Wood County Assessor’s Office cuts two positions to help address shortfall
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PARKERSBURG - The Wood County Assessor's Office has begun to make cuts to address a shortfall in their budget.
Assessor John Kelly appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to discuss action he is taking to address an estimated shortfall of around $357,000 in the office's valuation fund.
"We had a rough Friday," Kelly said. "We eliminated two positions in the assessor's office. Both of them were administrative positions."
He did not name which employees were let go, but said one had a salary of $47,944 and the other had a salary of $47,996 as well as around $33,000 combined in benefits. Kelly believes they will end up with a gross savings of $161,940 once other expenses like time already worked for this fiscal year are factored in.
Kelly believes the office will end up with around $130,000 to $135,000 in net savings. There is an accountant working on other options to consider for additional savings.
"I currently have the budget on my desk, and I will be looking at some of the smaller items to see what we can cut expenditures on," Kelly said.
The valuation fund is what the Real Estate Division in the assessor's office operates under. Kelly discovered the office overspent its budget in fiscal years 2022-23, 23-24 and 24-25, although the paperwork he had showed a cash carryover of $400,000 when he put his budget together for the current fiscal year. Kelly came into office in January 2025.
After eliminating the two positions, Kelly said the remaining staff had a meeting.
"We have reassigned some duties," he said. "That is what we got."
Commissioner Jim Hamric said he felt the Assessor's Office was going in the right direction in addressing the matter.
"That is what we are trying to do," Kelly responded. "We have a problem and we need to fix it.
"It is easier to work with people than it is to work against people."
Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said they need to rebuild some transparency as a mistake was made that needs to be figured out.
"I have been as transparent as I know how to be," Kelly responded.
"This will be fixed," Colombo said. "We want to fix it just as you do."
Kelly hopes to have something in place that the county can act on soon.
Commission President Blair Couch said he requested the date from the accountant on when the problem was first discovered and has not gotten that.
"We are trying to figure out who knew what when," Couch said. "It still doesn't solve the problem. The problem is still a problem."
Kelly said they need to work on it jointly.
The commission is maintaining a spot on their agenda for the Assessor's office on both Mondays and Thursdays in the near future, in case they need to take action on something.
In other business, the commission unanimously approved a list of poll workers submitted to the Wood County Clerk's Office for the upcoming general election in November.
In a letter presented to the commission, Clerk Joe Gonzales said the county Republican and Democratic Executive Committees turned in the list of poll workers for the Nov. 3 general election.
The county recently consolidated some precincts to reduce the 307 poll workers that have been needed for elections.
"The total number of poll workers needed for this election is 275," the letter said. "The Republicans have 155 positions, in which 142 poll workers have been placed.
"The Democrats have 120 positions, in which 110 poll workers have been placed."
Gonzales told the commission he has been in contact with some potential poll workers to fill the remaining spots.
"We are always in good shape until the day before and Election Day, and that is when people call off," he said. "I do think we are in good shape."
In the past, employees in the Clerk's Office have filled in vacant positions as needed.
Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.