GLASGOW — Barren County Fiscal Court on Tuesday night approved a first reading of its annual budget, voting for amendments to the proposed $13 million budget that included allotting an additional 3 percent to county departments for salaries, buying four cars and a truck for the Barren County Sheriff’s Office and raising hourly pay for part-time employees to $9.

Accounting for the amendments and pending a second reading that confers final approval, the county budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year is likely to rise above the $13,035,173.98 that had been set going into Tuesday’s meeting.

Much of the budget discussion centered on finding more money for county department employees after Magistrate Tommy Matthews observed that the proposed budget appeared to have no pay increases.

Matthews moved for a 3 percent raise, and the court discussed how the money would be allotted.

By a unanimous vote, the court decided that each department would receive an additional 3 percent in its budget for employee salaries to award as it sees fit.

During the discussion, Magistrate Carl Dickerson noted that Barren County Clerk Joanne London had spent 69.9 percent of her department’s allotment for salaries and asked London if she foresaw exceeding her allotment.

London said her office was on track to use what has been allotted to finish up the last quarter of the current fiscal year.

It was eventually determined that the 3 percent increase would add about $138,000 to the budget.

“That’s a lot of money, but I think it’s something we could afford,” Matthews said.

Fiscal Court also unanimously approved increasing part-time employee wages and buying new vehicles for the sheriff’s office.

Barren County Judge-Executive Davie Greer said the sheriff’s office, which county officials said has 17 operational vehicles, had requested six cars.

Greer said the county could not afford to buy six new vehicles at once, but magistrates quickly settled on the purchase of four cars plus a pickup truck.

The court also approved an interlocal cooperative agreement that essentially puts the county’s stamp of approval on the Barren-Edmonson-Allen County Drug Task Force.

Officials in Allen County expressed interest earlier in the year in joining the task force, according to agency director Jeff Scruggs.

The Allen County Sheriff’s Office and Scottsville Police Department would supply investigators to complement those already provided by Barren and Edmonson counties.

The interlocal agreement will be sent to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office and the state Department of Local Government for approval, and Scruggs said he hopes Allen County will officially be part of the task force sometime next month.

In other business Tuesday, the county approved Barren County Attorney Jeff Sharp spending $18,000 of fees his office has collected to improve security at the office where he and his staff work.

Sharp said that a large picture window in the lobby area would be removed and would be replaced with two smaller windows of bullet-resistant glass, and a buzz-in door system would be installed that would require visitors to wait for a front desk employee to push a button unlocking the door before being able to go beyond the lobby.

Don Gossett, owner of Affordable Housing and Concrete in Glasgow, addressed the fiscal court Tuesday with a proposal that the county adopt a licensing system for contractors and impose a $100 licensing fee.

Gossett said that he has lost a handful of work opportunities in the county because potential clients select less expensive, unlicensed and uninsured building contractors.

Gossett pointed out that Bowling Green, where he has performed some work, has a $450 license fee for contractors and he has paid the fee there and taken recertification classes. 

The cities of Glasgow, Park City and Cave City also charge small fees, and Gossett said he has spoken with other licensed contractors who support a similar measure for the county.

“It’s not about generating any revenue for the county,” Gossett said. “It’s about having all your contractors on a level playing field.”

Greer said a committee would be formed to examine the issue and Sharp could potentially draft an ordinance.