Letter to the editor: Tax hike and wasted ARPA funds

In response to the letter “Vote out county commissioners” (March 13, TribLive): I have been beating that drum for several years, pointing out that I believe Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew were using the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds to keep taxes down so that they would be reelected and could then raise taxes on county residents.

Ted Kopas, just elected, is only one vote of three. He has pledged to donate his raise to charities, so he should not be blamed for this obscene raise, as he alone could not have changed the outcome of the 32% tax increase. If Lisa Gephart had been elected instead of either Chew or Kertes, perhaps this increase (which was needed) might have been less egregious. Keep in mind that elections, whether national or local, have serious consequences.

At the January commissioners’ meeting, Chew also admitted that remaining ARPA funds are spent, dumped into the general funds. Under federal law every penny of these funds need to be accounted for, although Chew stated he didn’t think this would be possible. I am currently looking over the last quarterly report to determine if a request for fraud investigation by the Treasury Department is appropriate.

Elizabeth Veronica Weaver

Hempfield The author is a member of Voice of Westmoreland.