Please take the time complete your census today by visiting www.2020Census.gov or calling 844-330-2020 to get counted today! It matters.
Today’s COVID-19 update is below. I am doing these newsletters updates almost daily, excluding weekends, but my social media is the fastest way to get information. You may want to consider following my social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to get this information as quickly as possible.
The May 18th, 2020 meeting of the full County Commission was held with all Commissioners in attendance by conference call. Ben Lomand provided a teleconference line to the county free of charge during the pandemic. As with many other issues during this time, we are doing the best we can with what we have under less than ideal circumstances. We have always endeavored to be open with our meetings and will continue to do so. The complete recording of this meeting is available online at the County website.
As Mayor and on behalf of the Cumberland County Commission, I would like to recognize all of the CCHS, Stone Memorial and Phoenix High School Seniors whose Senior year was shortened due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Cumberland County Commission and I are proud of your efforts and wish you all the best as you move forward in life.
The first item of business for the evening was a motion to make a determination on the record that meeting electronically is necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare in light of the coronavirus, with the motion and vote to be included in the minutes of this meeting. The motion was approved 18-0.
Next was approval to add to the minutes changes made to the personnel policy of the Cumberland County Circuit Court Clerk. The changes are the same as those made to the county-wide personnel policy that were detailed last month. The motion was approved unanimously.
Resolutions
The following resolutions were next on the agenda (resolution sponsor in parenthesis):
RESOLUTION 05-2020-1 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Food Pantry Donation, $125.00 (Stone). Funds were donated from private individuals to assist with the food pantry. The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 05-2020-2 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Maintenance Safety Grant, $15,900.00 (Stone). The resolution to accept a work place safety grant to purchase roof access safety ladders was approved 18-0.
RESOLUTION 05-2020-3 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Other Public Health & Welfare – Animal Shelter, $1,252.04 (Stone). The resolution to accept funds from a private citizen to cover the cost associated with installation of an exercise area at the Animal Shelter was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 05-2020-4 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Jail, $18,313.00 (Stone). The jail has developed significant plumbing issues in the kitchen area. The cost was too significant to be covered in the jail budget so additional funding was needed. The resolution was approved 18-0.
RESOLUTION 05-2020-5 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, $147,905.00 (Stone). Certain outstanding purchase orders issued in the prior fiscal year must be recognized in this fiscal year instead of having a payable set up. This was a technical correction required from the county budget audit and was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 05-2020-6 – To appoint Members to the Cumberland County Library Board (Stone). In an 17-0-1 vote (Commissioner Lowe abstained), the Commissioner approved Terry Lowe and Robert Schwartz to be appointed to the Cumberland County Library Board for a second term of three years to begin on July 1, 2020 and to expire on June 30, 2023 and Joe Looney to be appointed to the Cumberland County Library Board for a first term of three years to begin on July 1, 2020 and to expire on June 30, 2023.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Property tax collections are at 99.1% compared to 100.5% at this time last year. Hotel/Motel tax collections are approximately 68.8% of the $817,283 budget as revised down due to last year’s collection. So far $562,649 has been received, but the COVID-19 pandemic will definitely negatively affect this line item. Prisoner boarding is at 60.6% of budget at $450,021 after nine months of revenue has been collected. Jail census numbers are still low due to the pandemic and it is expected that we will not make revenue projections in this line item. Local option sales tax collections for the BOE came in at $710,630 which is $11,274 below estimated revenue. Overall, we are approximately $58,112 above the budgeted amount year to date. This is another revenue line item that will likely be significantly affected beginning with the collections shown next month. EMS collections for the month were $411,202. This puts year to date collections at $4,195,902 which is $862,572 above budget year to date. The annual budgeted amount is $4,000,000 so we are above that amount with two months left. Overall, we are in a fragile budget year. That will continue in to next year as well.
COVID-19 Update
30 active cases (up 3)
93 tested positive (up 4)
62 recovered (up 2)
1 death officially reported
2,920 negative tests
3,013 total tested
3.1 percent of those tested were positive
Thank you for being part of the solution and thank you for the opportunity to serve as your County Mayor. If you are interested in hearing my thoughts and views on news, events, and activities in Cumberland County, please subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Thank you,
Allen Foster
Cumberland County Mayor
http://allenfoster.net
allenfoster.com 