $780,000 for local infrastructure improvement. Sumrall, Lumberton and Purvis also will receive a share of funds from the bill.
“So starting Sept. 1, as the Internet sales purchases continue, the state is collecting 7 percent on Internet sales tax,” Fillingane said. “Of that money, since it’s not being collected necessarily in a city or a county because it’s been done online, the state has decided to give the counties 15 percent of that, and 15 percent to the cities.
“Then 5 percent, we’re designating to the local system bridge replacement fund, which is a fund that counties access to upgrade and replace low-performing bridges. So that’s up to 34 percent that we have earmarked for local projects from the sales tax on Internet sales.”
