At the Hopkinsville Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday night, council members heard an overview of how the city plans to use the coronavirus relief funds from the state.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin said the city has been allocated to receive up to $2.23 million with the grant eligibility period from March 1, through December 31st. He added the eligible expenses include reimbursement of all the city’s front-line public safety responders.
Once the city receives the reimbursement, Martin said the funds will be put in the general fund which would require two actions to be taken by the council – one would be a budget amendment in order to receive the funds and show it as a general fund receipt. He added the other action would be a municipal order basically restricting $1.5 million, which represents approximately 2/3 of the funds, for pension increases through the next two years.
Martin added the remaining one-third, $730,000, would be transferred out of the general fund into a newly created fund called the Economic Development Fund.
When asked about how they came up with the $730,000 and not a higher amount to go into the fund, Martin explained it’s to try to fulfill the city’s pension obligations for the next two years without having to increase taxes and business licenses which would definitely affect all businesses in Hopkinsville. He also said the small businesses that would receive the grant would be a first come first serve basis through an application process.
No action was taken after Councilman Terry Parker made a motion to postpone forwarding the plan to council until the August Committee of the Whole meeting when they are presented the details of the Economic Development Fund. The motion passed by a 10-0 vote — Patricia Waddell-Bell and Jimmy Dossett were absent from the meeting.
Also at the meeting, Community and Development Services Director Steve Bourne presented the Parks, Recreation and Connectivity Report that includes 18 new projects with an estimated total cost of $17 million. The recommendation is for numerous projects throughout the city that includes upgrades at existing parks, new sidewalk projects, expansion of the Greenway Trail system, and more.
