Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 3

lie Clari0n-Fcil0tr FRIDAY June II, 1982 State just barely ends up in black 'Belt-tightening paid off 1 budget director says of cuts Cofer said that through May, state I "ill sfe "Sir I ft n'am ir8-' --r' a -f "i By DENNIS CAMIRE Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer State Budget Commission Director Jim Cofer said Thursday that the state will end this fiscal year, one of the most austere in recent Mississippi history, in the black but just barely. belt-tightening paid off, no ques-. tion about it," Cofer said of the commis- sion's July 1981 order that $76 million be cut from state agency budgets. The order was issued to compensate for lower-than-anticipated tax collections and to avoid a projected budget deficit and came just weeks after the fiscal year started on July 1. l'It caused everybody to re-evaluate their situation and probably to initiate some management efforts to increase efficiency where they hadn't done that in the past because there had been plenty of money," Cofer said.

Cofer said the state should end the fiscal year June 30 with about $12 million more in revenues than estimated despite reductions in sales tax collections, the slate's largest revenue source, that fell $10 million below estimates in May. The sales tax collections are $13.8 million below the estimate for the first 1 1 months of the fiscal year, Cofer said. "Considering that the June collections are May sales, the first two weeks of May were disastrous," he said. "My estimate is that the sales tax collections will not increase (in June) but continue a slight decline." Cofer said most of the indicators of business activity, including severance and sales taxes, privilege and automobile tag fees and "even beer and wine taxes" are down for the year. revenues were running about $12 million more than estimated, but several income sources, including sales and severance taxes, are declining.

"However, it appears as though we will meet the revenue estimate and possibly be $10 million, or less than one percent, above the estimate (at the end of the fiscal year), which is whole lot closer than we have been for the past four years," Cofer said. He said that if the state generated enough revenue to meet its estimated income exactly, there would be a zero cash balance at the end of the fiscal year be-cauase all anticipated revenue was budgeted by the Legislature. Cofer also said that unspent agency appropriations at the end of the fiscal year may be as high as $10 million. If sO, the state's cash balance at the beginning of the new year fiscal year would be $20 million, he said. "That is cutting it awfully, awfully close," Cofer said.

However, Cofer said that "any amount we end the year with above the estimated revenue" will help the state since appropriations for the next fiscal year which starts July 1 have already been made. "And we anticipated a very small cash balance at the end of this year," he said. But, Cofer warned Budget Commission members Thursday that the state may have to borrow some funds to continue operating by September. Cofer said that such borrowing was "not uncommon. We borrow almost every year." Karan NawaomTha darion-Ladeaf The landmark Wesson Hotel will be demolished, its owner says, because renovation is too expensive.

Historic Wesson Hotel being razed Cost estimates for housing of state prisoners sought Wesson Mayor Boyce James said the old hotel's -demise means that "a lot of memories will go down the drain for a lot of people." But "the town can't afford to buy it much less renovate it" "It creates a fire hazard as it is," James said. Jasper and James agree that the hotel is in such a bad state of disrepair that it would have collapsed. Jasper said demolition work is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Burlian Walker, a Wesson resident and professor at Copiah-Lincoln Junior College, said he "was sick about it when I first received the news." "I felt that a part of me would die as well as a part of Wesson. It's an historic landmark that I've always pointed out with pride.

It's a symbol of the town and getting rid of it is like getting rid of Big Ben in London or the Statue of Liberty." However, Walker said, "I realized that nothing could be done about it as it is, and I'm glad to see somebody get some use cut of it before it rots or burns. It's a definite fire hazard." Built in 1877 by Col. Edmund Richardson, the hotel gained its fame as the social gathering place for Wesson's elite. In the late 1 800s, Wesson was the largest city between Memphis and New Orleans; its 5,000 population linked closely to the thriving Mississippi Mills. The mills closed in 1919 and people began their exodus.

Today, the town has a population of 1,300. During its prime, the 28-room hotel boasted eight opulently furnished bedrooms, a parlor, a See Saving, page 15A that, interest rates are so high now and it doesn't look like they'll be letting up any time soon. Therefore, I decided to give up the idea and sold it" Paul Newsom, interagency coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, said owners of property listed on the National Register of Historic Places are eligible for a 25 percent tax credit from the Internal Revenue Service on money spent on renovations. "That's a tremendous incentive to find another use for those type of buildings instead of having them demolished," he said. Jasper said he looked into the tax credit plan, but "with the high interest rates today, it's still put out of my reach." Newsom said owners of private property listed on the National Register may destroy it if federal funds haven't been spent to restore it "As of now there are no laws which discourage private owners from tearing down or altering historic buildings when there has been no federal or state involvement," he said.

"If a person tears down a landmark associated with a town, he's destroying the face of that town and putting scars on its character," Newsom said. "The fine architecture, workmanship and material that went into buildings which were constructed 50 to 100 years ago never can be replaced. 'Today you can construct a building overnight, but you can't build character into it" "If there had been any possible way to renovate it I would have," Jasper said. "After I saw that I couldn't I decided it would be of more value to me and to Wesson by taking it down and preserving the lumber." By BILL K. MULLEN CUrioa-Ledger Braokkavea bareaa WESSON The town that had electricity "even before Chicago" is losing a landmark.

