Citizens of the City of Batesville who used natural gas to heat their homes, can expect a sizable jump in their bills in the coming months.

According to Bill Randolph of Utility Management, the city’s gas buyer, the city’s costs will see an increase of anywhere from 56 to 88 percent over last year.

Randolph explained that natural gas rates began to climb after it was deregulated in the 1980s.

"When natural gas was deregulated in the ?80s, it slowly became a tradable commodity," he said. "Now it is trading like oil. It is a supply and demand type of commodity."

Randolph explained that gas was purchased last year at $6.40 per mmbtu (million British thermal units). This year’s prices are expected to range from $10-$12 per mmbtu.

"Nobody expected these kinds of increases, and nobody was ready for them," he said.

Randolph pointed to these factors for the price increase:
     – Supply and demand
     – Unrest in the Middle East
     – Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

"The volatility in the Middle East has crude oil at approximately $60 a barrel," he said. "It used to be around $25-$30."

Randolph said a nationwide problem is that people are using a little more natural gas each year.

"People are using more natural gas than we can find reserves," he said. "That will create a big problem."

Randolph said Utility Management will slowly purchase gas as prices go down until the city’s storage is at maximum capacity of 84,000 mmbtu.

"This will not be a winter to be under supplied," he said.

Randolph also said people could anticipate increased costs in other energy sources, too.

"We’re going to be seeing energy prices go up, and they will stay at a higher level for a good while to come," he said.

Ward 3 Alderman James Yelton said he didn’t see a shortage of supply, and wondered why the price continued to climb.

"People keep saying the reason is supply and demand, but it doesn’t seem like there is a shortage of natural gas," he said. "So I can’t understand why the prices are so outrageous."

Randolph said the price per mmbtu would change over time.

"The prices will go down if there is a warm snap," he said. "That’s when you need to buy, because when there is a cold spell, the prices are going to go up quite a bit."

Yelton asked what kind of increase this would mean to the citizens of Batesville.

"They could see bills two to three times larger than they were this time last year," Randolph answered.
Mayor Jerry Autrey said the city needed a way to ease the pressure on people on a fixed income.

Thousands of Panola County voters will cast a ballot Tuesday in a special election for sheriff, returning to the polls a year after record numbers voted in the Presidential election.

Eleven candidates are seeking the sheriff’s office after the April 23 death of Sheriff David Bryan.

Circuit Clerk Joe Reid expects a voter turnout of no more than 10,000 Tuesday, fewer than the 14,212 Panolians who cast ballots in the November, 2004 Presidential election.

Panola voter turnout last November was 66 percent, fourth highest in the state, Reid said. About 21,000 Panola voters are registered.

"The voters turned out last time because they had a lot on the ballot," Reid said, including a vote to sell Tri-Lakes Medical Center and a referendum on the definition of marriage between a man and a woman.

Panola voters going to the polls Tuesday can double check with the circuit clerk’s office to make sure they’re voting at the correct precinct, Reid said.

Batesville voters in particular vote at different precincts in county-wide elections than they do in city elections, the circuit clerk said.

"They don’t vote behind Sonic at the fire department, for example," Reid said.

Batesville voters complained of voting mix-ups in the city’s municipal elections that were held in May.

Voters can call the circuit clerk’s office at 563-6210 in Batesville or 487-2073 in Sardis.

Panola voters can also vote absentee until tomorrow. The circuit clerk’s offices in Batesville and Sardis will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

Tenants of the Old Sardis High School Building may soon be out of their space due to non-compliance issues with leases.

Mayor Alvis "Rusty" Dye said the agreement made between the organizations who rent space was either a flat annual rent or a $1 per year rent.

"If the organizations agreed to the $1 rent, the lease says they are supposed to hold a fund raiser every year," he said. "The money from those fund-raisers is supposed to go into a fund to help pay for the upkeep of the building."

City Clerk Odessa Johnson said several of the tenants are not even paying the $1.

Dye said another problem with rental space in the building is the lack of organization.

"We have some organizations that will go in there having rented two rooms," he said. "They will pick the two rooms they want and lock them up."

Dye said he felt like the city needed to be assigning rooms when organizations came in to rent space.

The mayor pointed out that the building is at its maximum rental capacity, but that includes several organizations that no longer exist.

"We need to do something to get this thing in some kind of order," Dye said.

City attorney Tommy Shuler recommended putting tenants on notice if they were in violation of the lease.

"If they aren’t following through with the fund raisers, they are obviously violating the terms of the lease," he said. "If that’s the case, you can legally terminate the lease."

Dye said the city needed to consider terminating leases and, if the tenant wanted to remain in the building, reworking the lease.

"It seems like the people are just going to take advantage of the $1 lease, so we need to look at other options," he said.

The lease of the disbanded Northwest Mississippi Choral and Arts Council was terminated Tuesday night. Other groups in violation are invited to appear at the board’s next meeting Tuesday,
Dec. 6.

"I have spoken with representatives of the arts council and they informed me they had disbanded," Johnson said.

On the heals of that announcement, the board awarded the space to the Madame Butterfly abstinence education program.

"Ara Heard has been in the office wanting space in the building for a month or more," Dye said. "We just haven’t had the space to give her."

Heard explained that Madame Butterfly is part of the Youth Opportunities Unlimited program and is offered in the North Panola School District.