County officials provide update

It’s been five months since the former Agent Funeral Home was demolished to make room for the new Sequoyah County courthouse annex. The barren landscape at the southeast corner of Chickasaw Avenue and Elm Street must now be prepared further before the $2.5 million annex is built, District 3 County Commissioner Jim Rogers told business and community leaders assembled for Wednesday’s Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce’s monthly membership luncheon.

While the project has not yet received the green light to proceed, the commissioners are nearing finalization of the architectural design of the 10,000-square-foot building that will be built using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

“We wanted to do this without putting the financial burden on the taxpayers,” Rogers said. “And, yes, we will utilize as many hometown folks as we can on that project where possible. We believe that if you keep your money here, it has the opportunity to come back around to you.”

The annex is expected to house offices for the county commissioners, county clerk, county assessor and county treasurer.

“I think this will be a great benefit to the county,” Rogers said.

Julie Haywood, who has served as county clerk for the past 12 years, then provided an update on what’s been going on in her office.

The clerk’s staff has been preserving old records, which will be placed in underground storage, Haywood said, and has purchased new plat cabinets.

She said her office has issued about 5,000 purchase orders so far this year, and paid out almost $8 million for goods and services. For 2024, Haywood said gross wages paid were about $6.4 million, which she said is a significant increase from 2023.

Schools in the county have been issued about $13 million from 2024 tax year receipts, with an additional $2.3 million going to district Vo-tech and about $460,000 to the district library, she said.

The chamber’s membership luncheon is held the fourth Wednesday of the month.