By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Darke County Commissioners showed their support for Child Support Awareness Month prior to the start of the regular Commission meeting on Thursday. Child Support Awareness Month runs through August. Rhonda McKinnis with the county’s Child Support Enforcement arm of Job & Family Services presented the commissioners with facts and figures regarding child support in the county.

Throughout the state, $1.7 billion was collected in fiscal year 2022 for child support. McKinnis shared the county has about 98 percent of their cases being paid on. Commissioner Larry Holmes noted he was surprised to learn that Darke County collects over $7 million a year in child support.

McKinnis said they have three full-time case workers with between 474 to 585 cases each and a supervisor that handles 360 cases. At the end of June, the office had 2,447 active cases with 61 percent being paid. Commissioner Holmes complimented the agency for its effectiveness in collections which ranks in the top 20 percent. McKinnis said, “We are asking everyone to keep in mind the children. We are collecting money to help them.”

During their meeting, commissioners approved a resolution appropriating an increase for the special election on Aug. 8 due to the 2023 Special Election Grant that was received. The total revenue received from the grant was $66,664. “The early number for the Board of Elections, that they shared with us, was around $54,000. They based it upon these numbers we received the funds from based upon the last election; a percentage of. They figured this should be more than an appropriate number,” said Commissioner Matt Aultman. Money that isn’t used will be sent back to the state.

The bigger line items in the appropriations are $27,320 for poll workers and $17,000 for contract service.

The county also had some overruns on a couple of projects with funds being transferred into those funds.

The county will pay an additional $12,325 due to an overrun on the materials for the resurfacing of the runway at the Darke County Airport. According to Aultman, this figure represents additional funds that were needed to be paid above what was stipulated in the contract.

The county experienced a similar overrun on the cost to rehabilitate the jail. An additional $18,534 was approved by the commissioners. According to Dale Musser, facilities and safety manager for the county, the project is about halfway complete. Musser agreed with Commissioner Aultman that C ward is complete and A ward is nearing completion. The county has B, D, and E wards left to complete. Musser said they are ahead on their timeline to complete the project. The Sheriff’s Office is also in the midst of refurbishing the control room at the jail.

Commissioners also approved LG Construction LLC to foam insulate a hangar at the Darke County Airport. J-Crane is the current occupant of the building and recently purchased and installed a hangar door. The total cost for the insulation is $20,840. J-Crane has agreed to paint over the foam insulation, which saved the county $4,000. The commissioners pointed out J-Crane has been leasing the hangar for over a decade.

To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].