Boyd Fiscal passes budget, sees slight reduction

Jun. 7—CATLETTSBURG — The 2023-2024 fiscal year budget will be coming in a little lower this year for Boyd County.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Boyd County Fiscal Court, Judge-Executive Eric Chaney said the total operations budget will be $31.3 million — about $20.6 million of that consists of the general fund, with the remainder making up the road fund, the jail fund and various other funds.

Last year's budget came in at $32.6 million, which was largely due to the COVID-19 relief dollars.

Chaney said one of the biggest highlights of this year's budget is the $750,000 in additional allocations for road paving, in addition to the county road aid and the grants from the state.

"We're going to have a lot of paving this year," Chaney said.

In addition to the operating budget, Chaney noted the county currently has an $8.5 million surplus.

"That's not bond money, that's cash money," he said. "I don't think this county has ever had that much on hand."

The fiscal court unanimously passed the budget. Minor tweaks can occur to it before the second reading at the June 29 special meeting, Chaney said.

Here are some other highlights from Tuesday's meeting:

* The fiscal court voted to finalize the deed for the old Cannonsburg Water District building, which it bought for $269,000. The building will be transferred to Boyd EMS for use as an ambulance station.

* The fiscal court approved the purchase of a new black top roller. Once trade-in value of the old roller was taken into account, the total cost to the county came up to $49,000. Roads Supervisor Davy Jones said it should be delivered from Bowling Green at the beginning of July.

* The fiscal court approved switching vendors for electronically tracking inmates at the Boyd County Detention Center. The current vendor, which charged $11,000 a year, according to Chaney, was bought out by Jailtracker, which would raise it up to $50,000 per year. At the recommendation of Jailer Bill Hensley, the new contract would be awarded to Cadmus for $15,000 per year. The software allows for tracking of inmate movements, commissary, meals and for the public to be able to see who is in jail on the internet.