Fiscal Court Recap: Magistrates Approve To Apply For Lighting Grant That Could Improve Crosswalk, More

County Tax Rates Could Drop In 2023

Darren Doyle, story:
Magistrates voted unanimously on Monday night's fiscal court meeting to move forward with applying for a Transportation Alternatives Program Grant.

District 2 Magistrate T.J. Massey said the funds would be an 80/20 grant, with 20% being matching funds from the county, and if granted, would allow the county to update exterior lighting around the courthouse and the square. The area would also include space around the crosswalk between the Community Center and Bank of Edmonson County, an area where two pedestrians were recently injured at night, with one being airlifted to Louisville.

Massey said any remaining funds for the project could possibly go to items such as remodeling sidewalks in the area, depending on what the Preserving Edmonson Pride revitalization results will be. The court recently allocated $430K of ARPA funding to PEP for the project, which includes a covered porch for the Community Center that will join a new porch for the Courthouse.

The motion was made to move forward with the application process by Gary Bagshaw and seconded by Anthony Hennion, and passed unanimously.

Energy Savings Contractor Presentation
A presentation was also given by Stewart Shunk, a representative of Ascendant Facility Partners, an energy-savings contracting company from Paducah.

Mr. Shunk made a pitch to the Fiscal Court to explore the possibilities of the company to make improvements to the county's facilities such as lighting, hvac, plumbing, and gas, for the purpose of energy savings. He said that AFP guarantees the savings results and that if "X" amount of savings is guaranteed over what is normally a 20-year term in a contract between AFP and the county, and the county does not see the guaranteed amount during that period, the company will simply write a check to the county for the difference.

At the conclusion of the presentation, he asked for questions from the magistrates, which there were none. The county entered a similar agreement with another company in 2017 and no action was taken.

County Tax Rates On Track to Drop for 2023
Magistrates also agreed to set a tax hearing prior to the next fiscal court meeting on August 14th where the first reading of county tax rates will be on the agenda. Should the reading pass, they agreed that rates will decrease for county tax payers this year from 13.7 cents to 13.2 cents per $100 of property. The compensating rate for 2023 is 12.7 set by the state. 13.2 is the highest that can be set without a recall vote, which is a break for taxpayers. A motion for 13.2 cents was made by Mark Meeks for tax hearing reading and seconded by T.J. Massey.

The meeting was one of two nightly meetings held by the fiscal court each year. The crowd was made up of approximately 10-12 visitors.

The court also voted to:

• Approve Treasurer’s May Monthly Settlement Report.
• Approve Treasurer's June Monthly Settlement Report.
• Approve Judge’s Quarterly Financial Statement.
• Approve KACO Workers Compensation Membership Agreement.
• Approve 2023 Transportation Alternatives Program Grant Application.
• Approve July Cash Transfers.
• Approve purchase of 2008 Ford Explorer, $12,000 for Emergency Management once viewed in-person and test-driven.
• Acknowledge Big Reedy Watershed Conservancy District Fiscal Year 23 Financial Report.
• Acknowledge Edmonson County Conservation District Fiscal Year 23 Financial Report.
• Acknowledge Edmonson County Conservation District Fiscal Year 23 Annual Report.
• Approve Treasurer’s Fiscal Year 23 Annual Settlement.

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 14th at 9AM.