Washington County justices of the peace remain divided on the best ways to use a $4.5 million reimbursement from the first round of federal CARES Act funding distributed by the state. Since much of the items the county was reimbursed for were included in the 2020 budget, Democrats on the Quorum Court want to see the money go toward small business aid, hunger relief efforts, and rental and mortgage assistance. The Republican majority says the financial impacts on the county are not fully known and the money should be used for near and long-term county expenses. The Quorum Court will continue the debate at its Thursday meeting.
CORRECTION: In the report, we mention a newspaper editorial by Justice of the Peace Patrick Deakins that referred to a "small group of self-interested individuals." We mistakenly attributed his criticism to a Facebook group called Washington County Cares, but Deakins says he was referring to several individuals in the community, not the group on Facebook.
