Hopkinsville City Council passed the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Operational Budget on second reading by a 7-3 vote after some discussion and disagreement about it being a deficit budget.
The second reading of the $41.1 million budget presented the first time at Tuesday night’s meeting failed to pass due to a 5-5 vote. The tie-vote came after Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin was asked by Councilman Terry Parker if the current budget was a deficit budget and Martin explained they had to dip into the City’s prior year’s revenue to move additional funding to Inner-City REZ.
Parker then explained he was voting no because when it passed out of committee it was as surplus budget and the city has not had to use the prior year’s revenue since he has been on the council.
The five nay votes were cast by Parker, Travis Martin, Steve Keel, Amy Craig, and Chuck Crabtree, causing the budget ordinance to fail to pass due to a tie. Council members Kimberly McCarley and Jason Bell along with Mayor Wendell Lynch were absent from the meeting.
Later in the meeting during council comments, Parker asked for the budget ordinance for the Fiscal Year 2021-22 to be recommitted with him explaining he would change his vote to yes.
The budget ordinance passed by a 7-3 vote with Travis Martin, Steven Keel, and Chuck Crabtree again casting nay votes.
During the monthly financial report, Robert Martin presented some good news to the council – the City has received approximately $3.3 million from the American Rescue Plan and payroll taxes have rebounded. He added that’s a good sign the local economy is recovering from the pandemic.
In other action, the council unanimously approved a resolution to apply for a $25 million RAISE Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for an Interstate 24 Industrial Connector project for its completion. The City and Christian County Fiscal Court will each provide $500,000 toward the project according to South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council Director Carter Hendricks.
During awards and recognitions, Mayor Pro Tem Phillip Brooks presented the Juneteenth Day Proclamation and then presided over the swearing-in of Hopkinsville Police Officer Zachary Lamblin who graduated from the Department of Criminal Justice Training last month.
