Do you endorse LIFT and the Local Option Sales Tax?
Yes, I certainly do. First, let me state that I wish the word “tax” did not appear in the title at all as that immediately sends up red flags to those that do not dig a little deeper and learn all the great benefits of such an endeavor. I prefer the Local Investment for Transformation title as that is what really describes what this is all about. This is the chance for citizens to come together and pick a needed community project and actually have a tool to fund the project. The one cent tax can quickly come and quickly GO and the results can be a lasting legacy for generations to enjoy. When I think of the LIFT option, the first thing that comes to mind is: I wish we could have had this over the past few years when several good, local citizens worked so hard to privately fund the new animal shelter. The PAWS organization, which I worked closely with, worked to raise money through so many events, drives and efforts. It was a very difficult chore but citizens persevered and a new animal shelter was funded thru their fund-raising efforts. The shelter is a state-of-the-art facility which all county residents are so proud of and all county residents enjoy the benefits. We are seeing animal adoption rates soar and euthanasia rates decline. This could have been accomplished so much easier and so much quicker with that simple one cent tax for perhaps a year.
Folks need to keep in mind that this is something the citizens would decide—not politicians—citizens would determine the need and vote on the tax option to fund the project. This is really putting the decisions and the taxation in the hands of the people to make a better place for all of us.
What projects do you see as a priority that could benefit from community funding?
As I said above, this is something the citizens would bring forth. However, some projects that citizens might consider that pop into my mind would be the funding of the new YMCA that we know would benefit the community in so many ways, perhaps a convention center to boost tourism as we are in an ideal location for that and we would all benefit from those dollars flowing into our community, a new firehouse in my district would be a nice consideration for the citizens. But, these needs will be brought forth by the citizens and voted on by the citizens before ANY tax is enacted.
Will you continue funding for One Knox?
Absolutely, I will continue to support the funding of One Knox by the County. One Knox has proven to be such a communication tool in the continuing changes at Ft. Knox. During all the BRAC fears and BRAC joy—One Knox was there to promote our community and to assist in the transformation in our whole county—not just Ft. Knox itself. Currently, with new worries on the horizon at Ft. Knox, One Knox has once again kept the community informed and has led the charge to keep our base vibrant with the whole country informed as to how important Ft. Knox is to this community.
Do you see any services provided by both County and City government where it would be more cost effective to combine these efforts?
As the only Magistrate that voted to move forward with forming a commission to dig deeper into this issue, I would have to say that I think this is a matter that merits much more investigation and discussion. I believed the prudent next step would have been to form the commission. Many citizens, I think, believed we were actually voting on merging government entities last year. Nothing could have been further from the truth! We were voting on forming a commission to study the possibility and to come back with a recommendation. The recommendation would have been either to abandon the idea entirely (which was certainly possible) or to put it on the ballot for the people to decide. This seemed the fairest way to me to answer this question.
What strategic plans would you recommend in order to improve the finances of the jail operations?
As we all know, the jail is a big drain on our county budget each year. Unfortunately, due to the passing of HB463 which allowed for early release of certain prisoners which we were being re-imbursed for by KY, this has made an even bigger deficit in our jail budget. We are hopeful that we will see that classification of prisoners increase over the next few years and that we can decrease the “local” short time offenders by possibly putting some of those to work on a work release program. In addition, we have asked the jailer to reexamine all expenses and to cut where he can. It is our long-term goal to reduce county funding for jail operations to $2M or less. That is still a number that is hard to live with but certainly better that the current $3M plus deficit that we have been funding for many years.
What strategic plans would you recommend in order to improve the finances of the Landfill operations?
Again, this is another drain in our county tax dollars. When the landfill first came into operation many years ago fuel was cheap and trash haulers were having no problem bringing trash to us and paying the tipping fees. However, as fuel has increased, the trash that was previously being delivered from out of county has decreased. We have, however, recently contracted with a new trash hauler for our local trash that has agreed to bring additional trash from Ft. Knox—which we were not previously getting. This should result in approx. $116,000 new income for the landfill. We will always seek to increase the tonnage at the landfill from other companies as well. In addition, we continue to see revenue from the sales of our methane gas project at the landfill.
Do you see a need to implement these taxes for the purpose of economic development for both existing small business as well as potential new business being attracted to the area?
Your Hardin County Government does NOT impose: Occupational tax, insurance premium tax, public library district tax, fire district tax, hotel tax or local sales or restaurant tax! As a matter of fact, we have just voted to keep your real property taxes at the same low rate that you have enjoyed for the past 7 years. In these tough economic times, I believe that we need to keep the tax rate as low as possible and live within our budget without raising taxes.
Do you see any changes to the governance structure of the hospital?
I do not foresee any changes at this time, but changes in the healthcare arena may cause a need to consider other management and governance methods in the future. I will say that we are not the ordinary hospital in that we are a county owned hospital. I do view the hospital as the biggest asset that the county owns. We are, like all hospitals across America, facing some tough times due to changes brought about due to the new healthcare reform laws. We have been working diligently these past few years in anticipation of these changes. I’m proud to note that we have gone though many changes recently at the hospital in an attempt to make HMH the outstanding regional center that serves an ever-growing population—a population that can shop for health care—a population that demands certain criteria—like private rooms and state of the art cancer care. As the fourth busiest ER in the state, we continue to see our ER improve and not only keep up with the demand but exceed expectations. We have hired some of the best doctors in the country and have implemented a Hospitalist program in an attempt to make HMH the hospital that all residents of our region come to. We know people have a choice and we are giving patients every reason to choose HMH over a Louisville hospital.
Do you think the County should keep the hospital or eventually sell it?
Our hospital has always been “in the black” until very recently. Again, this was anticipated due to healthcare reform and we have every intention of getting back in the positive as early as next year. We have invested millions of dollars to improve our facility and to increase our market share. As the biggest asset that we own, I only see positive things ahead for HMH and would not anticipate selling it.
Will you be a supporter of the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce?
Absolutely! I have been for years and will always continue to be. I think we have a great Chamber of Commerce. On the occasion that I take a visitor from out of town to one of our monthly luncheons they are always amazed at the attendance and what a wonderful networking opportunity our luncheons really are. I have been extremely happy with the direction the chamber has taken in recent years with dedicated focus on business.
