Spencer County court authorizes judge to sign interlocal agreement with Kentucky in Works, contingent on county attorney review

The Spencer County Fiscal Court voted to let Judge Travis sign an interlocal agreement with Kentucky in Works, a regional workforce board, after a presentation from the board’s executive director and questions from magistrates about liability and local exposure.

Kentucky in Works Executive Director Michael Britton told the court the workforce board receives federal, state and local funds to help jobseekers and that the five‑year interlocal agreement primarily describes board composition and liability sharing. “We get audited by outside auditors every year. We get monitored by the state,” Britton said. “In my 20, almost 23 years being there, we've managed almost $300,000,000. No disallowed cost of any kind. No problem.”

The nut of the debate was a liability clause in the interlocal agreement that says, in a worst‑case scenario, counties would share responsibility pro rata for any disallowed costs based on population. Britton and magistrates described multiple layers of oversight and insurance that the board relies on to avoid that outcome: contract recovery, insurance coverage, waivers, offsets against future grant revenues and state monitoring.

Magistrates asked how much Spencer County currently receives from the board and what the county’s share of risk might look like. Britton estimated Spencer County’s current direct annual benefit at “probably $200,000–$300,000 a year” from federal and state streams, including a state House Bill 1 fund to serve young adults and high‑school seniors. He said the board’s total annual budget is about $20,000,000 and that roughly $5,000,000 of that is the federal Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) allocation.

Squire Mike moved to approve entering the interlocal agreement, with Squire Jim seconding the motion, and the court approved the motion by roll call. The court recorded four votes in favor and two opposed. The approval was explicitly made contingent on the county attorney reviewing the agreement and clearing it for the judge to sign.

Court actions and next steps include county attorney review of the interlocal agreement and collection of signatures from the seven counties that participate in the regional board. Britton told the court that, if Spencer County declined to sign, he would have to consider alternatives such as excluding Spencer County from that portion of state funding and returning to the state for guidance.

The court’s approval does not change program rules or create new local expenditures; it authorizes the judge to sign the interlocal agreement once legal review is complete. Magistrates said they wanted the county attorney to confirm the specific wording and any possible mitigation measures before the judge signs.

Michael Britton’s presentation and the court’s vote took place during the communications portion of the meeting; the county will return the agreement to the court for signature only after the county attorney completes the review.