Sequoyah County Commissioners are awaiting a new budget, based on evaluations by County Assessor Donna Graham.

Commissioners said that at a special meeting Friday, they determined the amount of money available to the county is $2,539,910.07. That figure was sent to Vickie Wilson of Shawnee, the county’s budget maker, who is revising the county budget.

The budget is based on evaluation estimates by Graham, and does not include the half-cent sales tax approved by voters Oct. 13. The collection of that sales tax will begin in January, the commissioners said at their meeting Monday, and is designated for the operation of the county jail and for the sheriff.

At Monday’s meeting the commissioners also signed a resolution requesting the state legislature seek immediate solutions to provide funding at the current level for nutrition sites, operated by the Oklahoma Area Agency on Aging. State Sen. Kenneth Corn (D-Poteau) and State Rep. Glen “Bud” Smithson (D-Sallisaw) are asking the legislature to call a special session to restore funding for the nutrition program. The funding is provided through the State Department of Human Services, and the program provides noon meals for senior citizens at nutrition sites throughout the state and delivers hot meals to the homebound.

Don Butcher, director of the Sequoyah, Adair and Cherokee (SAC) Nutrition Program, said his money has been cut by 30 percent this year.

“That’s a lot,” Butcher said. “Something should be done about it. It has been difficult for us to work with this cut.”

Butcher reported that his staff met last week to make plans to work with less money.

“I was feeling pretty good about it last Tuesday after the meeting,” Butcher said, “Then I got back to the office and found out we had been cut by another $40,000.

“I don’t know how we’re going to deal with it, but we’ll do something,” he said.

Also at Monday’s meeting the commissioners approved a use tax, which County Clerk Vicki Sawney explained is required by the Oklahoma Tax Commission to match the new half-cent sales tax. The Oklahoma Tax Commission defines the Oklahoma Use Tax as a levy on the purchase price of tangible personal property, including pre-paid transportation, purchased outside Oklahoma and stored, used or otherwise consumed in the state.