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Commissioners shift funds to veterans agency

LISBON — Columbiana County commissioners avoided a lawsuit by following through with their pledge to provide the county Veterans Services Commission with the funding it wanted, and in return they received a thank-you letter from the agency.

Commissioners on Wednesday transferred nearly $50,000 to the VSC, fulfilling a promise made last week by Commissioner Mike Halleck, who said the VSC would get the funding once the books were officially closed on 2017.

The VSC voted Dec. 5 to take legal action after commissioners appropriated the agency only $658,000 of the $708,000 it requested for 2018. State law requires VSCs to receive funding equal to what a 0.5-mill in property taxes would generate, or $873,000 currently.

When the VSC requested $695,000 for 2017 but received $658,00O the agency took commissioners to court despite a promise by Halleck they would be appropriated the $37,000 later in the year as additional funding came available. The lawsuit was resolved in late July when commissioners agreed to provide the additional $37,000.

Halleck, who is the chief architect of the county budget, took a different approach this year: Should the VSC have enough left in unspent funds from 2017, commissioners would transfer the money back to the VSC as soon as possible in 2018. The VSC ended the year with $54,063 in unspent funds.

Meanwhile, the VSC took commissioners at their word and agreed not to take legal action. The VSC also sent a letter to commissioners thanking them for agreeing to “fulfill the remainder of our 2018 budget request at the next commissioners meeting …”

In other action at Wednesday’s 10-minute meeting, commissioners awarded a bridge replacement contract to McCoy Construction of East Liverpool, which submitted the low bid of $147,954. The company is to replace a bridge on Tower Road in Butler Township.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com

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