Senior citizens levy proceeding to ballot

Published 10:32 am Friday, July 29, 2011

A proposed levy that would fund county senior citizens services is heading for the Nov. 8 election.

At its Thursday meeting the county commissioners approved a resolution that will place the 1-mil levy on the ballot, following a procedural policy to allow issues to go before the voters.

“The board of commission neither denounces nor recommends,” Commission President Les Boggs said at the meeting. “We are neutral. We recognized the right to put it on the ballot.”

Email newsletter signup

The commissioners are involved because they are the taxing authority and the money from the levy would go to the commission, which would distribute it to the senior services.

“In times passed for levies because the commissioners voted to put it on the ballot, it was perceived we were endorsing it,” Boggs said.

The county auditor has certified that the levy would bring in $810,500 annually for five years.

The commissioners also requested a prosecutor’s opinion concerning an employee of the county EMS. Typically a county employee can accrue up to 30 days of sick leave and receive pay for those unused days at the time of his or her retirement.

However, EMS employees often work shifts that are 24 hours on and 48 hours off instead of a 40-hour 5-day week.

The commissioners wanted to know what calculation would be used to determine the accrued sick leave.

In other action, the commission:

• Appointed County Engineer Doug Cade and Commissioner Bill Pratt to the State Emergency Response Committee;

• Approved giving the Lawrence County Domestic Violence Task Force $750, up from the $500 donation from this year;

• Received notice that County Road 37 will be closed from Aug. 1 to Aug. 5 for bridge replacement;

• Received the weekly dog warden’s report where 36 dogs were destroyed; three were sold and none were redeemed. There were 84 dogs in custody this week.