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Hardin County Fiscal Court

Meeting of April 27, 2026

Fiscal Court Meeting - April 27, 2026 · Watch on YouTube ↗

Summary

Hardin County Fiscal Court – April 27, 2026

The court opened with recognitions for outstanding public service: a 911 dispatcher/supervisor team was commended for handling a traumatic emergency call with compassion, and an animal control officer, France, was praised for compassionately assisting a resident whose dog was hit by a vehicle. The county coroner (141–116 monthly caseloads reviewed) and sheriff (tax collection at over 99% of the roll, arrests, citations, and a new academy graduate) also gave routine department reports.

A major portion of the meeting was devoted to a public hearing on closing North Mill Street and a 495-ft portion of Federal Street in Cecilia to allow Cecilia Baptist Church to expand its property. County Attorney Jenny Oldham and Planner Haley Goodman presented the planning commission's favorable recommendation, noting affected property owners had signed affidavits of no objection and would receive small right-of-way grants in exchange. No members of the public objected, and the court later passed the resolution to formally close the roads.

Judge Executive Tall then presented the proposed FY2026-27 budget, a balanced $62.47 million spending plan for all county funds. Highlights included a 2% COLA plus step/grade raises for employees, $905,000 in EMS equipment replacement, continued use of about $2 million of the annual $27 million hospital-sale payout to balance the general fund, a stable property tax rate of 10.8 cents per $100 valuation, and large subsidies to the jail ($5.7M), sheriff ($3.4M), and other offices. Reserves have grown roughly 83% since FY2022-23, now near $34 million. The judge outlined future capital plans, including a possible new fire/EMS station in Glendale using Ford-related pilot funds and state grants, and noted magistrate salaries have been frozen since 2015, saving the county an estimated $300,000+ over a decade.

After a closed session on pending litigation, the court unanimously approved several resolutions: a settlement resolution (2026-072), the road-closing resolution (059) for the Cecilia Baptist Church project, a resolution (060) setting elected officials' salaries for the next term, and the first reading of a budget amendment ordinance (3444). The consent agenda—including financial transfers, personnel changes, job description updates, a pay grade classification plan, and a $6,000 grant agreement with Best Friends Animal Society—was approved after Magistrate Whitehead pulled out the co-op/intern job description item (Resolution 068) for separate discussion.

That item sparked debate after magistrates learned an unpaid volunteer, not a formal co-op, was already working in the engineering department without prior notice to the court. Citing new information, a magistrate moved to table Resolution 068 and send it back to committee; the motion passed 8-1, with Judge Tall the lone dissenting vote, arguing the matter was straightforward and should proceed immediately. The meeting closed with committee meeting announcements, a reminder of the Memorial Day holiday closure, and a unanimous vote to adjourn.

Agenda (14)

  • 4:38

    Call to order and roll call

    Judge Executive Tall opened the April 27, 2026 regular voting meeting and outlined the day's agenda, including presentations, a public hearing, budget comments, closed session, and votes on resolutions and an ordinance.

  • 5:51

    Recognition of 911 dispatcher/supervisor and animal control officer

    The judge publicly thanked 911 dispatcher Basham and supervisor Prather for compassionately handling a traumatic emergency call, and animal control officer France for his kindness after a dog was struck by a vehicle.

  • 10:17

    Public hearing opened on road closing (county attorney introduction)

    County Attorney Jenny Oldham opened the public hearing on discontinuing a portion of North Mill and Federal Streets in Cecilia, noting notice requirements and planning commission review had been completed.

  • 14:29

    Coroner's quarterly report

    Coroner Pat Elmore reported case totals for January-March, noting an unusual rise in gunshot suicides among an elderly population, and was congratulated for receiving the Dr. Wolf award.

  • 16:54

    Sheriff's report

    Sheriff John Ward reported arrests, citations, warrants, and tax collection figures, noting the office had collected over 99% of property taxes due by mid-April.

  • 19:53

    Public hearing continued: planner's presentation on road closing

    Planner Haley Goodman detailed the proposed closure of North Mill and Federal Streets for Cecilia Baptist Church's expansion, covering notification, zoning, affected owners, and connectivity impacts.

  • 27:51

    Citizens concerns and comments

    The floor was opened for public comments or concerns; none were raised.

  • 28:10

    Proposed FY2026-27 budget presentation

    Judge Executive Tall presented a $62.47 million balanced budget, covering revenue sources, reserves, debt, capital investments, department subsidies, and future planning priorities like public safety facilities.

  • 1:01:35

    Closed session on pending litigation

    The court voted to enter closed session under KRS 61.810(1)(c) to discuss proposed or pending litigation.

  • 1:11:40

    Votes on resolutions and ordinance after closed session

    Following closed session, the court voted on four items: a settlement resolution, the Cecilia road-closing resolution, a resolution setting elected officials' salaries, and first reading of a budget amendment ordinance.

  • 1:16:40

    Consent agenda review and vote

    The court reviewed a multi-item consent agenda covering financial transfers, personnel changes, job descriptions, pay grade classification, and an animal welfare grant, approving all items except one pulled for separate discussion.

  • 1:19:36

    Resolution 068 co-op/intern job description: motion, discussion, and tabling

    After learning an unpaid volunteer was already working without the court's knowledge, magistrates debated Resolution 068 and voted 8-1 to table it and send it back to committee for further discussion.

  • 1:24:54

    Magistrate and department comments

    Magistrates and department heads gave brief updates on upcoming committee meetings and reminders, including the Memorial Day office closure.

  • 1:28:03

    Adjournment

    The meeting was adjourned by unanimous voice vote.

