Tagged: Al Mattingly

A proposed budget for Daviess County includes a $1 million increase in spending on general fund operations, and a two-percent cost of living increase for county employees.

Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly presented an 87 page document outlining a $23.5 million dollar plan for general fund spending next fiscal year, a nearly 5 percent increase over the current year.

The Messenger-Inquirer reports the new budget keeps property and payroll tax rates at the same levels, and contains one-million-dollars less for the Daviess County Detention Center. The facility has generated more revenue on its one, and that $1 million will instead be freed up for capitol projects.

Mattingly says he’s happy the proposed county budget contains $2.5 million less in overall debt than the current fiscal year, with no new debt taken on next year.

The price tag for a new downtown convention center in Owensboro now stands at nearly $40 million. The city-county organization overseeing the construction effort has approved the use of $3.5 million in contingency funds for the project.

A Daviess County leader says he hopes the counties in his region will soon be included in some sort of coal tax college scholarship program. The scholarship fund announced this week by Governor Beshear includes nine counties in eastern Kentucky. While not criticizing the Governor's plan, Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly told WKU Public Radio a college scholarship program paid for by coal severance tax dollars could greatly benefit his and other coal-producing western counties, like Henderson, Webster, and Hopkins.