The Hopkinsville Committee of the Whole voted to send a budget amendment ordinance to the full Council to provide additional funding to Pennyrile Allied Community Services (PACS) to cover transit system shortfall for the remainder of this fiscal year.
As previously reported by the News Edge, council members requested at the March 16 meeting to hear from PACS representatives after learning from City Financial Officer Robert Martin the transit system would be over budget by the end of this fiscal year. He explained that Council would need to make a budget amendment of around $25,000 for this fiscal year and approximately $150,000 for next year if they wanted to continue the transportation in the city at the same level.
At Thursday night’s meeting, Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin provided another PACS budget update to the Committee and said the transit system would not have any money at all the last two months of this fiscal year.
click to download audioAfter hearing from PACS Executive Director Harold Monroe regarding the various factors that contributed to the budget shortfall and a lengthy discussion, the Committee voted 10-0 to forward the amended budget amount of $26,000 to full Council for consideration.
In other action, a municipal order for a $250,000 Recreational Trails Program Grant Community Development Block Grant with $50,000 matching funds from the city was forwarded to Council. Assistant Director of Community and Development Services Holly Boggess explained the grant is to construct a new trail.
click to download audioAnd, a municipal order and budget amendment for capital equipment requests were sent to Council, which included $100,000 to upgrade the city’s audio/video equipment and two dump trucks placements for a total of $301,080.
The next City Council meeting will be Tuesday evening, May 4, at 6:00.
