Barren County adopts budget amendment and advances next year's budget after committee review

Barren County magistrates voted to adopt Ordinance 703, a fiscal-year budget amendment, and held the first reading of Ordinance 704, the county's annual budget and appropriations for the coming fiscal year.

Judge Byrd opened the special-called session by noting the court's work on the budget. On a motion by Connie Stinson, seconded by Kinslow, magistrates adopted Ordinance 703 on second reading by voice vote. The court then completed a first reading of Ordinance 704; the judge said the process requires review in Frankfort, a minimum seven-day newspaper posting and a second reading before final adoption.

Marty Kinslow, who reported out of the administrative and budget committee, summarized the preliminary figures. He said the general fund for next year will be roughly $7,000,000 (rounded) and is slightly lower than last year. Kinslow told magistrates the road department budget dropped significantly compared with the prior year's adopted amount — by close to $1,000,000 — because the state is allocating less funding next year. He said the reduction reflects settlement and distribution formulas tied to state revenue rather than local fuel prices.

Because this meeting was a special-called session, the court agreed another special-called meeting will be scheduled to approve transportation bid awards that the transportation committee reviewed. The transportation committee earlier recommended accepting multiple vendors for items such as crushed stone, culverts, asphalt and chip-and-seal to preserve flexibility; the court rejected fuel bids pending a rewritten specification and resubmission.

The judge said any changes discovered after the Frankfort review or additional funds identified later in the year can be amended into the budget before final adoption.

Next procedural steps: Ordinance 704 will be posted for public notice and returned for a second reading and final vote at a subsequent meeting.