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Fiscal Court: Fire Dues, Land line Fees, Bailiff, and Clean-Up Days

The Butler County Fiscal Court met in regular session for more than two-and-half hours on Monday night. All members of the Court were present, and the courtroom held several visitors from local fire departments and PVA Susanne Brosnan as requested by the Court at a special session held on April 28th.

Clean-Up Days' Money
The first agenda item dealt with giving the City of Morgantown half the proceeds from the sale of scrap metal following County Cleanup Days. A total of $1,082 was generated by selling the scrap, and the agenda item called for approval to give half the money, $541, to the city. Motion was made by First District Magistrate Stevie Givens to authorize the reimbursement, with Third District Magistrate Chad Tyree providing a second.
When discussion of the motion opened Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill told the Court that the city wasn't entitled to any of the money. Whittinghill stated that neither the jail work crew for the city nor any city employee helped with Cleanup Days.
County Judge-Executive told the magistrates that the city and county are partners in County Cleanup Days, and told the Court to "vote your conscience."  Magistrate Chad Tyree stated that arrangements concerning scrap sales needed to be made up front with the city before another cleanup day.
A vote on the motion failed by a 3-2 vote, with Second District Magistrate Johnny Tuck, Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill, and Fifth District Magistrate Bobby Moore voting against the sale.
On Tuesday, Beech Tree News was contacted by officials from the City of Morgantown disputing the rationale given by the Court in denying them the funds. Morgantown Mayor Billy Phelps contacted Jailer Terry Fugate and confirmed that the city jail crew did work at the county barn during County Cleanup Days. Phelps also told BTN that the city pays half the cost of County Cleanup Days.

Additional Bailiff
Approval of an additional bailiff as requested by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) led to a rather lengthy discussion.
The AOC has asked the County to help fund an additional bailiff to provide security during court dates. The additional bailiff would be a deputy sheriff and would allow for screening of visitors before they enter the Courtroom.
The County has been asked by the AOC to pay for uniforms, training, and other expenses for the additional bailiff, with a first-year cost of $9,453. After that, the cost will be $4,150 owing to no additional expenses for training and supplies. The AOC will pay the bailiff $9 per hour for up to 99-hours per month, and would reimburse the Butler County Sheriff's Office for that amount.
A proposal sent to the Fiscal Court by Sheriff Scottie Ward asks for an additional $1.25 per hour from the Fiscal Court for the deputy.
Magistrate David Whittinghill asked for clarification about the request for the additional salary, and about who will be obligated to pay Social Security and Medicare for the deputy. Whittinghill also called into question that the deputy would only work 99-hours per month. Ninety-nine hours per month is the maximum a part-time employee can work for the county without being entitled to benefits.
No clarification could be given to Whittinghill's concerns, with Judge Fields telling the Court that what is needed most immediately is confirmation that the Fiscal Court will provide their portion of the cost of funding the position as requested by the AOC.
Magistrate Stevie Givens moved to table the issue until the Court's next meeting and no action was taken on the request.

9-1-1 Funding
Funding for Butler County 9-1-1 Dispatch led to another extended discussion. Magistrates were given a packet prepared by County Attorney Dick Deye outlining steps taken by other counties to counter the declining revenue generated for dispatch services because of the drop of landline phone subscriptions across the state.
Don Sullivan, from the Butler County Ambulance Board, distributed a handout showing that receipts from landline phones have dropped more than $40,000 since 2009. The reduced landline fee income, combined with payments for a new 9-1-1 server, has led to a serious shortfall in funding for 9-1-1 Dispatch. For the last several months the Ambulance Board has asked the County to address the issue and try to find at least a short-term solution. Sullivan has repeatedly stated that the Ambulance Board has been forced to divert monies from the Ambulance budget to fund dispatch.
Sullivan contends that since the Ambulance Service and 9-1-1 dispatch moved to their new location that the county hasn't had to pay for the server, phone lines, or other expenses. He asked the Court to provide funding to make the payments on the server, which totals more than $40,000 per year. The cost of the new server is approximate $400 more than the lease on the old equipment but has lower upkeep and maintenance costs. The server will be paid off in around two-and-a-half more years, which will eliminate the high monthly payments.
Some relief for cash-strapped dispatch agencies across the state could come as early as January 2017. Legislation passed in the most recent session of the Kentucky General Assembly will levy fees on prepaid cellular telephones. The fees are meant to at least partially counter the loss of landline phone revenues for 9-1-1 systems. It is estimated that $8-10-million dollars will be generated by the fees. Divided equally among Kentucky's 120 counties the county could expect to receive around $80,000 per year.
Judge Fields told Sullivan that $40,870 had been put into the fiscal year 2016-17 budget to help with server payments. Sullivan told the Court that more funds are still needed to offset lost revenue and increased expenses.
Much of the discussion centered on expenses for 9-1-1 Dispatch, specifically for the salaries of Director Brian McKinney and secretary Nancy Cardwell. Dispatch pays one-quarter of those salaries from their budget. McKinney is in charge of all scheduling and oversight for dispatch, and Cardwell not only handles billing but is also in charge of the county's 9-1-1 addressing. Sullivan stated to the Court that together McKinney and Cardwell handle required administrate duties for dispatch, and it is mandated by state authorities that 9-1-1 dispatch pays 25% of their salaries.
A visitor at the meeting, Carlis Raymer, asked Sullivan directly if there would be raises for any Ambulance Service/Dispatch employees if funds were made available to counter the current budget shortfalls. Sullivan answered no funds had been made available yet.
Sullivan repeated a request made earlier in the year that the landline phone fee in the county be raised from $2 to $4. The increase would generate approximately $58,000 for dispatch service. Combined with funding from the county for server payments he said that would put 9-1-1 dispatch in "pretty good shape."
Fifth District Magistrate Bobby Moore made a motion to amend an existing ordinance to increase 9-1-1 landline fees to $4 per line. The motion was seconded by Third District Magistrate Chad Tyree. The motion passed on a 3-2 vote with First District Magistrate Stevie Givens voting in favor along with Moore and Tyree. Second District Magistrate Johnny Tuck and Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill voted no.

