MORGANTOWN — Proud.
That’s the word that came up again and again as members of the Monongalia County Commission recapped 2022.
The commission ran through a laundry list of items during its annual year-end review, starting at the top with the county budget.
“When we approved the budget in March we had the lowest county levy rate in the state while maintaining the largest contingency fund. Just being able to lower the rates and still have the most cushion of any budget in the state tells you how well we’re taking care of your dollars,” Commissioner Sean Sikora said.
Even so, he continued, the county spending plan is robust, including funding for a new MECCA 911 building, the Phase II build out of the Mon County Center and continued investments in the county’s park system, among others.
The commissioners also touted the county’s use of $20.5 million American Rescue Plan Act dollars, noting the investments made using those one-time funds went toward projects that will have direct long-term impacts in terms of jobs and economic development — Mountaintop Beverage, for example — and quality of life.
“The broadband initiative, we’re leading the state. The federal government, with all the census track stuff that’s going on right now, the federal government is actually where we were two years ago when we started our survey to figure out where we were in the county,” Sikora said.
Among the items noted was an ongoing effort to implement a county human resources department as well as support for county employees with pay increases. Included in that was the implementation of a new pay scale for the sheriff’s department that made it one of the state’s highest paying.
“The sheriff pay raise and scale increase, to me, is invaluable,” Commissioner Jeff Arnett said. “Our sheriff’s department is nearly fully staffed and not having near the problems of other departments in the area. I’m very proud of the job that our sheriff continues to do and our deputies.”
Tom Bloom, who served as commission president in 2022, said he’s proud of the working relationship that made it all possible.
“I think we’re able to do that because the three county commissioners work extremely well together,” Bloom said. “This is not a 9-to-5 job. I don’t know how many times we’ve spent until midnight calling each other when there was an emergency. The bottom line is that it’s the working relationship that the three of us have with each other that then extends out to the public. I can’t say enough about that.”