The Wesson Hotel listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is being demolished because, its owner says, renovation is too costly. The three-story structure in the heart of town was purchased last month by Dude Jasper of Wesson. Jasper, who owns a Brookhaven restaurant, said he paid $30,000 for the hotel. He said he considered renovating it, "but I realized it would have taken at least $100,000 just to get started good. '1 had even considered only tearing down the back portion of the building and leaving the front for renovation, because the entire hotel has 12,000 square feet of floor space, enough to build two houses out of.

"I really got it too late," he said. "It's a shame somebody couldn't have got it 10 years ago, put a new roof on it and preserved it" Jasper, who is the hotel's fourth known owner, says be plans to build a home from the heart pine and cypress timber. Clifton Crane, the hotel's former owner who purchased it less than three years ago, had high hopes of renovating the structure as a commercial building and historic landmark. A poor economy and difficulty in obtaining federal grants for renovation changed his mind. "It would have taken at least $300,000 to get that type of project started," he said.

"Besides State leaders debate remap appeal House Appropriations Committee, said the subcommittee unanimously agreed that additional prison housing is needed but said it would take about 3 Mi years to complete new permanent housing. In the meantime, Perry said, temporary housing is needed. Perry said the Building Commission has indicated that some pre-f abricated metal units housing about 100 inmates each could be built for about $250,000 apiece, not including costs for site preparation or land purchase. "For about $4 million, we can take care of about 1,000 prisoners," Perry said. "On the permanent side, a new 500-man facility will cost about $16.5 million." Perry said that while the number of state prisoners held in jails by December is open to debate, there will be a backlog.

"We fell like we can't continue to tell these sheriffs that we're going to leave these prisoners there for another three or four years," Perry said. Simpson also told the commission that the subcommittee was "not the in position" at this time to make recommendations on ways to reduce the number of in-mates sentenced to prison. But Simpson said he wants the Budget Commission to back Gov. William Winter if he issued any executive order to reduce inmate overcrowding by alternatives to incarceration. Simpson suggested that Winter consider using executive orders to address proposals involving such matters as non-adjudication of guilt, pretrial intervention and community service and restitution programs in an effort to reduce the number of state prisoners.

Winter's Task Force on Corrections recommended laws dealing with all three proposals last year. But the pro-See Costs, page 15A By DENNIS CAMIRE Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The Budget Commission on Thursday decided to obtain cost estimates on enough temporary and permanent housing, to accommodate 1,500 state prisoners. The commission instructed a special subcommittee studying ways to deal with what officials fear is an impending prison housing crisis to the state Building Commission to estimate the cost of building temporary units for 1,000 prisoners and a permanent unit for 500 inmates with necessary support facilities. The temporary units would house minimum security prisoners and the permanent unit would be used for medium and maximum security inmates. The commission didn't specify the type of temporary housing, such as metal or masonry, or where the units would be located.

The subcommittee was established to 'find a way to house as many 1,900 state inmates, which are expected to be backed up in the state's jails by December. State Department of Corrections officials said that on Tuesday, 860 state inmates were housed in county jails. State Rep. Jim Simpson of Long Beach, chairman of the four-member subcommittee, said no recommendations will be made until the construction cost estimates are provided by the Building Commission. 'Simpson said the Building Commission should complete the cost estimates i'ia a relatively short period 10 days to w6 weeks.

They are prepared to go ahead and deliver the estimates on permanent and temporary housing built at ideations both in and out of the (State Penitentiary at Parchman) area." I State Rep. Ed Perry of Oxford, a sub-mmittee member and chairman of the Thursday. Bowen would not comment on the decision Wednesday. The state has asked U.S. District Court for the Dis-; trict of Columbia to approve its 1981 redistricting Under the Voting Rights Act, the 1981 plan cannot be put into effect until it wins federal approval.

Blacks object to it because it does not set up a black-majority district Allain said even if the state decided not to initiate the' appeal process, he expected to file a cross-appeal if the. black forces sought to overturn the decision. Attorneys for the Delta blacks are expected to re-; view the court ruling before deciding whether to ap-! peal. He said there was nothing in the Mississippi panel's opinion "which would affect the District of Columbia court case adversely for us. The court here did not look, at the 1981 plan but set it aside to avoid prejudging it But they did say the Simpson plan was not retrogres-I sive." The court had postponed the June 1 congressional voting because of a black challenge to a redistricting plan passed by the Legislature last year.

A new plan was necessary to cure population imbalances among the five current districts after the 1980 census. The Simpson plan creates a 2nd District in the Delta area with a 53.7 black population majority. The decision of the northern Mississippi district drew mixed reaction, with some civil rights figures critical because they did not get the 65 percent black majority they wanted. Allain said he personally could accept the Simpson plan as a compromise and a spokesman for the goveror said Winter found the court-ordered plan "very acceptable." However, he said, "We need to discuss what affect an appeal might have on the case we have in the District of Columbia court." Incumbent Rep. David Bowen, who still lives in the new 2nd District, was involved in House floor action on the federal budget and was unavailable for comment From Staff and Wire Reports Attorney General Bill Allain talked strategy Thursday with state leaders who must decide whether to appeal a federal court order establishing new congressional districts and setting Aug.

