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Berkeley County Commission approves consent items, personnel changes and tax exonerations
Summary
The Berkeley County Commission approved the agenda, minutes, a consent agenda that included budget revisions and personnel status changes, and several tax exonerations and estate settlements during its morning session.
The Berkeley County Commission approved its meeting agenda, minutes and a consent agenda that included multiple internal budget revisions and personnel status changes, and voted to approve personal and real-estate tax exonerations and a package of estate settlements.
The actions approved included six internal budget revisions submitted by county departments to move funds between line items to cover overtime, supplies, travel and training; a set of personnel status changes (hires, transfers, salary adjustments and resignations); nine personal-property exonerations totaling $2,712.09 and two real-estate exonerations totaling $498.20; and 23 estates recommended for final or interim settlement.
The commission first voted to adopt the agenda after a motion and second. Commissioners then approved the minutes from the Jan. 30 meeting; Vice President Catlett was asked to abstain from that vote because of an afternoon absence on a specific item. The consent agenda — described in the meeting packet to include the budget revisions and other routine items — was then approved by the commission.
Assessor Larry Hess presented the exonerations. He told the commission nine personal-property exonerations were required to correct double billings and clerical errors, totaling $2,712.09. The commission moved to approve those exonerations. Hess also presented two real-estate corrections for an erroneously removed homestead exemption for a property owned by a Mr. Gokanauer; those two corrections totaled $498.20 and were approved.
County staff summarized personnel and status updates across departments: a new hire recommendation from Tim Zaya, Community Corrections Director, to appoint Madeline Walters as a peer recovery coach effective Feb. 18, 2025, with an annual salary of $43,135; an intra-office transfer for Kevin Miller from the prosecuting attorney's office to court security as chief deputy court marshal effective Feb. 17, 2025, with a change in salary range; a clerk salary increase in the assessor’s office for Casey Capistran effective Feb. 1, 2025; and several letters of resignation and retirement from county staff including IT and extension positions. Prosecuting Attorney Joe Kinzer requested administrative changes to job descriptions to allow the office to post vacancies (retitling and regrading of victim-witness advocate positions, elimination of a position no longer used, and retitling prosecuting-attorney roles); the presentation described the changes as budget neutral with no salary changes.
Will Lawrence presented 23 estates for final or interim settlement, stating that each estate had been properly noticed under West Virginia law and none had written objections; the commission approved the settlements after motion and second.
The commission recorded routine items such as a cancelled check from the clerk’s office, a bond reduction for Southbrook Section 1 Phase 1 tied to specific BCP file numbers and bond number 0798308, and other consent-packet materials.
Ending: Commissioners moved to a short break after completing the morning consent and presentations and announced the meeting would reconvene at 2:05 p.m.
