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NewsApril 13, 1999

MARBLE HILL -- Phone home, but at a lower price. That's the message from Bollinger County Presiding Commissioner Ken Trentham, who claims the county government is paying too much for telephone service. Trentham said Monday that the county pays $1,000 to $1,200 a month for telephone service. By shopping around, the county could cut its telephone bill in half, saving as much as $6,000 a year, he estimated...

MARBLE HILL -- Phone home, but at a lower price.

That's the message from Bollinger County Presiding Commissioner Ken Trentham, who claims the county government is paying too much for telephone service.

Trentham said Monday that the county pays $1,000 to $1,200 a month for telephone service. By shopping around, the county could cut its telephone bill in half, saving as much as $6,000 a year, he estimated.

"We are paying 24 cents a minute, and today we can get long-distance for a dime a minute," said Trentham.

The drive to cut phone costs is part of the County Commission's effort to make more efficient use of tax dollars.

The presiding commissioner said the county mistakenly had been paying federal taxes on the fuel it bought for the past four or five years. The county is exempt from such taxes.

Trentham said the county is owed about $4,000 to $5,000, which it expects to be refunded. "We should have some money coming back here," he said.

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"I am trying to go over stuff to try to cut costs," said Trentham, who was elected presiding commissioner last November.

Since taking office in January, Trentham has examined county spending. "Nobody checks out prices anymore," he lamented.

Led by Trentham, the commission sought to hire a DARE officer for the county. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

The county had hoped to work with the local school districts to obtain a grant from the state to hire a DARE officer for the sheriff's department. That officer then would visit schools as part of an effort to encourage children to stay away from drugs.

But Trentham said the project had to be put on hold because county officials couldn't get the application ready by Monday's grant deadline. "I guess we kind of waited too long to get the ball rolling," he said.

There were concerns initially that the county might have to come up with 50 percent of the funding.

Trentham said the county can't afford such a match. He said the commission is looking into the possibility of securing a DARE grant next year that would provide nearly 100 percent of the funding.

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