Bourbon County commissioners agreed Monday to advertise a 2027 budget at 56.669 mills, the same rate the county levies now, setting a Sept. 14 public hearing.
The vote drew no opposition. Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee moved to authorize county financial consultant Matt Lawn of Baker Tilly to publish the notice in Saturday’s paper, and Commissioner Joe Allen seconded.
A flat rate is not a flat tax bill. Because assessed valuation rose, a 56.669-mill levy would generate roughly $300,000 more in property-tax revenue than the county would collect at the revenue-neutral rate, and exceeding that rate requires a hearing under state law.
Much of Monday’s discussion centered on using that additional revenue to rebuild county reserves. Milburn-Kee has pushed to hold the property-tax dollars supporting most county funds at revenue-neutral levels and put the additional revenue into the general fund.
“The purpose of that in a larger picture would be to keep everybody exactly where they’re at, revenue neutral, but us take the assessed valuation increase of that two mil and put it in the reserves in the general fund,” Milburn-Kee said.
“I don’t have a problem increasing their budgets if they increase their own revenue outside of the mill, but I don’t want to give them the mill,” she said.
Lawn walked commissioners through a preliminary version of that exercise at her request, holding every fund except employee benefits to revenue-neutral property-tax levels.
The approach would have significant effects on some funds. Holding road and bridge to revenue neutral would reduce its budget authority by about $286,000 and draw its projected ending balance down to about $166,000, Lawn said, while the ambulance fund would likely end with a negative balance.
The appraiser fund would be left with virtually no cushion — an estimated $6 — while the election fund would also be drawn down sharply.
Lawn stopped short of recommending the across-the-board approach Monday. He said newly completed July financials will allow him to refine 2026 year-end estimates and the 2027 budget before returning with more precise projections.
Commissioner David Beerbower then raised another possibility: using roughly $605,000 in FEMA money sitting in the road and bridge fund to reduce the property taxes needed to support that department.
“If he’s got 605,000 extra, then that gives us money that we don’t have to tax for that budget,” Beerbower said.
Milburn-Kee calculated that using the full amount could reduce the road and bridge levy by about 4.13 mills. Combined with her revenue-neutral approach, she said, the county could potentially put $600,000 to $700,000 more into reserves.
“That’d be our fourth scenario then,” Lawn said.
Beerbower tied the reserve push to the county’s borrowing capacity if commissioners pursue general obligation bonds for radios, towers and other infrastructure.
“Having that kind of money in our cash reserve picks our credit level back up to a point where maybe we can get some of that,” he said.
After a call with S&P Global Ratings earlier this month, Chairman Gregg Motley said he came away expecting a downgrade of the county’s A-/stable general obligation rating, with cash reserves among the concerns discussed.
County municipal adviser Ben Hart, also of Baker Tilly, has said the county’s broader financial weakness is the absence of a formal fund balance policy.
Beerbower also flagged about $86,000 in unbudgeted 2026 spending, which Lawn agreed to build into his projections. Roughly $50,000 is expected for a coming tax foreclosure process, while $36,000 would cover three monthly comprehensive plan payments beginning in October.
Lawn said he conservatively expects the general fund to carry over about $600,000 at the end of this year, although his current projection is closer to $707,000 before additional adjustments.
He will return Monday with updated budget scenarios, including his own recommendation, Milburn-Kee’s revenue-neutral approach and a version accounting for the FEMA money. Lawn also plans to build a 5% across-the-board wage increase into the figures and separately identify any proposal that differs from it.
The budget must reach the state by 5 p.m. Oct. 1. Lawn said he would prefer adoption the night of the Sept. 14 hearing but noted the commission could still act Sept. 21 or 28.
