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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Commission approved a $12.6 million budget for the 2024 Fiscal Year during its most recent meeting at the James F. Cain Courthouse Annex.
Commission President David Kesling and Commissioners Cris Siler and Chris See voted unanimously to approve the new budget.
"We spent the past couple months going through our budget process and I just want everyone to know that the levy rate will stay the same at 14.07 percent," Kesling said during the meeting. "We are also estimating $12,639,190 in revenue, down from the prior year of $13,134,085.
"If you go back and look, we had refunds and reimbursements the prior year of $900,000, and the bulk of that came from COVID reimbursement funding. So that is why we had a major decrease from the prior year."
Kesling said that even with the loss in revenue from COVID funding, the county will see an estimated increase in property tax revenue of $334,000. He added the commission has also worked to decrease the budget throughout the county's entities.
"Each area has its own budget: The clerk has her budget, the sheriff has his budget, the commission has its own budget, and we also take care of the courthouse budget," Kesling said. "We've continued to whittle away on our budget by decreasing the county commission budget by $38,773 this next coming fiscal year.
"We decreased the courthouse budget by $288,705 and by reducing and maintaining and working with other elected officials, we were able to give out a 5 percent raise for all employees."
Kesling said a big portion of the budget will go toward the county's regional jail bill, which it pays monthly.
"The county pays a regional jail bill that we get every month," said Kesling. "It's usually somewhere over $100,000, so of that $12.6 million that we have to operate, $1.5 million will go to the regional jail bill. It is directed by the Senate and House that we have to pay that jail bill. So we budgeted $1.5 million for that."
The commission will continue to support its top three contributions in the form of the Randolph County Ambulance Authority, the Randolph-Elkins Health Department and the Randolph County Humane Society. Kesling said all three will continue to receive what they have in years past, which is $110,000 to the Ambulance Authority, $83,000 to the Health Department, and $80,000 to the Humane Society.
Kesling said that the commission has also budgeted providing the Randolph-Elkins Public Library with $81,000 for the coming year. The library is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion project that is projected to cost in the neighborhood of $3.5 to $4 million.
The Randolph County Senior Center will receive an increase in county funding this upcoming year from $60,000 to $70,000. Country Roads Transit, which is part of the RCSC, will also receive $35,000 in funding.
Two organizations that weren't included in the upcoming budget are Elkins Main Street and Elkins Parks and Recreation. The money that typically goes to those organizations will be reallocated, Kesling said.
In the past, Elkins Main Street received $25,000 from the county, while the EPRC received $24,000.
"There has not been a director for Elkins Main Street for the past six months," said Kesling. "We did not receive a funding request from them during our budgeting process, so we are reallocating those funds to better service the county as a whole and increasing the Randolph County Chamber of Commerce line.
"Elkins Main Street mainly just deals with Elkins downtown businesses, where we felt it would be better to increase our funding for the Chamber, which helps businesses throughout the county."
The Elkins-Randolph County Chamber will receive an increase from $3,500 to $15,000 on the new budget. Kesling said the commission will continue to also support the chamber throughout the year with other funding requests, such as for the Christmas Parade.
Kesling said no funding request was received from the EPRC and that a portion of that $24,000 will now go toward a line item fund for the county's pool-splash pad and other entities in the county.
"We are looking into grants to aid in recreation in other areas of the county," said Kesling. "If anyone was here a couple weeks ago when Steve Wamsley talked about Mill Creek and their City Park, we are looking at grants and also working with mayors in Harman, Dryfork and Mill Creek to help redo their parks and recreation."
Another area of funding that will continue will be the Elkins Depot Welcome Center CVB, which receives money through the county's hotel-motel tax.
"That hotel-motel tax is a tax that the county gets from any hotel outside the city," said Kesling. "When you go to pay your bill at a hotel, there is a line on your bill that says hotel-motel, and that goes to the county. The county then takes half of that and it gives it to the Depot Center to help promote tourism for the county."
The commission is estimating that the Welcome Center will receive $176,500 from that tax for the upcoming fiscal year.
Kesling said upcoming county projects include the opening of the pool/splash pad at the Elks, the relocation of the Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and the purchase of land for a new substation for the Randolph County Emergency Squad.
"We are excited to announce that we will be working with Kurt Gainer (of the Randolph County Emergency Squad) and the Ambulance Authority in its search for land on Corridor H for a new substation," said Kesling.
"We talked with Kurt this past week and he is fully staffed and as Corridor H continues to expand and open up, we feel that there is a need for a new substation along Corridor H for a faster response time to the Coalton or Montrose area."
Kesling closed by thanking all of the county officials and employees, and announced that the commission has budgeted a potential second humane officer for the county.
"This is something that the county has long needed and during the interview process for our current humane officer, we had several applicants that we feel can potentially be a second one," he said. "That would give weekend coverage for the county and better overall response times.
"I want to thank all the elected officials in our county and our employees. We could not have done this budget process without them and their conservative spending over the past year, which led to the county remaining in the black."