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Votes at a glance: Hardin County Fiscal Court actions on pay, positions, contracts and bids
Summary
The court approved several resolutions including a tax-rate adoption, increases to on-call pay for road and animal-control staff, a job description change creating a full-time communications officer, a rescission of an ambulance lease resolution pending competitive bids, a KYTC resurfacing contract, and the consent agenda.
At its Aug. 26 meeting, Hardin County Fiscal Court approved a set of resolutions on personnel pay, job descriptions, contracts and routine business. Below are the key actions and vote details drawn from the meeting record.
1) Resolution 2025-171 — Adopt 2025 county property tax rates Outcome: Approved (see separate article for full coverage).
2) Resolution 2025-160 — Add on-call duty pay to personnel policies (road department and animal shelter) What it does: Increases on-call pay from $15 per weekday to $20 per weekday and from $50 per weekend day (weekend amount reported as $50) with a three-hour minimum pay on call-ins. Vote: Passed. Roll-call votes recorded: Squire Clem (yes); Squire Hicks (yes); Squire Muse (no); Squire Pennington (yes); Squire Saltzman (yes); Squire Thompson (yes); Squire Whitehead (yes); Squire Yates (yes); Judge Executive Keith Taul (yes). Tally: Yes 8, No 1. Notes: Squire Muse explained opposition based on budget concerns though other members said the increase was comparable to neighboring employers and overdue for affected staff.
3) Resolution 2025-166 — Revise job description and convert communications role from part-time public-relations to full-time communications officer What it does: Elevates the position to full time, increases grade and salary range to align with added responsibilities including external media relations and internal communications; the description also includes coordination of grant-related efforts (not direct grant writing). Vote: Passed. Roll-call votes recorded: Squire Clem (no); Squire Hicks (yes); Squire Muse (no); Squire Pennington (yes); Squire Saltzman (no); Squire Thompson (yes); Squire Whitehead (yes); Squire Yates (yes); Judge Executive Keith Taul (yes). Tally: Yes 6, No 3. Notes: Opponents cited budgeting and scope concerns; supporters said the county needs a full-time communicator for media, internal communications and emergency messaging.
4) Resolution 2025-170 — Rescind prior resolution 156 (ambulance equipment/lease) and require competitive bidding What it does: Rescinds a previously approved lease agreement for ambulance equipment after staff discovered the purchase required soliciting bids. The administration said the item will be reissued for bid and returned to the next meeting. Vote: Passed (unanimous roll call recorded).
5) Resolution 2025-172 — Approve KYTC (LEHI) fund agreement for resurfacing Blue Ball Church Road and Tunnel Hill Road (~$394,000) What it does: Authorizes the county to accept and contract with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for resurfacing work funded by LEHI program monies. Vote: Passed (unanimous roll call recorded).
6) Consent agenda (multiple items) — Passed Items included: treasurer's financial report; August claims and payroll registers; financial transfers (Res. 2025-161); transfer and sale of a 2020 Tahoe to Grayson County Correctional Center (Res. 2025-157); Vertiv battery replacement for communications tower (Res. 2025-158); TimeClock Plus renewal (Res. 2025-159); vehicle procurement for road department (Res. 2025-162); personnel changes in road, EMS and 911 (Res. 2025-163/164/165); personnel handbook revisions (Res. 2025-167); finance personnel change (Res. 2025-168); surplus 4-wheeler transfer to Hodgenville Police Department (Res. 2025-169); and minutes of committee meetings. Several of these items were described briefly by staff during the consent-agenda summary. Vote: Consent agenda approved on roll call (unanimous recorded).
How the court acted: Most contested votes involved personnel pay and the communications position; several members asked for fiscal prudence while others argued for competitive wages and full-time communications capacity. Where statutory or procurement rules applied, the court rescinded approvals and directed staff to obtain bids.
Ending note: Items requiring follow-up include reissuing the ambulance-equipment procurement for bid and implementing personnel changes; staff will present the bid results or job-fill progress at subsequent meetings.
