LEONARDTOWN, Md. — St. Mary’s County Commissioners met on the morning of Oct. 5 with a packed agenda. A budget change for the Board of Education, the American Rescue Plan Act, the resolution for the administration of the accommodation tax, and more were up for discussion.

The commissioners started the meeting by honoring National 4-H week, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Case Management Recognition Week, and National Disability Employee Awareness Month. Afterward, the commission held a short Disability Awards ceremony.

Then, the commission continued with its agenda. The first matter that was discussed was the human resources department of the sheriff’s office station clerk’s career ladder request.

They were requesting those who work as a station clerk, and pass all the requisite tests, could move up a level after one year. This would be the same process for their second and third years.

They made this proposal because of how difficult it is to keep employees in that position. Since 2017, the sheriff’s office has hired 21 station clerks, but they kept five of them. After a brief discussion, the commissioners unanimously approved a budget change to help this cause.

The Board of Education asked for a budget change to get a newer version of their 2006 Haas machine since the current machine has repairs that would cover half the cost of a new version of the machine.

The Haas TL Series Toolroom Lathes are affordable devices that help with the precision control of the Haas CNC system. They are best used for start-up shops or CNC machining. They primarily use this technology for their production engineering classes. After a brief discussion, they unanimously approved the budget change.

Also, after a lot of discussions, the commissioner’s board approved a budget for the resolution of issuing DCHD bonds. However, the funds are not as much as expected to be given because commissioners hope a loan application will be approved.

Additionally, the board approved $65,000 of the American Rescue Plan funds for the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department, and $543,120 will be allocated to the fire rescue community.

Last, the board approved requiring third-party hosting platforms like Airbnb to release their tax information.

Overall, they approved funding for several organizations from the American Rescue Plan Act, which gave St. Mary’s County government access to a lump sum of money. However, the board is trying to avoid what they would call “turf wars” over additional funding. Some Commissioners have stated they understand that there are needs in St. Mary’s County, but they have to decipher what to prioritize with this short-term money.

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