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Hardin County shifts $600,000 to road-and-bridge departments; several vehicle and equipment purchases approved
Summary
The Hardin County Commissioners Court approved a one-time transfer of up to $600,000 from the Road and Bridge fund balance to the four R&B departments and authorized multiple equipment and vehicle purchases and budget amendments using the transferred and department funds.
Hardin County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a one-time transfer of up to $600,000 from the Road and Bridge fund balance, allocating $150,000 to each of the county’s four road-and-bridge (R&B) departments to pay off equipment notes or purchase vehicles and equipment.
Judge McDaniel said the funds stem from “an unaudited amount of the, I guess I would call it underspent funds from the fiscal year 24 budget. It's gonna be a little over a million dollars.” The court voted to authorize the transfer after a motion by Commissioner Kuykendahl, seconded by Commissioner Cook; the motion passed on a voice vote of “Aye.”
The transfer followed commissioners' discussion about whether to use the money to pay off existing notes or to purchase equipment now rather than take on new debt at higher current interest rates. Commissioner Cooper asked that the record reflect the transfer is “a 1 time transaction” so the public understands it is not an annual change. Commissioners agreed to have each commissioner submit how they will use their $150,000 allocation and to bring formal budget amendments back to the next meeting.
Alongside the fund-transfer authorization, the court approved several related budget amendments and purchases requested by R&B commissioners: moving $24,487 from materials and supplies into equipment purchase and creating a new auto purchase line item; authorizing purchase of a 2023 Ford F-150 for $38,986.20 using the BuyBoard cooperative program; approving rental and purchase requests for equipment (including payment of Mustang Cat rental invoice B1839801 for $11,328.85); authorizing the sale of old metal culverts and miscellaneous metal; and approving a trade and purchase that results in a Case CX50D mini excavator purchase with net cost after trade-in.
Motions to approve each budget amendment and purchase were made and seconded as noted in the minutes and each item was adopted by the court with an affirmative voice vote. The court directed that specific budget-line changes and any needed purchase orders be processed immediately where equipment was in stock and that remaining adjustments be formalized at the next meeting.
The court recorded no objections to the series of actions. Commissioners and the county auditor noted that higher-than-anticipated collections, tied to appraisal-district outcomes, produced the one-time funding available for these expenditures.
