Warren County commissioners are saying "no thanks" to federal dollars.
Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn doesn't mince his words when expressing his opposition to the federal stimulus plan.
"I don't want any of this Obama stinking filthy stimulus money" Kilburn says.
"'Obama is spinning this money like it's gravy being poured out of a saucepan and it's a credit card of Chinese and Japanese money that are gonna own us and we have no idea how we're gonna pay it back,” says Kilburn.
Kilburn and the county's two other commissioners have refused $373,000 in federal stimulus money to upgrade their transit system.
The county has on-call vans and buses which are largely used by seniors and the disabled to get to doctor's appointments and to go grocery shopping.
Commissioner Pat South says while the transit system needs improvement, the money would not have expanded services.
"They would have paid for two or three extra vans," says South, "but, there was no extra money for gas, extra staff; maintenance expenses."
Warren County is not alone in refusing stimulus dollars.
Last month, in neighboring Butler County, Liberty Township trustees refused to apply for more than $6 million to build a new firehouse and public safety building.
Liberty Township Trustee Christine Matacic says she supported applying for the stimulus dollars for a new fire house, but was overruled 2 to 1.
She argues that the money is out there, the federal government is not taking it back. So, she says, if a community does not accept it, those dollars will go somewhere else.
