The southcentral Kentucky region will lose $558,428.58 in workforce funds, Chairman Ron Sowell of the South Central Workforce Development Board was told Wednesday by state Workforce Commissioner Beth Kuhn.

The workforce board had asked Sowell to see if the state would allow the money to roll over into a third fiscal year. It is money the Barren River Area Development District had not obligated for programs for two fiscal years.

Sowell informed the workforce board, the BRADD and the media in an email Wednesday.

“I regret to inform you that Commissioner Beth Kuhn has just confirmed by phone call that we will not be able to roll forward into FY 2016-17 the funds that the BRADD identified last week during our board meeting as being at risk for recapture due to the funds remaining unobligated as of June 30, 2016,” Sowell wrote.

Kuhn told Sowell “… that there was no flexibility granted to her by the regulations.”

In fiscal year 2014, BRADD also had to return $235,891.57 in unspent funds, Kuhn said previously.

BRADD Executive Director Rodney Kirtley said Wednesday a change in the age range for the youth program, increasing it to 18-24 years old, made it difficult to find individuals who would qualify for the funding.

“This is not just money you hand out. The money needs to be in certain categories,” Kirtley said.

Actually, the age range change in the new federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act took effect July 1, 2015. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was authorized in 1998. WIOA replaced WIA and will be in effect from 2015 to 2020, according to booklet put out by the National Association of Workforce Boards.

Sowell said in the email he’s asking Kirtley to reply by letter to the workforce board by the end of Monday and detail allowed and disallowed expenditures.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.