KINGWOOD — A question about funding was brought to the attention of Preston County commissioners by Reedsville Volunteer Fire Department Chief William Larew on Tuesday.
Larew asked commissioners when the VFD would get its money from the fire levy funds.
“It’s getting more and more difficult to get our funding and it’s coming later and later,” he said. “It’s putting the departments in a bad situation. If a bank needs to be paid, it needs to be paid.”
He said last year the VFD received $30,000 and asked what happened to the other $10,000.
“Our main concern is what to apply for,” he said. “I know it’s based on collections, but what do we apply for if we don’t know what was collected?”
He asked commissioners how they operated when they didn’t know what was in their account. Larew was referencing the more than $1,000 overage that was found in the previous sheriff’s account.
Current Sheriff Jim Fields said the problem of the overage is being worked on. He said the auditor should be able to have the numbers available by early next week.
“It’s hard when employees come and go,” County Clerk Linda Huggins said. “It takes a lot of time to get things settled. It’s not my department, but I know they (clerks in the tax office) have been working hard on it”
Fields agreed. “There are better systems we’ve been looking at. We’ve got bunches of accounts and millions of dollars we take in. We’re at a standstill until the auditors get caught up.”
Cynthia Miller spoke next and said she would like to see some of the county’s opioid funds spent to help addicted individuals get help.
“The death toll has raised 150% in the past five years for opioid addiction. Twenty percent of the people age 17 suffer from depression. My husband died of a drug overdose. After it happened, my kids couldn’t get therapy in the county because there would be a conflict of interest because there was only one therapist. My daughter ended up with two felonies, and was abducted,” she said.
Commissioner Hunter Thomas thanked Miller for her time and information. No further action was taken.
In other business:
- Commissioners voted to accept the last two members of the EMS advisory board. Tim Wotring will represent local business and Dr. Maran Hakoum will act as the county medical director for the board.
- Voted to provide $3,500 for the Tucker County Community Foundation Run for It program.
- Approved Darrell Dean as the representative to replace Maggie DeWeirdt on the PCEDA Board.
The next meeting of the Preston County Commission will be 9:30 a.m. Sept. 17.
