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WEST UNION -- Doddridge County voters will take to the polls next week for a special levy election.
Funds from the levy, which first began in 1987, would benefit the Doddridge County Health Department, the Doddridge County Public Library, Doddridge County Parks and the WVU Extension Office.
Greg Cottrill, Doddridge County Parks director, said if passed, the funds from the levy help with operations, staffing and programming.
"All aspects of each of those agencies are impacted and supported by the levy," he said. "Whether it's prenatal care at the health department, vaccination efforts, general operations, keeping the lights on and paying electric, the disbursement from the levy to these agencies are the primary revenue stream to support the efforts of these agencies to a very great degree."
The benefitting agencies analyze their budgets and expenditures to see what the need is.
Through these efforts, the amount of tax increases to county citizens and business owners has decreased, which has been done three times in the history of the levy.
"We've rolled back the percentage by 0.25 percent to lower the impact on the citizens and business owners," Cottrill said.
The Doddridge County Commission helps to make the levy possible, according to Cottrill.
"This levy is put forth at the direction of the county commission, we can't do this levy without the permission and the guidance of the county commission," he said.
With the challenges of COVID-19 and making sure the vaccine is administered as quickly and efficiently as possible, Doddridge County Health Department administrator Debbie Davis said those efforts would not be possible without levy dollars.
"Without that money we wouldn't be able to deal with COVID. We wouldn't have staffing to do half of what we've been able to do for the county," she said.
On a regular basis, even outside of the pandemic, the health department works in the county conducts disease surveillance year-round.
"We do home health and things we couldn't support if we didn't have the levy," Davis said. "We get state aid but it's not enough to cover those programs."
Early voting began last weekend and extends through Wednesday and the general election is Jan. 16.
"It's very important for the citizens of the county to think about what these agencies bring to the general life in Doddridge County and how they're impacted," Cottrill said.
Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.