Health Department Discusses New Tax

By PJ Martin

Editor

The Herald-News

 

On June 6^th, the Barren River District Health Department’s Metcalfe Board met in the Metcalfe Government Center’s fiscal courtroom. Those in attendance were Judge/Executive Larry Wilson, Jackie Parker, Terri Cassady, Shelia Scott, Sheila Stilts, Jody Curry, Kaytlyn Sharp, Ronnie Miller, and Leeann Hennion, RN, Nurse Team Lead.

Speaker Matt Hunt was welcomed. Hunt is the Director of the Barren River District Health Department of which Metcalfe, Barren, Hart, Simpson, Butler, Logan, Warren, and Edmonson County health departments are members. He referred to the many programs that are required by state statute for the county health department to perform.

Hunt began, “You know, by statute, all counties, 120 counties in the state are required to have a local health department. And so, things like, think about Communicable Disease Control. Think about, vaccines, and tuberculosis control. I know we’ve had TB, we’ve talked about that across the district…Think about adult and childhood vaccinations. That’s a requirement by statute…Other things you think about chronic disease management. “

He continued, “You think about restaurant inspections, on-site septic if you build a house in the country, things like that, or, again, things that you must do as a health department. No one else is doing these things. The WIC program, that’s another one that’s required. It’s a supplemental, new nutrition program. I know sometimes people think about it, it’s like maybe what people used to call food stamps, it’s not, it’s different. So, it’s more you think about milk and rice and beans, cheese, nutritional things. And so that is a core service of public health. Another thing that we must do in public health is the HANDS program. That’s where we go out and provide those home visitations with social workers a lot of times at risk, families, hopefully, to get them out of maybe, if they’re in poverty, help them with their financial situation, hopefully change their family tree for years and years to come. Working with those children, maybe they have developmental delays, things like that.”

Hunt then related that he grew up in Butler County and still lives there. He compared Butler to Metcalfe as two of the smallest counties in the health district. “But you know, how do you fund public health? We’ve had a taxing district there as long as I can ever remember.”

He stated that there are only 5 counties in the state that don’t have a tax to fund the health department: Metcalfe, Trigg, Nelson, Simpson, and Hart. In 2023, Barren County added a tax of 2.25 cents per $100.

Hunt added, “The state average is 4.6 cents per $100 so we’re well below half what the state average is. And so just to put some things in context, just geographically, Allen County, which is also in the Bradd area, but not in our health district, the tax rate there is 5.5 cents per $100 and so for Barren River, it’s 2.25 Monroe County is 4.0 cents per $100.”

To put it simply, Hunt is asking the Health Department Board to consider requesting a tax of 2.5 cents per $100 and then approaching the fiscal court to get it voted in.

Judge/Executive Larry Wilson spoke up, “Ever since I’ve been in here, spending has been kept to a very minimum in our general fund. They’re saying people have wanted us to do that. Might have seemed mean, but we can’t do it because we’re afraid we’ll run out on our general fund, just like yesterday, the old courthouse up here, the air has gone out. They’ve got it fixed, but they call me it won’t last long. Golden Years building. We’re having to replace another unit out there. It seemed like every time we turn around, something unexpected is coming up.”

Just shortly after Judge Wilson took office, he received a call from the Barren River District Health Department, “I was notified we’re going to have to cut y’all out if you don’t get caught up.”

Metcalfe County fiscal court then had to authorize 3 payments totaling $71,191.66 for the past-due account. Currently, Metcalfe County makes quarterly payments to Barren River Health. That payment equals $139,561 per year.

Magistrate Ronnie Miller jumped into the conversation, “If you look at the Library Board and the extension office board, their tax rate is right at 11 or 12. If they would lower, one of them would lower their tax rate? Would you say 2.5 or 1.25, if they just lowered it a little bit, then you wouldn’t have no more. I mean, you know, you’re going to have a taxing district…If we went in there and talked to that board and explained to them. It’s worth a shot.”

“Why don’t we try that before we raise taxes? Why don’t we see? I’ve asked you about that before. That’s ridiculous, that they get more money than our county to operate.”

Miller then looked up some of the tax rates on his cell phone, “Personal Property the county is 10% the library, 16.3. Real property the library’s at 12.9, counties at 9.2.”

Judge Wilson made a suggestion, “Instead of meeting with them, why don’t we have them come to the fiscal court? Because our physical court, we live stream…. Before we tax the entire community, I say, we approach them and see if they will voluntarily drop their tax, because they get, they get more money than the county.”

With no other items to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.