Marion County Building and Finance Committee Chair Dr. Creighton Engel presented a plan to the county board Tuesday night that would allow the third phase of major building improvements to be completed.
Engel says the change in funding sources on some projects was needed because some of the county’s funding sources can only be used for certain types of projects.
“It’s a matter of moving some money between funds. We do have money in the ARPA funds that were going to be used to replace the roof on the jail, however, we can use the quarter-cent sales tax monies for that, and money in the ARPA fund moved to finish sally port and other technology at the jail and then the State’s Attorney’s office.”
Engel feels it’s important to have a rainy day fund with the country’s current economic challenges. However, for now, the county’s collections on its two
sales taxes remain up dramatically from this time last year. The quarter-cent sales tax for public safety collected $91,612 for the most recent month compared to $62,723 last year. The one-cent sales tax collected $44,440 compared to $30,234 for the same month last year.
County Board Chair Debbie Smith reported the county is without an auditor.
Their current auditor Mark Vaughn has resigned due to no longer having enough staff to complete the work. However, he has promised to work with the county’s new auditor in catching up on overdue audits. Smith has contacted a number of auditing firms, but so far has not found one who has agreed to take the position.
The board made three appointments. Acting Centralia City Fire Chief Jeff Day was named to replace retired fire chief John Lynch on the 911 Emergency Phone Board and Centralia Police Sergeant Jamie James to replace retired Police Chief Greg Dodson. County Board member Steven Whritenour was appointed to the Marion County Housing Authority Board replacing Jim Rueter who resigned.