17 for primary elections. Allain said he was setting up a series of meetings with Gov. William Winter and Secretary of State Ed Pittman, who are defendants in the redistricting case, and Lt. Gov. Brad Dye, House Speaker Buddie Newman of Valley Park, Rep.

Tommy Campbell of Yazoo City, chairman of the Joint Redistricting Committee, and other legislative leaders. "They might want to appeal the decision of the three judges," Allain said. The panel handed down a decision at Oxford on Wednesday requiring the state to hold its 1982 congressional elections under a plan drafted by state Rep. Jim Simpson of Long Beach, and setting the primary dates. The court set the first primary for Aug.

17 and the second for Aug. 31. Health care cuts threaten all patients Resolution Methodists re-evaluate support to Carthan Act The survey showed that 53 percent of all hospital stays were covered by Medicare or Medicaid that year. The heaviest dependency upon federal dollars was in small, sparsely populated counties in which there was only one hospital, Barber said. He called them "one-horse hospitals and that horse is the federal dollar." Somebody is trying to unhitch the horse, he said, "and that's the only horse they've got to pull that wagon." Public hospitals in the 3rd Congressional District the one in existence before a federal district court redrew congressional boundries this week, received the highest percentage of funds among all five congressional districts, Barber said.

About 60.3 percent of all patient-days in the 3rd District are paid by Medicare amd Medicaid, he said. The 3rd District is represented by Sonny Montgomery, who has been voting "for more cuts in this kind of area," Barber said. Montgomery, reached by phone, said efficient hospitals would continue to make a profit He said Congress had slowed the rate of increase in Medicaid and Medicare, but had not reduced funding. Montgomery said this year Congress increased Medicaid by 1 percent and Medicare by $4 billion. By PEGGY ELAM Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Services to all patients at many Mississippi hospitals could suffer if programs such as Medicare and Medicaid continue to be cut, Rims Barber, project director of the Children's Defense Fund, warned Thursday.

More than 100 Mississippi hospitals, particularly those in sparsely populated rural counties, depend heavily upon funds from the government health care programs, a study released Thursday by the Children's Defense Fund shows. The health-care programs are being considered for cutbacks during budget battles in Congress. If the federal funds a hospital receives are reduced, the entire hospital will suffer, Barber said. "Everybody in the community suffers," he said. "Doctors are not going to practice in a town that does not have a hospital.

If the cutbacks hurt the hospital and the hospital folds, are the doctors going to stay? "People who want to save their medical system in their small towns ought to be fighting for these federal healthcare programs. That federal budget debate does affect Mississippi," he said. His organization, which lobbies for children rights, surveyed Medicare and Medicaid cost reports filed by 115 Mississippi hospitals firing the 1981 fiscal year. The re-Ipiwrts were obtained t'jrough the Freedom df Information resolution supports one adopted June by the North Mississippi United Methodist Conference, which met in Oxford. The conferences serve the northern and southern halves of the states.

A group of Holmes County Methodist ministers, angry that they weren't consulted about the contributions, sponsored the resolution adopted by the North Mississippi Conference. According to church rules, the board should have consulted with Holmes County churches, the North Mississippi Conference Council on Ministries and Mississippi Methodist Bishop CP. Min-nick Jr. before contributing the funds. The Rev.

Rene Bideaux of New York, associate general secretary of the board, said earlier this week the money was not paid out until after North Mississippi Conference officials had been consulted. HowtWer, he acknowledged Thujsday that the board failed to consult with all parties as required by church rules. erally insured bank. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $5,000. He is appealing both convictions.

He will be tried Oct. 19 in Holmes County Circuit Court in Lexington for capital murder. Carthan is accused of hiring two men to kill Tchula Alderman Roosevelt Granderson last year. The Global Ministries Board helped finance Carthan's defense at the request of the Holmes County United League, a social and political advocacy group. Mississippi Methodist leaders have criticized the board for contributing more than $13,000 to Carthan's defense without adequately consulting them.

State church leaders said the board violated church procedures in contributing the funds. On Wednesday, the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church, which pas meeting in Jackson, adopted a resolution demanding that the board discontinue its support of Carthan. The By GENE MONTEITH Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer A national branch of the United Methodist Church has agreed to re-evaluate its financial support of former Tchula Mayor Eddie Carthan. After a three-hour closed door meeting Thursday with national, Holmes County and state church representatives, members of the New York-based Board of Global Ministries also agreed to abide by all church procedures before contributing more funds to human rights activities. The Global Ministries Board, the church's human rights advocacy arm, began last year helping Carthan finance his legal defense.

Carthan, the first black mayor of Tchula since Reconstruction, was convicted In October 1981 of assaulting a Tchula policeman and was sentenced to three years in prison. In May 1981, a federal court jury convicted him of lying to obtain a loan from a fed.