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Martinsburg resident urges county to avoid adding sheriff positions and proposes tolling I-81
Summary
During public comment, Martinsburg resident Corey Rodriguez pressed commissioners to avoid funding five additional sheriff positions via property taxes, criticized state contributions to local safety, and proposed converting I-81 into a toll road to fund safety upgrades.
Corey Rodriguez of 498 Woolen Mill Road addressed the Berkeley County Commission during the March 20 public-comment period, urging commissioners not to place the cost of additional sheriff positions on county taxpayers and raising concerns about safety on Interstate 81.
Rodriguez said the county currently has 68 sheriff’s deputies and 12 state police officers and argued the county’s law-enforcement burden is disproportionately borne by local taxpayers when state resources, he said, should contribute more. He said he opposed adding five sheriff positions to the county payroll and noted that his property tax bill had risen from $16.98 in 2015 to about $28.08 last year.
On highway safety, Rodriguez described I-81 as dangerous and referenced a recent fatal crash. He suggested the county should follow a Delaware model and convert the corridor into a turnpike with tolls (for example, $5 per car, $10 per truck) and use a TIF district to build a turnpike headquarters to fund policing and maintenance. Commissioners did not adopt any policy in response during the public-comment period; Rodriguez’s remarks were entered into the record.
