State Freezes Money For Southaven Project

The Mississippi Department of Transportation has frozen funding for new projects in Southaven because of an auditor’s investigation into Mayor Greg Davis’ spending.

The action affects an $850,000 state grant the city was to use to construct a bike path and walking trail system.

Randy Battey, assistant chief engineer of operations at MDOT, tells The Commercial Appeal that the funding will be delayed “until the city gets a clean bill of health from the state auditor’s office.”

In November the auditor’s office announced that Davis had to repay about $170,000 to the city for unauthorized charges to both his city-issued and personal credit cards.

Southaven Planning Director Whitney Choat said if the investigation continues for another two years, the city could lose the funding.