Elkton City Council approved final reading of a $6.7 million budget at Monday night’s special-called meeting and it includes projects for the town’s water and wastewater systems.
City Clerk Laura Brock says the spending plan passed unanimously.
Mayor Arthur Green explained in his recent budget address that 71-percent of all revenues in the balanced budget come from the occupational, insurance premium and property taxes. It includes a 2-percent cost of living raise for all full and part-time city employees—excluding the mayor and city council members.
There are several water and sewer department projects in the works—including the repainting of the water tower on Morningside Drive in Elkton at a total cost of $100,000. That will be paid for at $20,000 per year for the next five years.
The water department has received a loan to upgrade several undersized water lines in the city at a total cost of about $170,000.
Mayor Green says the budget “includes the completion of a Kentucky Infrastructure Authority Planning Loan project, with a future rehab and construction project to be proposed upon completion of the planning study.”
He says total cost of the project will be about $3 million over two years.
Some of the city’s underground infrastructure has been in place for 50 or 60 years and Green says work has been ongoing to determine which areas need to be addressed first.
Water and sewer rates will go up for Elkton residents as required by the KIA to administer the loan, according to Mayor Green, who says the average customer will see an increase of about $3 monthly beginning in July.
Meanwhile, in accordance with its ongoing vehicle replacement plan, the Elkton Police Department will purchase a 2020 Ford Explorer police interceptor in the upcoming fiscal year.
Mayor Green says the budget was crafted with the assistance of city council and department heads and that “the major goal of the city is to continue to improve the quality of services provided to the citizens of Elkton, while keeping the costs of these services as low as possible.”