| After two years of budget belt-tightening, curbing benefits, denying pay increases, cutting elected officials budgets, and denying funding requests and new programs, the Calhoun commissioners have paid-off the regional jail bill, nearly $65,000.
That amount of money sounds small to most West Virginia counties, but in the budgeting of scarce dollars in Calhoun, it's a lot.
Several years ago the county was in debt to the regional jail system for over $200,000. A recent examination of incarcerations by the commission indicated most of those in jail are appropriate .
Calhoun commissioners have a constitutional obligation to balance the county budget within 3%, a standard to which the state or federal government is not held. Their deficit spending, spending money they don't have, should be well-known to taxpayers.
Commissioner Kevin Helmick said Monday, "It looks like we have about $1,700 left in the coffer, but this is the right thing to do, take care of it."
The county has continued to downsize employees, a county that already had less than a dozen employees, excluding 911 personnel who are paid by a state funding stream.
Most of the county's elected officials are now ignoring the County Handbook, which called for wage limits, and are now exercising their constitutional rights to set their own wages. That decision, they say, is based on using a small number of employees to do a lot of work, many now working extra hours.
With the County Handbook created by elected officials and two county employees, the Calhoun Commission is going back to the drawing board to propose a new handbook which will essentially give elected officials the authority to do what they can do.
Scottie "Chip" Westfall said, "The commission is going to propose a handbook that conforms to basic legal requirements."
"Elected officials have the right to set their employees wages, under the budget issued annually by the commission," Westfall said.
Commission President Bob Weaver said the county's taxes are among the lowest on the eastern seaboard and with a large number of citizens eligible for Homestead Exemption, the county's income is stagnant.
"The county is run on a shoestring, which should speak loudly to taxpayers. If the county defaults, I can assure them the cost of operating would really go up," Weaver said.
"But it is sometimes embarrassing that we can't afford to have money to cut the grass at the county park or Wayne Underwood Field, or give a hand with county projects."
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