By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
The Glasgow Common Council members present for Monday’s regular meeting approved the first reading of an ordinance adopting a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The $33.6 million proposed spending plan includes a $2 million fire truck; completion of the current phase of the American Legion Park redesign, which includes a new aquatic center; expenses for the initial infrastructure development of the former Johnson Property and revenue from the resale of the majority of that property; completion of other projects such as repairs to a retaining wall alongside a city parking lot and to the city’s parking structure, both just off the Glasgow Public Square, but in different directions.
According to the budget summary read aloud by City Attorney Rich Alexander during the meeting, the General Fund – which includes the monies for 16 city departments, divisions or functions, e.g. police, fire, recreation, bus service and streets, and is by far the largest part of the budget – will have a carryover from this year of $8.25 million, estimated revenue of roughly $26.05 million and an estimated $26.04 in expenses, leaving an estimated $8,263,355 left at the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year (FY ’26) for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Other individual funds besides the General Fund include Capital Projects, the Plaza Theater, Municipal Road Aid, Municipal Cemetery, Perpetual Upkeep for the cemetery, Sanitation/Landfill, and Closure/Postclosure for the landfill.
With the General Fund figures included, that brings the total from all fund balances being carried over from the current year to $21,272,292. Total estimated revenues are at $34,015,233 and total estimated expenses sit at $33,616,286 in this proposed budget. That would leave the total of fund balances at an estimated $21,671,239 to carry forward from FY ’26 to FY ’27.
Councilman Terry Bunnell, who chairs the council’s finance committee, discussed some of the highlights of the financial plan for the coming year, as he did during that panel’s special-called meeting last week.
Councilman Randy Wilkinson asked for a few clarifications or confirmations, saying the figures provided for what is expected to be carried forward from this year and left to carry forward after this coming year were comforting. He noted how much expenses have risen from FY ’21 to FY ’25, specifying percentages for a few departments, offering kudos to those who have managed to stay atop those expenses through the years.
Councilwoman Marna Kirkpatrick asked for some clarifications about the Johnson property expenses, and Bunnell named some examples such as moving earth and putting in streets, culverts and utility access lines. She also asked about raises for city employees; it was announced during the finance committee meeting she attended that an overall 3 percent amount was added to the budget. Historically, though, department heads have determined the percentages for individual employees.
Councilman Joe Trigg was absent, and Councilman Tommy Burris attended via the Teams streaming application, because he was at an out-of-state training for his regular job. With all the seven other members present in person, the vote was unanimous among the eight.
Mayor Henry Royse said after the vote that the budget is “a living, breathing document. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that’s gone into it, and I think that it will serve us well as we attack the year ahead.”
Earlier action items were evidence of just how fluid budget ordinances can be, as one of them amended the one that has been in effect for the current fiscal year for nearly a year, but it is not uncommon for the budget to be changed as revenues and expenses arise that could not be foreseen.
The other action items, all of which were also approved unanimously among the seven members attending in person, were:
– Second reading of an ordinance repealing the previous animal control ordinance and adopting a new one;
– First reading of an ordinance amending the current fiscal year’s budget ordinance by receiving into the General Fund $271,907.49 for an airport grant and transferring that same amount to the Glasgow Municipal Airport; receiving into the unappropriated General Fund $2,000 from donations and transferring from the unappropriated General Fund $9,200 for the security software, Bitdefender; transferring $1 million from the unappropriated General Fund to the unappropriated Sanitation Landfill Fund to replace monies from an earlier transfer; and transferring $87,900 from the unappropriated Sanitation Landfill Fund for parts and repair of equipment for the landfill.
– A municipal order amending the city’s personnel handbook in nine sections. The changes are reflected with lines drawn through existing text that is being removed and new text shown in blue type in the full agenda packet, which is available on the city’s website.
Second readings for the ordinances with the proposed budget for the coming year and the amendments to the budget for this fiscal year are expected at the June 23 regular council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. on Floor 2 of the Luska J. Twyman Municipal Building.
In other business, a pinning ceremony took place for the promotion of Glasgow Police Department Officer Josh Hardin to sergeant. Hardin has been with the department for six years, GPD Chief Guy Howie said.
The mayor also provided the required minimum two-week notice of the following proposed board, commission, etc. appointments:
– Joey Botts to the Barren County Economic Authority for a four-year term;
– Randy Gibbons, Thomas Grubbs and Candy Wethington to the Glasgow Board of Adjustment for four-year terms;
– Sue Mutter to the BRADD Aging Council for a two-year term;
– Sarah Young as a lodging representative to the Glasgow-Barren County Tourist and Convention Commission, jointly with the county fiscal court, for a three-year term;
– Tim Gooden and Thomas Grubbs to the Historic Preservation Commission for two-year terms; and
– Beth Hinkley to the Tax Appeals Board for a three-year term.
All except Hinkley were reappointments.
