MOUNT VERNON — For the past several years, the Knox County Veterans Service Office spent less than it received, enabling the VSO to return money to the county’s general fund. This year the trend continues, with the VSO returning around $35,000.
Kevin Henthorn, VSO executive director, along with VSO Commissioners George Curry, Jerry Robison, Ken Lane, and Wilson Warner, shared the news with the county commissioners on Thursday. The numbers are based on 2017 revenue and expenses as 2018 numbers are not yet complete.
In 2017, federal dollars coming into the county increased by $769,320.59 compared to 2016. The ratio of federal to county dollars was 37:1.
“That’s the federal money brought into the county for every dollar spent,” explained Henthorn. “We are losing veterans, but we are bringing in more federal tax dollars.”
The actual count of veterans living in Knox County is unknown. The VA Office of the Actuary estimates the population at 4,394; Henthorn puts the estimate at 8,000. He said the VSO serves around 4,300 to 4,500 veterans a year.
To get the word out about VSO services, the office uses social media and radio and attends local festivals. According to Henthorn, the biggest outreach program is the annual ham distribution, which had dropped to around 800.
“We bumped back up this year … to almost 1,300,” he said.
The VSO is slated to move into the Central School building on East Chestnut Street once the renovations are complete later this year. Although Henthorn said the VSO is unsure what the start-up costs might be in conjunction with the move, he does not expect any issues.
“We fully anticipate those and think we can absorb them without problem,” he said, adding that advertising costs might increase to make certain veterans know about the new location.
Also on tap for 2019 is a change in the way the VSO will buy and operate its transportation vans. The current vans are owned and funded — including fuel, oil, repairs, insurance, and purchase — by the Disabled American Veterans Organization. However, the local DAV Post 143 dissolved in 2018, so the Knox County VSO can no longer operate under the DAV umbrella.
Henthorn said he estimates the cost of fuel and maintenance on the current four vans to be $1,000 a month.
“That’s the expense that we are going to have to absorb if the vans become unserviceable,” he told the commissioners.
As the DAV retires the current vans, the VSO will have to buy replacement vans. Henthorn said that over time, the VSO will only maintain a fleet of two or three vans rather than four. He anticipates the cost of buying a used 8-to-10-passenger van to be $30,000 to $40,000.
Calling the end of the DAV partnership “bittersweet,” Henthorn said it does give the VSO greater flexibility as to the type of vehicle to buy. The DAV only offered two options, neither of which accommodates wheelchairs. He said the $26,400 annual rent the VSO will save by moving to Central School will help offset the cost of buying the vans.
The number of veterans served through the VSO’s financial assistance program, which covers mortgage, food, heat, and electric expenses, continues to decline. Henthorn said his office received 200 applications in 2016; that dropped to 170 and 150 in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
