A portion of property maintained by the Barren County fiscal court will soon undergo construction as the county seeks to expand the Barren County Attorney’s office. The former building was demolished on Nov. 17, 2020.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
GLASGOW, Ky. – The Barren County fiscal court began discussion on Tuesday regarding the creation of a new taxing district.
The Barren River District Health Department is seeking the creation of a new health tax, which would be collected by the county government. The fiscal court must impose the ad valorem tax.
Micheal Hale, judge executive, said he recently met with the Department of Local Government’s taxing specialists. The judge went to the meeting to gain insight into the tax that could be levied in the near future.
“Well, they really couldn’t answer a lot of the questions,” Hale said. “I’m a little bit concerned about who’s over special taxing for the state of Kentucky right now.”
Matt Hunt, Public Health Director of Barren River District Health, gave a presentation to a committee of the fiscal court over a year ago. He said the most recent taxing district created was in Edmonson County, which happened about two years ago.
“Yeah, I think that’s something good to look at to provide a firm foundation for public health in the area,” Hunt said, “for the years to come.”
The proposed rate in Barren County is 2.25%, Hunt said. The state average is 4.75%.
“We’ve always strived to be good stewards of our funding,” Hunt said.
KRS 212.755 permits local health departments to impose a health tax. The court is responsible for instating that tax.
“Right now I’m nowhere near to make a clear decision on this,” Hale said. “You know, especially since they brought this KRS to our attention. It defines it clearly to me – black and white.”
Hale said the court would need to hold a special meeting to discuss the tax exclusively.
In other news, the judge updated the court on the county attorney building project along West Main Street. The county plans to rebuild in the section adjacent to the current building, and the child support offices will be extended to the downstairs area of the current building.
The county will submit a plan to the Renaissance Committee of the City of Glasgow for approval before that project continues. The state will then lease the building from the county, thus pumping revenue to county government.
Two promotions were made in the Barren County Road Department. Scott Taylor is now the operations manager and Jamie DeGroff was named as a crew leader.
