Mercer County Fiscal Court Answers Questions

Humphrey Retires From Road Department After 30 Years

Robert Moore

rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com

At the last Mercer County Fiscal Court meeting, Waldon Adkinson, a self-proclaimed volunteer advocate for local taxpayers, asked to take a look at Mercer County’s finances.

Adkinson said the county has up to $1.5-million in reserves kept in CDs with local banks. He said he thinks the county can get a better rate of return and made an open records request for audio recording of the last three meetings as well as bank balances and present interest rates.

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, Adkinson returned to the fiscal court. While he thanked them for their rapid response to his request, Adkinson said he thought the county could do a better job in shopping around for higher interest rates.

“There has been a large amount of interest lost in regards to CDs held by banks,” he said in a prepared statement.

Judge-Executive Milward Dedman said the county shopped out CDs.

“I can assure you that we have never renewed a CD without calling multiple banks,” Dedman said.

However, the judge and County Attorney Ted Dean explained that an individual has more leeway in negotiating for the best rates on CDs than government entities. The county government is bound by state and federal laws on how money is managed, as well as accounting regulations used by state auditors, that do not apply to private citizens.

“It’s a different beast entirely,” Dean said.

County Treasurer Sandy Sanders invited Adkinson to her office to discuss his other questions.

In other business, the Mercer County Fiscal Court:

• Accepted a letter of resignation from road department supervisor Billy Humphrey, who has worked for the county for over 30 years. Humphrey’s last day will be Oct. 31.
• Warned the public that Davenport Road will be closed Thursday and Friday and possibly Saturday as well for the replacement of a culvert.
• Announced the tire amnesty will be held Thursday, Oct. 25, and Friday, Oct. 26, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 27, from 8 a.m. to noon.

The next meeting of the Mercer County Fiscal Court will be held on Friday, Oct. 26, at 10 a.m.

To learn more, check out this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald.