KINGWOOD — A little over half of Preston County’s CARES money has been allocated.
County Administrator Kathy Mace gave an update on where the county stands on the funding at the most-recent Preston County Commission meeting.
This is just to let you know the expenditures to date,” Mace said as she handed commissioners a spreadsheet to go over.
The county started with $922,018.55 to spend after reimbursing the health department for various expenses caused by COVID-19. In total, $740,440 has been allocated but only $217,750.78 has been spent. Another $451,578.55 remains unrequested, according to the spreadsheet.
Part of that is $51,800 for 20 tasers for sheriff’s deputies that has not been sent out yet, Mace said.
“They have gotten caught up in the supply chain,” she said. “So we’re waiting on that.”
However, a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle bought with CARES funding has been taken care of, Mace said.
The county clerk was given $32,200 for supplies and personnel, mostly at the election center. Things such as tables and chairs were among the requested items. That office has $5,320 remaining.
There’s another $3,176 left of the funds for county administration costs.
The assessor is still waiting on some tablets that were ordered, and has $2,667.22 remaining.
The commission voted to spend $72,036 to pay worker’s compensation costs for the county’s EMS services last year and Mace said that’s all been taken care of — $66,810 has been spent, leaving $5,296.
That payment came after Commissioner Dave Price advocated for spending at least $400,000 to beef up the county’s ambulance service in the short term. The commission has also discussed creating a county EMS fee to fund the services, which barely survive financially, in the future.
Each of the county’s 12 volunteer fire departments can claim $20,000 for training, equipment or worker’s comp. Mace said Albright, Kingwood and Reedsville have done so. That leaves $180,000 of the $240,000 allotment.
The Preston County Dive Team bought a sonar unit for $5,500, and $4,500 of the funds given to the team remain.
“I hope that’s helpful to you,” Mace said.
TWEET @DominionPostWV
