CHENANGO COUNTY - County legislators are pondering action that may allow the county to recoup the expense of purchasing laptop computers for county board members to better communicate in the age of COVID-19.

Though reimbursement isn’t a sure thing, the county may ask for reimbursement of laptops for town supervisors on a FEMA application related to COVID-19 expenses. If approved, the money would allow all 23 members of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors to adequately conduct business from home.

The county treasurer’s office estimates that costs of 23 new laptops can range between $28,000 and $34,000, plus an additional $6,700 ongoing expense for annual maintenance and software updates.

“While conference calls seem to be going okay, I think it would be the next logical step to communicate with everybody,” County Deputy Treasurer John Williams said to the county’s finance committee back in May. “I think it’s something we should look at with everything that’s going on, especially if there’s a second wave. Who knows what’s going to happen next flu season?”

But the problem, according to some county officials, is the uncertainty of reimbursement. If the county spends money on laptops, there’s no guarantee that money will be paid back, and that’s made supervisors on the Chenango County Finance Committee wary.