Commissioners asked county staff on Tuesday to review and clarify procedures for reimbursing fire departments from the county fire levy after identifying several high-dollar and atypical charges that, they said, should have come to the commission for prior approval.

Commissioner Taylor flagged multiple items in vouchers and invoices: a $12,000 equipment purchase for Oak Hill, a $14,377 HVAC replacement deposit paid by Smithers, a $129.58 Sam's Club charge and an $847.20 Tudor's charge on Armstrong Creek accounts, and smaller purchases on other departments' cards. Taylor said Oak Hill has approximately $10,554.79 left in its levy budget for the fiscal year and that the large tool purchase and the HVAC deposit should have been presented to the commission before payment.

County staff and commissioners agreed to draft and send a letter to all fire chiefs describing the process for requesting reimbursement for extraordinary items and listing each department's remaining fire-levy funds for the year. Commissioners said routine operating costs and food purchases should be paid from departmental operating budgets, not from the excess fire levy intended for capital and extraordinary expenses.

The commission moved, seconded and approved a motion to review the reimbursements and to have staff prepare a formal letter to chiefs outlining allowable charges and deadlines for seeking prior approval.

Commissioners additionally discussed technical matters such as sales tax exemption for fire departments and the state rollout of a new auditor checkbook portal. Staff agreed to compile the vouchers and prepare the clarification letter and budget summaries for each department.