SALISBURY – Officials in Wicomico County this week agreed to give nearly $230,000 to three agencies, but not before some debate over a request that was eliminated from the budget prior to the current fiscal year.
On Tuesday, the Wicomico County Council approved requests from Wor-Wic Community College, the Wicomico County Circuit Court and the Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore to fund programs, unanticipated office improvements and construction projects.
The council unanimously agreed to give Wor-Wic Community College $100,000 for its adult basic education program after realizing funding was mistakenly left out of the current fiscal year budget.
According to a memo submitted to the Wicomico County Council, Finance Director Dawn Parks said the mistake was realized at a recent meeting.
“During the March 2nd FY19 budget meeting with Wor-Wic Community College, it was discussed that during the FY18 budget meeting the $100,000 funding for the Adult Basic Education Program was approved by Mr. (Bob) Culver and yourself (Director of Administration Wayne Strausburg) but was not part of the budget that was submitted and adopted by Council,” she wrote. “This oversight has caused a shortfall in the funding of that program.”
The council also approved a $77,437 request from the Wicomico County Circuit Court to cover the cost of electrical upgrades and HVAC installation in several offices.
Court Administrator Melissa Batie said storage space would be converted to offices to meet staffing needs.
“Once the circuit court went to the Maryland Electronic Court System in December of 2016, we were able to bit by bit eliminate much of our paper storage,” she said.
It was a $52,345 request from the Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore to offset funding shortages for a phased construction project, however, that generated some discussion from the county council.
Councilman Marc Kilmer said he was opposed to supporting the request.
“During the budget session we specifically cut this out of the budget and the executive’s office was fine with it,” he said. “Now in the 10th month of the fiscal year they are coming back with the exact same amount … I would rather see this in the regular budget process.”
Councilman Larry Dodd agreed with Kilmer’s arguments, but said he would support the request.
“I feel the same way but we can’t hold up construction,” he said.
Following further discussion, the council voted 5-1, with Councilman John Hall absent, to approve the Tri-County Council’s request.
All three requests will be funded with the more than $585,000 in contingency.