Motions & votes (9)

  • 1:01:35

    passedMotion to go into closed session under KRS 61.810(1)(c) to discuss proposed or pending litigation

    unanimous

  • 1:11:40

    passedApprove Resolution 2026-072, a settlement resolution

    Moved by Yates · seconded by Pennington · unanimous

  • 1:12:48

    passedApprove Resolution 059 related to closing North Mill Street and a portion of Federal Street in Cecilia

    Moved by Thompson · seconded by Muse · unanimous

  • 1:13:39

    passedApprove Resolution 60 setting elected officials' salaries for the next 4-year term

    Moved by Thompson · seconded by Yates · unanimous

  • 1:15:56

    passedFirst reading of Ordinance 3444, series 2025, fiscal year 2025-26 budget amendment

    unanimous

  • 1:18:49

    passedApprove consent agenda items excluding Resolution 068 (co-op/intern job description)

    Moved by Whitehead · seconded by Hicks · unanimous

  • 1:19:36

    tabledApprove Resolution 068 related to co-op intern job description

  • 1:20:12

    passedMotion to table Resolution 068 and send it back to committee for further discussion

    8-1, Judge Tall opposed

  • 1:28:04

    passedMotion to adjourn the meeting

    unanimous

Transcript (61 segments)

  • 1:59

    Mhm. — Mhm.

  • 4:20

    — Good to see everyone. Good afternoon. Just a a quick reminder for cell phones. We're able to turn those turn those off or at least where they vibrate. We'll go ahead and get started. So, this is April 27th, 2026 [clears throat] Hardin County Fiscal Court regular voting meeting. Let's begin and call this meeting to order. We'll start out with roll call by not Brian Smith. I'm Kilburn. Thank you. — [clears throat] — Squire Fred Clem, Jr. Here. Squire Then we have a couple of presentations. Then we have a time of any any citizens concerns or comments. After that, then I'll be providing some comments on the proposed budget. And then we'll have a closed session. We'll after coming out of that, then we'll vote on several resolutions and one ordinance. After that, we'll have our consent agenda to review and vote on, and then

  • 5:34

    any comments after that. So, pretty busy agenda today. So, I'm glad you're here. All right. Just a few notes here. There have been two departments that some information has come to to my attention. Um I want to publicly express some gratitude for some excellent service. And I want to start with the first one here. And that is this kind of came through Tyler Heiser. He's our operations coordinator in 911. So he sent this to me. So I'm going to kind of review that. On March 3rd, dispatcher Basham and supervisor Prather handled a traumatic incident involving a tragic loss of life. It was extremely chaotic and emotionally charged. Uh there was no crime committed. Supervisor Prather took control of the call and provided CPR instructions in a calm and steady manner. All while working to keep the caller as composed as possible until first responders arrived. He also [clears throat] coordinated with a neighbor to gather additional

  • 6:47

    information and help maintain control of the scene. So following the incident, we received a message the neighbor Prather spoke to. It was a few identify find a few of the identifying details sure who took our 911 call, but he was incredible. There was so much chaos happening on that phone call on our end, screaming, crying, frantic speaking. He handled that phone call with so much compassion and professionalism, and I cannot thank him enough. I just wanted to pass on my thanks for him being a little bit of calm and compassion in the middle of our tragedy. I also know this is his job and he has trained for this, but I wanted to make sure he is okay. Listening to phone calls like this has to take a mental toll on the dispatchers. I appreciate the business you are running there and just wanted to express my gratitude gratitude to you and to him. So again, this is a powerful reminder that what um here that I I think the dispatcher wasn't able when I checked wasn't able

  • 8:02

    to be here and the supervisor wasn't either. So uh but I I I do want to appreciate them and and just give them a um some appreciation and you can just take that appreciation and and then pass it back if you would, Michelle, but just give them a hand for what they did. — [applause] — It's always good to get some positive feedback. And then just one other one [clears throat] um maybe uh you know, a a similar type of thing except in this case um we had Officer France who um he is part of our animal control department. And uh we had a Facebook post that said this. Officer France helped me get our beloved dog back to our house after he was hit by vehicle. I was bawling my eyes out and he was very sympathetic and even carried my dog into my my backyard for me. Thank you very much. And so this Officer France responded to

  • 9:15

    an after hours call for a case where hit by car, a dog was hit by the car and these these calls dictate urgency. He arrived on scene and observed the dog to be deceased. He covered the animal with a blanket and was going to begin to look for the owner. He immediately heard screaming and the female owner came running up. He carried the dog for the lady to the backyard when the male owner approached. The owners were so and thank our financial team, Lisa Pearman, our our our treasurer, of course, led the way here and and her team. So, I wanted to thank her also and appreciate what she did. — [applause] — ALL RIGHT. NEXT UP is a public hearing and this will be conducted by our county attorney, Jenny Oldham. Thank you. So, pursuant to KRS 178.050, fiscal court has discretion to discontinue any county road after holding a public hearing. Notice of today's hearing was published in the News Enterprise on April 18th, 2026.

  • 10:27

    On April 14th, you all appointed viewers to report on any inconvenience that would result from the discontinuance and that report is included in your materials. The law requires the planning commission to review any discontinuance of a road in accordance with the county's comprehensive plan. And I think that was done on March 31st at their meeting and I see Haley Goodman is here, the planner, to speak to that and offer their report. So, Haley, if you will let us know what you all determined. Okay? Just a moment. — I got it for you. Yeah.

  • 11:46

    Yeah, this is I mean it's part of this presentation, so let's just take a moment then while you do that. Everybody relax. And then after Haley speaks, um if there's anyone here in the audience who wants to speak to the road closing, you'll have an opportunity to do that as well. — You don't have that memorized, Haley?