Carroll County fiscal court advances budget and personnel changes, hears $60,000 in funding requests from local economic groups

Carroll County Fiscal Court officials reviewed and advanced multiple budget and personnel measures while hearing requests for operating support from two local economic organizations and an update on General Butler Park.

At the meeting, the court approved its fiscal-year appropriations and completed final adoption of a personnel health-insurance ordinance that changes employee premium contributions; it also conducted a first reading of a revision to the county's nepotism policy and discussed road-paving priorities and contract quotes.

The adopted appropriation package lists a total budget of $19,035,494.71 across county funds, including general, ambulance, solid waste, parks and recreation, and sheriff funds. The health-insurance change adopted by the court requires employees who elect buy-in coverage to pay part of premiums via payroll deduction (family $75, employee-plus-spouse $50, employee-plus-children $40, individual $25); the county will continue to pay the premium cost of the county core plan for regular full-time employees and will pay the first ten months of employee contributions for existing employees as of the ordinance effective date. The ordinance also requires employees electing spousal or family coverage to complete an affidavit about spouse coverage; false affidavits may trigger reimbursement and discipline.

The court heard two funding appeals. Bill Lewis, executive director of 3 CDC, formally requested $40,000 from the county to support economic-development initiatives and to pay for the director's salary and training. "3 CDC is seeking funding to support economic development initiatives in Carroll County and to support Carroll County's comprehensive economic development strategy, which was signed by a new judge this past January," Lewis told the court. He provided an itemized proposal: $31,000 for the director's salary; $3,000 for the International Economic Development Council annual conference; $1,020 for National Rural Economic Development Association conference registration and travel; $1,100 for a certified grant-writing program through the University of Georgia; $1,200 toward the Kentucky Institute for Economic Development certification (CEDC); and $1,500 for the Young Leadership Institute program.

Donnie Kaufman, president of the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce, asked the court to consider a one-time $20,000 allocation to expand Chamber programming. "The Chamber has got some momentum going in a very positive direction," Kaufman said, describing plans to invest in programming, a customer-relationship system, website upgrades, and staff development. Kaufman said the Chamber's proposal allocates approximately $7,000 for business-support programs, $10,000 for technology and training, and $3,000 for partnership initiatives.

Court members discussed but did not finalize county funding for either group during the meeting. Several members expressed concern about budget constraints and urged coordination so existing county staff and outside organizations are not duplicating work. One commissioner noted a prior vote split on funding new initiatives and cautioned against approving additional recurring commitments without clearer plans.

General Butler Park staff gave a status update on recovery and operations after recent emergency sheltering operations. The speaker said the park sheltered more than 250 people at the peak and reported current occupancy at the time of the meeting as 38 adults, 19 children, 14 dogs and 6 cats. The park representative said repairs and upgrades are continuing, including reopening most lodge rooms and cabins, installing new Wi‑Fi across the campground, upgrading conference and restaurant facilities, developing the disc-golf course further, and launching a statewide training program at the park starting next year. "We will be literally just a couple weeks away from having a soft opening," the park representative said.

Paving and road-maintenance work was a focus of the meeting's operational discussion. County leaders reviewed a prioritized list of roads for asphalt and other repairs and discussed constraints on paving narrow roadways that are 13 to 14 feet wide. The court reported an allocation of roughly $600,000 for asphalt and $200,000 for other repairs in the current budget. A motion was made to proceed with obtaining quotes and to place specific projects on the contractor list; the motion was seconded. Commissioners emphasized the need to target wider sections first and to consider widening options on narrower stretches before paving them.

Other items taken up included approval of invoices, authorization for emergency budget transfers and contract steps where bids were incomplete, and a brief review of procurement procedures where bids returned zero respondents for a floor-sealing job (the court directed staff to rebid with clarified specifications). The court conducted a summary reading of an ordinance allowing operation of street-legal special-purpose vehicles under state law and noted that the act became effective in June 2025 and requires local ordinance to allow operation on local highways.

The court did not vote to authorize the specific operating grants requested by 3 CDC or the Chamber during this meeting; both organizations were invited to continue the funding conversation with court staff and members. Commissioners signaled interest in coordination between county economic-development staff and external organizations before committing county funds.