The Pennyrile Area Development District is among districts across the state that have filed suit for what they claim is an illegal withholding of funds. According to a report from the Lexington Herald Leader, the lawsuit was filed June 28 by seven of the state’s 15 ADDs, and asserts that the Department for Local Government used more than $850,000, which had been approved by the General Assembly for the development districts, for its own budget shortfall following a budget reduction order from Governor Bevin in December 2017.
The lawsuit goes on to charge that the action of taking the funds, and the approval to do so that the DLG received from the Finance and Administration Cabinet, are both in violation of statutory and constitutional provisions. In the action, the Area Development Districts state they do not know how the money was ultimately used.
In filing the action, the districts are seeking to have the state ordered to provide the funds approved by the Kentucky General Assembly.
The report from the Herald Leader notes that the other districts involved in the suit are Lincoln Trail, Barren River, Bluegrass, Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development, Northern Kentucky, and the Purchase Area Development District.
