Hopkinsville council to review legacy neighborhood program after residents warn cuts will hurt services

At the June 3 Hopkinsville City Council meeting, residents pressed the council to keep funding for the city's legacy neighborhood program and said recent budget changes jeopardize home repairs and neighborhood activities.

The issue moved from public comment to formal direction when Mayor James R. Knight Jr. announced a committee to review the program and its budget. "We will look at all of the inner city legacy budget, and we will look at the money they have on hand," the mayor said as he named committee members from wards representing the inner-city neighborhoods.

Why it matters: the legacy program has long paid for home repairs, neighborhood events and other services in established neighborhoods; residents said cutting funds would harm older homeowners and community activities.

Multiple residents described tangible services tied to legacy funding. "We use it in our neighborhood quite a bit to help people, older people like me, to get our homes fixed," said James Campbell, identifying himself with the Westside Neighborhood Association. Barbara Stevens, who said she is treasurer for the Westside Neighborhood Association, told the council the program supplied Thanksgiving baskets, neighborhood picnics and hands-on classes. "With the cutting of the budget and the cutting of the funding for the legacy program, you guys are gonna be hurting a lot of people," Stevens said.

Residents and council members also asked for clearer accounting and program rules. Natasha Francis, a resident, noted the city's budget grew but the legacy line was excluded and asked the council to reconsider funding allocations. An Eastside Neighborhood Association representative asked who is making the program revisions and how those changes compare with earlier, successful versions.

City staff provided a line-by-line accounting. Holly (last name not specified), a city staff member working with the legacy program and the Local Development Corporation (LDC), said the program has long-standing allocations and encumbrances. She told the council, "Since the inception of the program, $8,780,750 has been allocated. $8,258,857.56 has been spent. ... There are outstanding encumbrances in the amount of $148,490.45 which leaves the remaining less-encumbered balance of $515,920.65. Of that amount, $152,981 is allocated for demolition." Holly added that $200,000 had been appropriated for a downtown initiative this year and that an agenda item that night would authorize $50,000 for the West Seventh Street redevelopment plan, leaving an "actual available balance for existing programs of $112,939," she said.

Mayor Knight said the city will not abandon the program and that a committee of council members representing affected wards will review the legacy budget and any reallocations. He named the committee members as "Vance Smith, Ward 1; Landon Stallings, Ward 2; Don Marsh, Ward 3; Britney [Ward 9]; Jason Bell, Ward 11; [Ms.] Drowell, Ward 12," and said Amy Craig would also serve. The mayor said the committee would meet before July and that any needed reallocation would be brought back to council.

Council members emphasized oversight and transparency. One member said publicly: "After a certain amount of time, if that money's still sitting there, we should bring it back in and figure out something else to use it for." Another member said the committee should review whether program eligibility unintentionally excludes those who most need help.

The council was also debating the fiscal-year 2025-26 budget on first reading that evening; the mayor and several council members said the review committee would inform how legacy funding is handled going forward. The council passed the budget on first reading (recorded roll-call votes appear elsewhere in the meeting record).

What happens next: the mayor said the committee will begin meeting within weeks and will report recommendations to the full council. City staff said existing program operations will continue while the committee reviews allocations and encumbrances.

Ending: Residents urged prompt action. "We need to keep it going," James Campbell told the council. The newly formed committee is expected to meet publicly; the mayor said the council will notify residents of those meetings.