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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Commission made a final decision during its regular meeting Thursday about how much future support it will provide the City of Elkins concerning the Whitmer Water Association.
Earlier this year, the city requested help from the county after the state Public Service Commission designated Elkins to take over the Whitmer Water Association, which was classified as a failing and distressed utility.
The PSC directed Elkins to acquire the Whitmer Water Association after it was deemed to be the most capable and proximate utility. In January, Elkins assumed full operations of Whitmer's water, which includes operating the plant, reading meters, fixing leaks and more.
Last month the County Commission approved a payment to the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid federal taxes for the Whitmer Water Association totaling $19,571.75.
During Thursday's meeting, the Commission unanimously approved $7,655.26 in funding to help pay back state taxes.
Commissioner David Kesling addressed City of Elkins officials in attendance and told them how much help the County Commission would be able to give moving forward.
"We wanted to let you all know what we can and can't do with the help of Whitmer Water," Kesling said during Thursday's meeting. "You came to us in June and it was broken down into three parts.
"The first one was operation, maintenance, and legal services fees was roughly around $242,000. The tax liabilities you estimated at about $200,000 and the bond was $200,917 for a total of $634,210.
"Last meeting we paid $19,571 to the IRS and today we are approving $7,655.26 to the state (taxes) today," he said. "The county has given over $110,000 since the city has been working with this."
Kesling told the city officials that the county would continue to help with any taxes associated with the Whitmer Water Association, but said the county is not in any kind of financial situation to help out with any other issues.
"The liens have been taken care of today and the IRS is caught up as of today," he said. "There are still several quarters that are outstanding from the 941s that need filed. So once you have those filed, let us know and we can help. This is one area of this you won't have to worry about.
"We know that this is an unfunded mandate that the state has thrown on you and we have unfunded mandates like with the (new second circuit judge) court thing ... We wanted to let the city know so you can plan as well."
The next Randolph County Commission meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 17 at the Wees Annex at 1:30 p.m.