Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Woodford County Conservation District requests $234,076; county attorney flags 'donations' accounting
Loading...
Summary
The Woodford County Conservation District requested $234,076 (about a 6.5% increase) and highlighted federal partnerships and program outputs; the county attorney questioned a 'donations' line item and whether court funds may be used for donations, prompting a planned reclassification discussion.
Michael Duckrun, chair of the Woodford County Conservation District board, presented the district’s $234,076 budget request and described a 10‑year lookback showing relatively modest inflation‑adjusted increases. "We submitted you all our... office budget... and then the main request... asking $234,076," Duckrun said, adding the personnel budget is $188,392 (about 53% of the request).
Duckrun described partnerships that help the district leverage federal funding — including a 90/10 partnership with USDA that reimburses roughly 90% of a shared employee’s salary — and listed program achievements such as $1,000,000 in NRCS contracts last year, distribution of 5,700 trees, 1,100 acres of cover crop, and hundreds of soil samples.
During questioning, the county attorney raised a legal concern about a budget line titled "grants and donations," saying fiscal court funds cannot be used to make donations, directly or indirectly. "Fiscal court can make appropriations, expenditures for matters that serve county public purpose, but they can't just, like, contribute ... make a donation," the county attorney said. Conservation district staff said the line label is part of the state division of conservation’s chart of accounts and that, in practice, donations such as food‑bank support have come from equipment revenue rather than court appropriations. Duckrun said the board can refine coding and confirmed the district would work with the court to ensure funds viewed as donations do not come from fiscal court appropriations.
Committee members also probed building maintenance and lease revenue; staff described changes to janitorial accounting (transitioning from a W‑2 employee to contracted services) and acknowledged some historical accounting irregularities that will be clarified in the district’s audit year. Duckrun noted the district is auditing accounts and will work with partners on leases — including USDA and extension office leases that affect building occupancy and rental revenue.
Duckrun closed by inviting participation in an Earth Day event and said the district is continuing efforts to build reserve balances and review contracts.
There was no final appropriation vote during the presentation; members asked for additional documentation and a clearer breakdown of historical expenses and revenues for follow‑up.
