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PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Commission Thursday certified the remaining state results from the primary election on June 9.
County Clerk Mark Rhodes appeared before the commission, which certified the results of local races last week and had to wait until this week to certify the state results because other counties were still tabulating final results from absentee and provisional ballots.
Rhodes said all of the counties have finished counting and declared their results, so the commission could move forward with finalizing the state results for Wood County.
The final tallies did not change the outcome of any of the races, Rhodes said.
Rhodes said they have already received around 25 inquiries this week about absentee ballots for the General Election in November.
"People are requesting absentees already," he said. "It has to do with COVID-19. Everyone who has called doesn't want to leave their house."
Rhodes said his office cannot take an application for an absentee ballot until at least Aug. 11. A ballot won't be finalized until late September.
Letters were mailed Wednesday to the executive committees of the political parties to inquire about getting poll workers for the November general election.
During the primary, pandemic concerns prevented people from working the polls. The county ended up having seven consolidated sites on Election Day.
In other business, commissioners discussed the state allowing counties to impose a 1 percent sales tax, a legislative priority for the commission, to bring counties in line with municipalities.
In West Virginia, the state sales tax is 6 percent. Williamstown opted to enact a 1 percent municipal sales tax in 2010 rather than a Business and Occupation tax.
In 2015, Parkersburg and Vienna were accepted into the state's expanded municipal Home Rule program. Both cities sought and were granted approval to implement a 1 percent sales tax the following year with reductions to B&O Tax rates.
Shoppers in Williamstown, Vienna and Parkersburg pay a 7 percent sales tax on non-exempt purchases.
The county had been looking at the 1 percent sales tax to raise revenue as opposed to raising property taxes. If approved, the tax would only be implemented in parts of the county that did not already have the 7 percent sales tax.
Cities with the sales tax in place have been able to spend more on law enforcement, hiring more officers, buying new police cars and paying for other needs.
People have been working toward getting it implemented during the last couple of legislative sessions, but a bill has yet to pass the Legislature.
Officials also said the new steeple for the courthouse is scheduled to be placed on Tuesday. Crews have been working for weeks getting the tower ready.
The plan calls for installing a steeple-like crown on top of the tower-like structure installed prior to 1953 when it was removed. The work also includes roof repairs, climbing stairwell reconstruction up to the tower and other work associated with restoring the bell tower.
County Administrator Marty Seufer said crews will begin doing prep work in the morning with the steeple expected to be lifted by crane and placed sometime in the afternoon.
Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.