County tax collections running behind

Saturday, July 5, 2008 10:34 PM EDT article source

Lawrence County tax collections are running slightly behind collections for the same time last year, treasurer Stephen Dale Burcham said Thursday.

Burcham told the Lawrence County Commission that at this time, the county has collected approximately $2,689,000.

“Last year it was closer to $3 million,” Burcham said. Many of the mortgage companies that allow customers to escrow tax payments with their mortgage payments have not yet remitted their funds, Burcham said, and this may have some effect on collections.

He anticipates that when the second-half collection period ends July 18, his office will have received $8 million total. Most of that money is divided among the county’s seven public school districts. The rest is divided among other county government entities.

In other matters Wednesday, the commission approved a resolution stating its support of the Second Amendment and a recent Supreme Court ruling. On June 26, the nation’s highest court ruled that a District of Columbia law that in effect prohibited the possession of handguns by most citizens is unconstitutional and violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In suggesting the resolution, Lawrence County Commissioner Tanner Heaberlin said other government entities across the country have adopted similar resolutions. He thought Lawrence County should as well.

The commission rejected a request from Burlington resident Don Saunders that they write a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, opposing any plans to allow more barge docking along the Ohio River in this area. Campbell Transportation of Clairton, Penn., wants to build on the Huntington side of the Ohio River a 90-barge fleeting facility. Saunders is opposed to it and has opposed other plans in the past to increase barge facilities on the river opposite Burlington. He has approached the commission before asking for such a letter and walked away empty-handed then, too.

Commission President Doug Malone told Saunders the commission would take the matter under advisement.

Malone later said he could not oppose plans that would increase business at a time when the county was pushing so hard for economic development.

“We have two barge facilities here and they’re probably among the largest employers we have and they’re reinvesting in Lawrence County right now,” Malone said. “If we send a letter like this, what message are we sending to them?”

Heaberlin and Commissioner Jason Stephens agreed.

“We can’t put jobs as a second priority,” Heaberlin said. “…I understand his concerns but from an economic standpoint we got to support business.”

Stephens said he also understood the concerns of people living along the river but “the fact is, people make their living and support their families with jobs on the river.”

He pointed out that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers comment period is closed.

Saunders has said previously that more barges would mean more noise, soil erosion along river banks and more pollution.