PADUCAH — The McCracken County Fiscal Court met Tuesday night and adopted an ordinance authorizing an interlocal agreement between the county and the city of Paducah for the provision of 911 services.
“We’re finally at the finish line on this thing,” said McCracken County Judge Executive Craig Clymer about the 911 upgrade project.
The next step is to draft and adopt ordinances implementing parcel fees to fund the emergency 911 service’s operational budget, which Clymer estimates will happen at the next fiscal court meeting.
Overall, the project will improve 911 communications, protecting first responders and community members.
“It’ll bring our community several notches forward as far as safety,” Clymer said.
McCracken County Commissioner Bill Bartleman agreed, saying the five or more years the county has worked on the project have been vital.
“This is more important than probably anything we’ll do,” Bartleman said. “If we don’t do anything else, I think this is the hallmark of our term as commissioners.”
The fiscal court also approved a court order allowing the treasurer to refund approximately $40,000 of overpayments from the McCracken County Clerk’s office. The refund is for county residents who paid too much on their tax bills.
Clymer said he hopes residents will have faith in the county clerk’s office moving forward.
“People need that confidence when they come here and pay their taxes,” he said.
McCracken County Commissioner Eddie Jones echoed Clymer’s comments, saying the overpayments were illegally issued by “one single indicted deputy clerk,” referring to former McCracken County Deputy Clerk Michael Toon. In January, Toon was charged with two felony counts of theft.
Greater Paducah Economic Development President and CEO Bruce Wilcox presented the fiscal court with an update on current projects. GPED previously partnered with the fiscal court to improve the county’s industry and employment.
According to Wilcox, GPED currently has six active projects ranging from $20 million to $1 billion in capital investment.
Wilcox said the new direct job count for the projects is 849 with an average pay of $24.07.
During the meeting, the fiscal court added Juneteenth to the holidays observed by the county.
The fiscal court also approved the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2024-2025.