Hardin County judge presents roughly $60.8 million proposed budget, plans use of hospital payout to balance books

Judge Executive presented a proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2025–26 and outlined the county’s fiscal choices and constraints.

Judge Executive proposed a roughly $60.78 million balanced budget for fiscal 2025–26, saying the proposed plan uses consistent and one‑time revenue sources and preserves a rainy‑day reserve. He told the fiscal court the operating revenue side totals about $23.6 million after offsets and that the county will use about $2.5 million of the annual hospital sale payout to help balance operations.

The judge executive said the budget assumes a 4% overall increase in property tax revenues (about $1.1 million) and uses other revenues including solid‑waste fees and industrial tax revenues to pay operations. He described restricted and unrestricted cash positions as of March 31 and proposed a 25% rainy‑day reserve (roughly $15 million) while leaving roughly $15.7 million in available cash for projects after that reserve is set aside.

Why it matters: the county faces persistent, large subsidies to key services and rising personnel and insurance costs. The judge executive highlighted subsidies totaling about $12 million (including the jail, sheriff’s office and library) and said the jail subsidy alone is budgeted at about $5.8 million, up sharply from prior years.

Key details from the presentation included personnel and benefit changes: an annual step/grade program, a 1% cost‑of‑living adjustment, and targeted 5% grade increases for road and jail hourly employees. The judge executive estimated those pay changes produce about a 1.8% net personnel expense increase overall. He also proposed adding two part‑time positions (a part‑time lobbyist in Frankfort at about $20,000 and an efficiency/innovation officer up to $50,000) intended to seek legislative relief and identify savings.

Capital and debt items in the proposal include a seven‑year lease for EMS ambulance equipment that would encumber about $1 million total (roughly $140,000 per year at 4% interest) and $340,000 in one‑time EMS capital replacements (about $200,000 for one major item plus the first lease payment). The judge executive said $7 million from the hospital sale proceeds is reserved for future public‑safety capital.

He also outlined the county’s cash flow profile: approximately $51 million in total cash on March 31, about $19 million restricted, leaving about $32 million unrestricted before encumbrances; after encumbrances the unrestricted balance was near $30 million. With the 25% rainy‑day calculation and planned uses, he presented an available project balance of about $15.7 million.

The court discussed inflation and material cost pressure (asphalt and other construction materials), and noted ARPA funds in the budgetary picture are near depletion. The judge executive said the fiscal team will hold finance‑committee meetings in the coming weeks and scheduled statutorily required public hearings and readings beginning May 13.

Votes and next steps: the court took the first reading of an ordinance labeled as a 2024 series budget amendment (described in the meeting as “ordinance number 340‑3 series 2024, amending fiscal year 2024‑25, budget amendment number 3”) and approved that first reading by roll call. The judge executive said the proposed FY2025–26 budget will go to public hearing and then to the state local finance office following the first reading schedule.

Ending: the judge executive invited magistrates to review the slides and documents linked in the packet and scheduled committee review before the statutory public hearings and second reading.