County departments present budgets; clerk adds voting‑machine quote, sheriff outlines revenue gains

County department leaders briefed the Fayette County Commission on proposed budgets and near‑term equipment needs during the February meeting.

An unidentified presenter from the sheriff’s office discussed key budget categories—overtime, telephone, utilities, training, services (including GPS/software/hardware) and supplies—and reported the office finished the prior fiscal year with nearly $275,000 in revenue and projects topping $300,000 by June 30 (speaker 7). "We finished last fiscal year with almost $275,000 in revenue," the presenter said, adding revised billing rates and collections contributed to the increase.

The county clerk (Unidentified Speaker 6) reviewed the clerk’s budget and requested a new copier and a current annotated West Virginia code set for the law library. The clerk also said she included a quote for new voting machines in the election budget; officials noted existing machines are about 10 years old and replacement planning is needed for municipal elections and future cycles.

Separately, a fire chief (Unidentified Speaker 3) clarified differences between a paging/mapping platform (Chief 360) and the department’s long‑used fire program software, explaining the systems serve separate functions: alerts/mapping versus asset tracking and state reporting. Commissioners reminded departments to notify the county in advance of significant, short‑notice purchases when possible.

Several budget items and equipment requests were discussed but either remained in presentation stage or were deferred for later action; the clerk and departments were asked to prepare for procurement planning and to return with further details as needed.