Fire Dues
Next, the Court discussed proposed mandatory fire dues for more than an hour.
PVA Suzanne Brosnan voiced several concerns about the proposed ordinance. Among them were; unclear language dealing with mobile homes and pre-manufactured homes, provisions for penalties and interest for late payments, discounts on tax bills paid early, and fire district lines.
The PVA wants the ordinance language clarified to state that dues shall be collected for parcels or land, or tax records, instead of deeds. She said there are several properties in the county where multiple parcels of land have been combined onto a single deed. That would cause some landowners in the county to underpay their fire dues because they would pay for only one deed, instead of by parcels.


Brosnan also specifically asked that the fire chiefs in each district sign off on the fire district map drawn by the Barren River Area Development District.
Currently, three areas of the county are serviced by out of county fire departments. The Bear Creek Fire Department serves the Reedyville and Highway 185 area; the Little Bend Community is served by the Beaver Dam Fire Department, and the Cromwell Fire Department covers one road--Graham School Road--in west Butler County. For the county to distribute dues to those departments, an interlocal agreement would need to be put in place between the county and the home counties of those departments.
It was stated at the meeting that the Bear Creek Fire Department has voted to return the area they serve in Butler County back to the Fourth District Fire Department. A copy of the Bear Creek board meeting will need to be sent to BRADD to have the fire district lines redrawn.
The PVA told the Court that several properties currently exempt from property taxes because of either extremely low tax bills, or the Homestead Exemption would receive tax bills if the fire dues ordinance is put into place. Over 800, additional tax bills would be drawn and mailed to those residents. In 2015, 465 tax bills weren't mailed because they totaled $3 or less, and another 433 bills fell under the Homestead Exemption, which precludes tax payments to the elderly living on a homestead worth $36,900 or less.
Other concerns aired in the discussion dealt with the amount of paperwork and book keeping that would be required of each county fire department. Making someone available at each department to deal with residents wanting to opt out of fire dues was also mentioned. Magistrate Whittinghill suggested that residents could attend board meetings to request to opt out of the fire dues and get refunds.
No action was taken, and the proposal for mandatory fire dues will be discussed further at a future meeting of the Court.

Other Business

In other business the Court voted 5-0 to approve the first reading of the budget for fiscal year 2016-17. The proposed budget includes $40,870 for 9-1-1 Dispatch's server payment, but will not contain $3,000 for economic development through the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. On a motion by Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill the squires removed funding for economic development from the budget by a 4-0 vote. Magistrate Chad Tyree voiced his opposition to cutting the funding at a special session of the Court held April 28th, and declined to vote on the motion to remove the funding.

In other budgetary business, the Court voted unanimously to pass the fiscal year 2016-17 Pre-approved Recurring Expenses. They also voted 5-0 to advertise for sealed bids for county materials and supplies for the fiscal year 2016-17.
At the recommendation of the Morgantown/Butler County Tourism Commission the Court moved to reappoint Terrell House, Brenda Longhoffer, and Doug Odle to the Commission. Judge Fields told the magistrates that all three had agreed to accept another term, and the Court voted 5-0 to approve the appointments.
After a twenty-minute closed session concerning the acquisition of property, the Court returned to open session. The motion was made to accept a .010-acre tract of land offered to the County by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The land is a gauge tower and surrounding land inside the Green River Park at Woodbury.
With no other agenda items, the meeting was then adjourned.

Story by Joe K. Morris, Beech Tree News

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