GLASGOW – No action was taken Tuesday by Barren Fiscal Court to establish a public health taxing district.

The possibility of creating the taxing district was discussed by the fiscal court’s administrative and budget committees last week. Matt Hunt, director of the Barren River District Health Department, sat in on the joint committee meeting.

On Tuesday, Judge-Executive Micheal Hale told fiscal court that he; Sherry Jones, fiscal court clerk; and Magistrate Mark Bowman met with the state Department for Local Government’s taxing specialist to try to educate themselves on the creation of special taxing districts.

“They really couldn’t answer a lot of the questions. I’m a little bit concerned about who is over special taxing for the state of Kentucky right now,” Hale said.

Not joining the call were county representatives with the Department for Local Government who watch over the county’s budget, which the judge-executive said is “an important piece that we need to be a part of this.”

Hale asked magistrates to review Kentucky Revised Statute 212.755, a state law that was brought to his attention when meeting with the state’s taxing specialist.

“It basically says the health department can mandatorily require us to have a taxing district for the health department. I didn’t know that until the other day. That was news to us. I need you guys to look at that and study that,” he said.

This is not the first time fiscal court has been asked to consider creating a public health taxing district.

Hunt gave a presentation to fiscal court last year and discussed the possibility of creating a public health taxing district. He sat in on Tuesday’s fiscal court meeting.

Hunt told fiscal court that he thought creating a public health taxing district would provide a firm foundation for public health in the area for years to come.

“Currently, the tax rate for Barren River is 2.25 (cents per $100 of assessed value). The state average is 4.75 (cents per $100 of assessed value), and so again, we’re less than half of what the tax rate is across the state,” he said.

Edmonson County created a public health taxing district about two years ago and is the most recent county in the district health department’s eight-county region to do so.

“Everything has been smooth in that county as well,” Hunt said.

The judge-executive suggested fiscal court meet in special session with the taxing specialists from the Department for Local Government to talk about creating a special taxing district.

“Because right now, I’m nowhere near ready to make a clear decision on this, especially since they brought this KRS to our attention,” he said. “What I would like to do is call a special-called meeting and let them explain where we’re at (and) where the health department is as well.”

No date for the special-called meeting of the fiscal court was mentioned during Tuesday’s meeting.

Hale also gave an update on the addition to the county attorney building.

The addition will house the child support division of the county attorney’s office on the main floor and the second floor will serve as a fire rescue house for families displaced due to house fires.

Hale and Barren County Attorney Kathryn Thomas were scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss a building plan for the project.

Fiscal court will have to submit a drawing of the proposed construction to the Glasgow Renaissance Committee for approval before the project can start.

“We want to move forward on that as quickly as possible. We are also going to include Jim Griffin (building inspector) on this. He will be overseeing the project. We will be meeting on that Wednesday and start that process, and hopefully, get that built as soon as possible,” Hale said. “Because again, that is extra revenue for the county. The state will lease that building from us for child support.”

In other business, fiscal court voted to hire RBS Design Group of Owensboro to serve as the engineering firm for the demolition of the building along Ford Drive that once housed the Barren County Detention Center.

Fiscal court received a Community Development Block Grant for blighted properties to help cover the cost of the demolition. The space where the building sits will become a green space once the building is razed.

Fiscal court also voted to investigate a bond issue for the new South Cooper Industrial Park along New Bowling Green Road.