Hopkinsville Mayor Wendell Lynch laid out his budget recommendations for the 2021-2022 fiscal year for the city which includes no department or agency cuts, a department head salary adjustment, and a cost of living increase.
At Mayor Lynch’s budget address Friday morning he presented the nearly $40.5 million budget, which is an increase of more than $3.1 million from the prior year’s budget. He said the budget increase includes a 2 percent cost of living increase (COLA), a 12 percent increase of pension costs, and department head salary adjustments.
click to download audioThe budget increase from last year also includes the water park being added to the operational costs, additional agency increases, additional inner-city REZ funding, and IGNITE projects.
click to download audioThe mayor also pointed the projected budget includes an 8.80 percent payroll increase which will generate a projected revenue of $1.4 million. In addition, he said there would not be any budget cuts to departments and agencies, and no increase to the property tax rate or business license rate increase.
According to Mayor Lynch, the city’s projected surplus is $45,786 of revenue over expenses.
He said the City Council has established a 20 percent of budget cash reserves of over $6.1 million and the General Fund Cash Reserve projection for this fiscal year ending in June is more than $10.9 million dollars. Mayor Lynch said the city’s financial status is very good.
click to download audioThe budget recommendations will now go to the Hopkinsville City Council for consideration at a series of Committee of the Whole meetings, with the first meeting scheduled for Thursday evening, May 13, at 6:00.
