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Magnolia's 2025-2026 Budget Passed During September City Board Meeting
During the September City Board meeting held Tuesday evening, the General and Utilities Fund budgets were approved at the amounts of $2,229,000 and $1,956,800 respectively. Prior to the meeting, a Public Hearing was...
During the September City Board meeting held Tuesday evening, the General and Utilities Fund budgets were approved at the amounts of $2,229,000 and $1,956,800 respectively. Prior to the meeting, a Public Hearing was held at 5pm. Residents’ attendance at the Public Hearing was minimal with no questions asked. The budgets, as passed, are included in this article.
Aldermen Pounds and Williams and Alderwomen Dillon and Weatherspoon voted for both budgets; Alderman Cornacchione voted against the General Fund budget citing concerns that it included increase budgets in certain budget areas.
The Board also approves a millage rate of 41 Mills. The millage rate was not changed for the year 2025-2026. In other business, the Board approved a contract to Greenbrier Digging Services LP for the building of the Central Park Walking Trail. Central Park is located north of South Pike High School on Quinlivan Road. The awarded contract was $221,440.00. The contract will be funded with an 80/20 grant from the state where the city will provide $44,288 of the cost.
The Board also received a report from Scotty McDaniel, CPA for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 annual audits. In both cases the auditor identified the audit as resulting in a “clean and unmodified opinion”. This basically means that all standard account processes are being followed. There was a material weakness identified with respect to tracking the city’s fixed asset (i.e. city owned property and equipment). The auditor identified the process and corrective actions needed to address this weakness.
The Public Works Department will hiring three new employees -Harold Coleman, Charles Davis, and Darryl Hampton.
The Public Works Department has been operating in an understaffed position for several months. Magnolia residents will be paying more for Garbage Services. The rate is increasing from $14.34 to $14.98 per month.
The next city meetings will be held September 30th, 2025, for the Working Session and October 7th, 2025, at 5:30 for the Monthly City Board Meeting.