Sales tax receipts for Highland County are up by over $200,000, according to the Wednesday meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners and county auditor Bill Fawley.
Fawley provided a document which showed the 2021 sales tax receipt from July equals $812,025.25, which is a substantial increase from July 2020, which was $607,099.06.
David Daniels, one of the commissioners, thinks most of the increase is considered “somewhat” COVID-related and that there isn’t an increase in the base but in the spending in available dollars.
Fawley said he talked to the Department of Taxation when the numbers were released and that he heard from them that people should plan on the numbers going back down some, but not to the point it was “even last year.”
He said the department thinks it’s going to maintain; he also said the number he gives in the next year or two when the budget is being planned “will not necessarily” be as high as the new sales tax receipts are.
In other news, the commissioners discussed needing to replace the doors at the Hi-Tech Center. Jeff Duncan, president of the board, said the old ones aren’t working properly and they had someone come in to see if they could be rebuilt.
However, they learned they were in bad shape and needed to be removed and new ones put in. The board said the price for this would be $10,898.
Another matter discussed was that the Administration Building must have bricks sealed because its old windows caused moisture to seep into the bricks and into some of the building’s structure, rusting and swelling it and breaking some of the windows. This cost will be $26,500. Daniels said it might sound like a lot of money but that’s because the people being hired have to pressure wash the whole building and apply two coats of a silicone sealer.
The board approved three resolutions:
• Res No. 21-135, an authorization to modify the Sheriff’s budget in the amount of $4,000.
• Res No. 21-136, an authorization to modify the Economic Development’s budget in the amount of $3,000.
• Res No. 21-135, which is the commissioners endorsing the Paint Valley ADAMH Levy Renewal in the Nov. 2 election.
The board also approved eight contracts:
• Five contracts, numbers 45 to 49, related to putting phones in at the Economic Development building and other technology-related additions to the Administration Building, Courthouse and TEC.
• Two contracts related to approvals for someone renting office space at the Economic Development building.
• The final approved contract focused on the approval of Miller-Mason Paving as the company awarded road resurfacing project highlighted at last week’s meeting.
There were also four approvals discussed and all approved:
• For the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), its application of LEPC member appointments for multiple members.
• The last three approvals focused on quit-claim deeds for locations near the alleys the commissioners vacated “a month ago” in Dodson Township.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
