WQXE News

Increases in unemployment as well as increases in the number of people working were seen across the Lincoln Trail District in 2024.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says annual unemployment rates increased in all 120 of Kentucky’s counties in 2024.

The statewide annual unemployment rate for Kentucky in 2024 was 5.1 percent. That was also the reported annual average for the Lincoln Trail District, and four of the eight counties in the district had annual rates lower than the statewide rate.

Breckinridge and Grayson counties had the highest annual unemployment rates in the district at 5.8 percent. Washington County had the lowest rate in the district, and tied for the third-lowest in the state, at 4.2 percent.

Hardin County’s annual unemployment rate for 2024 was 5.2 percent. That’s up from 2023’s annual rate of 4.3 percent.

The Center for Statistics says: “The increased unemployment rates across Kentucky’s counties were often due to people entering the labor force rather than people losing jobs. While the annual unemployment rate increased in all counties, the number of people employed increased in 91 counties.” This was the case in all of the Lincoln Trail counties except for Grayson, which saw a decrease of 55 workers.

Learn more about unemployment and other labor market information at kystats.ky.gov.

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul gave a presentation on his proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year during the Hardin County Fiscal Court’s second meeting of the month Tuesday.

“It’s difficult because it’s trying to balance out the fact that you’re needing to take and consider growth in the county, but at the same time with limited, very limited funds, so how do you balance that out?” Taul said.

Taul proposed a total budget of $60,780,515, up from the previous fiscal year’s budget of $59,615,729. Taul said challenges in the budget include the continued impact of inflation, accounting for a 1.8 percent increase in personnel costs, and necessary commitments such as subsidies for county departments, which Taul noted at $12 million comes in higher than the county’s property tax draw of $11.6 million.

“It kind of gives you an idea, I believe, of what we’re up against here,” Taul said. “All of our property tax is gone, even in excess of that, even before we get to some of our departments and other things that we are trying to do, some of the other services.”

Taul said the net operating budget is balanced with revenues and expenses both estimated at $23,646,154. That revenue includes a 4 percent increase in property taxes and $2.5 million of the annual hospital sale payout funds.

“I’m not saying that we should use all $2.7 million every year for the next 20 years, but we have it available to us as we try to figure out how to continue to grow our services at a very efficient way, but as we try to figure out how to increase revenues to cover all those, right now we have this available to us,” Taul said.

Taul’s budget presentation can be found on the county website. The fiscal court’s finance committee will hold meetings on the budget, with the first reading of the budget ordinance scheduled for the next Hardin County Fiscal Court meeting on May 13.

(Photo Credit: Hardin County Government YouTube Channel)

The Elizabethtown Planning Commission on Tuesday re-opened a public hearing on a zoning map amendment for a property on Saint John Road.

Elizabethtown City Planner Aaron Hawkins said the March 25 public hearing on 707 Saint John Road was tabled due to a public notice issue. Property owners John and Hanna Yun requested the property be rezoned from Suburban Residential (R-1) to High-Density Residential (R-6) and Regional Commercial (C-3) to accommodate a 114-room hotel, a commercial retail building, and a corporate housing unit.

Members of the commission expressed concerns with the proposal including its cohesiveness with the city’s comprehensive plan, placing high-density residential in the middle of an area that is mostly single-family homes, and the safety of a proposed roundabout at the property’s entrance.

“As I said in our last hearing, a lot of things are going on on this site,” said Planning Commission Chairman Steve Rice. “I do appreciate it, and we look at all the time how we can improve the city of E-Town, and this certainly is an option to do that, but there’s too many moving issues on this particular one for me to feel comfortable with it.”

The commission voted to recommend the Elizabethtown City Council not approve the zoning amendment.

In other meeting news, the commission voted to recommend approval of a zoning change for the Venue at Highland, located at 1377 Hutcherson Lane, from Future Development Holding to Agribusiness to allow for the property to convert a barn into a dwelling unit and event space. The commission also voted to recommend approval of a zoning change for 110 East Memorial Drive from R-6 to Neighborhood Office C-1, which will allow Clarity Solutions to construct an administrative office there.