MOUNT VERNON — Once again, the Knox County Veterans Service Office is returning money to the county coffers. This year, it will be about $15,000.
“Every year, we try to give you what the governor’s office gives us,” Kevin Henthorn, VSO director, told Commissioners Teresa Bemiller and Thom Collier on Thursday afternoon. “It’s always for the previous year, so it doesn’t reflect 2017.”
Henthorn said the amount would have been $30,000 except for two major expenses: the purchase of a new veteran ID card system for $10,000 and a camera security system.
“For every dollar that I spend, $36 in federal monies comes back into the veterans’ or widows’ pockets,” he said. From 2007 to 2016, total federal VA dollars spent in the county total more than $12 million. “So we are getting a pretty good return for a small county. We are doing it based on no matter what fluctuates from year to year.”
Knox County’s veteran population declined from 4,755 in 2007 to 4,450 in 2016. “We’re losing between 70 and 100 veterans a year with burials,” said Henthorn, adding that some veterans are lost due to moving out of the county. “But, every year we’ve shown growth, whether it’s in the number of veterans or money coming in. This was a banner year in bringing in benefits and helping veterans. I can’t wait to see 2017 numbers.”
The veteran population may be misleading in terms of the VSO’s help. The 4,450 represents veterans receiving Veterans Administration money. “We have 8,000 veterans in our system,” said Henthorn. “Veterans who have used our office, whether coming in for a ham, needing help with electric bill, or filing for federal, state or county benefits.”
Henthorn said that in 2015, the VSO suspended its advertising campaign, choosing instead to reserve the money for potential Siemens layoffs and other veterans’ benefits. The number of new veterans helped dropped from 150 a year to 60; that has since risen to almost 200 in 2016.
The general fund budget adopted by the commissioners on Thursday afternoon appropriates $421,000 to veterans services in 2018 and $268,700 to the soldier’s relief operating budget.
Henthorn requested the commissioners’ help in looking at a new contract with Knox Area Transit for transporting wheelchair veterans. Previously, the fee was about $90 per transport. The new fees include $2.01 a mile, $33 an hour for driving and $15 an hour for waiting on the veteran, which could reach as high as $250 for transport to Cleveland and back. The commissioners agreed to look into the issue with Knox County Job & Family Services, which oversees KAT.
