Steve Futrell is officially the next Fire Chief of the Hopkinsville Fire Department following unanimous approval by Hopkinsville City Council at Tuesday’s meeting.
Futrell has served as interim chief since Freddie Montgomery retired and became chief in Clarksville at the end of July. He is a 20-year fire service veteran and most recently served as deputy chief. He says he’s excited to get to work creating a great environment for the firefighters and serving Hopkinsville to the best of his ability.
A date will be set at a later date for his swearing-in ceremony. Tuesday, he welcomed three new firefighters to HFD who were sworn in at the meeting—Rick Murray, Ryan McKnight and Eric Powell.
In other action, city council approved taking the 4 percent increase in revenue that would raise the property tax rate to 23.9 cents per $100 of assessed value. Mayor Carter Hendricks says that due to having to accept a greater pension burden from the state this year, the increase will help their budget to keep from having to make further cuts.
It’s an increase of eight-tenths of a penny and would amount to about an extra eight dollars on the tax bill of the owner of a $100,000 home. Councilmembers Jason Bell, Jimmy Dossett, Tom Johnson and Terry Parker voted no to the tax rate.
State Senator Whitney Westerfield was recognized at the meeting for being named the 2019 Friend of Kentucky Cities by the Kentucky League of Cities. City council also approved an assistance to fire fighters grant, which they had to match 10 percent of to receive from FEMA. The $247,000 grant will be put towards employee health programs, training simulations and more.
