The Dewey City Council approves several items in a meeting on Monday night.

The City of Dewey's Fiscal Year Audit for 2020-2021 would receive unanimous approval after a representative from Hood & Associates presented the item. It was noted during the presentation that Dewey's financial position had improved over the course of the year. The same audit report would be approved by the Dewey Public Works Authority following the Dewey City Council meeting.

Dewey City Manager Kevin Trease would give a sales tax report from there. Trease notes that use tax for the month of February came in at $12,389.23. He says sales tax came in at $87,342.89.

Sales tax saw an approximated 10-percent increase over the same month the year prior. While sales tax is up, Trease adds that use tax has seen at least a 40-percent decrease. He says people getting out and shopping again has contributed to a decline in online sales.

Lastly, the Dewey City Council would authorize financial assistance from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to pay OPEH&W Health Plan in the amount of $18,823.96. Trease says the insurance group paid out more claims than what they brought in dating back to 2019. He says everyone involved in the plan pays a percentage based off of what their rates are.

Trease says the City has a letter from the State that says ARPA funds can be used to pay the surcharge. He says the monies will not come out of the City's regular budget. The Council approved to pay the surcharge all at once.

Mayor Tom Hays questioned if this would impact the City's policies going forward or if it was just to help with lost revenues. Trease says it was just to help with lost revenues for now. This year's premium has not gone up much, but Trease could not guarantee whether or not that would change come next year.

The OPEH&W Health Plan covers many counties and municipalities throughout Oklahoma. Trease says the group put all parties together as a whole in this process. He says this effects everyone, not just the City of Dewey.

The Dewey City Council has used different insurance groups in the past. However, Trease says OPEH&W is the most reasonably priced entity. He says other companies just don't much up when it comes to pricing.

Washington County has also approved to pay their part in the OPEH&W Health Plan's surcharge in recent months. More on that story here.