ROCKLAND – Short, sweet and right to the point describes the May 17 joint session via Zoom of the Knox County Commissioners and the Knox County Budget Committee, marking the public hearing and final vote on the amended 2022 budget that included the final disposition of the county’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.  

The public hearing opened and no one spoke. That being, the public hearing was closed and the meeting moved on to consider the budget.  

A motion was made by the budget committee member Nick Lapham to approve the 2022 amended Knox County Budget as proposed in the total expense amount $6,427,197 million, the total revenue amount of $6,427,197 million for a net amount of zero dollars for the American Rescue Plan Act and in the total expense amount of $5,687,472 million and a total revenue amount of $5,687,472 million for a zero amount of airport CARES and airport improvement projects and transmit the amended 2022 Knox County Budget to the Knox County Commission.  

The budget committee passed the motion 6-1 with Budget Committee Member Randy Stearns, of Camden, voting against the motion.  

The amended budget then passed on to the county commissioners (Rick Parent was not in attendance) and passed 2-0.  

This concluded six joint sessions that began in March and allotted the APRA funds the county had been awarded.

Besides the work of the commissioners and budget committee members a substantial amount of work was put in by Knox County Administrator Andrew Hart, Knox County Finance Director Kathy Robinson, the various county departments and Wendy Galvin, the county’s administrative assistant.  

In addition, the various municipalities, and nonprofits that applied for funds spent time filing their requests and appearing before the members in the joint sessions.