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E-Town Council holds first reading on 2026 tax rates

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The Elizabethtown City Council met for their first meeting of the month Monday.

The first reading was held on ordinances setting 2026 city tax rates. City Attorney Ken Howard read the three ordinances, detailing the tax rate for motor vehicle and watercraft (11.6 cents per $100 assessed value), the franchise tax rate (0.025 percent on all eligible deposits), and the tax rate for real and personal property (10.5 cents per $100 assessed value). Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the first two rates are unchanged, while the property tax rate was lowered from 10.7 cents.

“So when you have people tell you all the time that we’re raising their taxes, we have actually lowered their real and personal property this year, and I think we did last year too, so it is not true if they tell you that,” Gregory said.

The first reading was also held on an ordinance that amends the zoning for 1010 and 1020 Prospect Pointe Drive from Neighborhood Commercial (C-2) to Regional Commercial (C-3).

The council approved a municipal order accepting a $139,720 bid from Schroeder Construction for sanitary sewer improvements on Yale Drive, and a municipal order revising the contract scope with Congleton Hacker for the SteelGrove Amphitheater to accommodate additional work.

“We got a donation from somebody that doesn’t want to take credit for it for $1 million to the City of Elizabethtown to go towards that project, and so what we planned on doing with that donation was to go ahead and finish paving those parking lots and then erecting a storage building that they desperately needed that we had cut out of the first design,” Gregory said.

The order notes that the authorized cost of the project remains at about $41 million.

In other meeting news, Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson said the EPD will be featured in a video for the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s annual conference along with the organization’s website. The city recognized 10 employees who recently completed their CDL certifications, four fire recruits who graduated from the EFD’s Recruit Academy, and two parks department employees who earned their certified playground safety inspector certifications.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet September 21.

Absentee voting request portal opens Saturday

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The 2026 General Election is coming up on November 3, but early voting opportunities open up this Saturday.

“Absentee mail in voting starts September 19 and runs through October 12,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. “That’s an opportunity for those who physically can’t show up at the polls to get their ballot to cast it by mail, but you have to have a valid excuse, so if you’re traveling and will be out of town or due to age, illness, or disability.”

If you have not yet registered to vote, you still have time to do so.

“The deadline to register to vote for this election is October 5,” Smith said. “You want to get that registration in, sooner rather than later. If you have changed your address since the last time you voted, this is a great opportunity for you to update that.”

Visit govote.ky.gov or your county clerk’s office to register to vote or for more election information.

Bernheim Forest invites community to BugFest and Fall Plant Sale

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The community is invited to come out and celebrate insects and the vital ecological role they play during Bernheim Forest’s annual BugFest, happening this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“It’s an exciting, fun family event,” said Bernheim Forest Director of Marketing and Communications Lynette Cox. “We’re going to celebrate our six- and eight-legged friends through hands-on experiences, guided explorations, music, creativity, and more.”

Visitors of all ages will get the chance to go on a bug safari, visit the insect zoo, and put on a costume and participate in the Parade of Bugs, among other activities. While a suggested donation is accepted at the gate, BugFest is free and all are welcome to attend.

BugFest coincides with Bernheim’s annual Fall Plant Sale, which runs Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“For the Fall Plant Sale, we have trees and shrubs and lots of native perennials that are great to add to your garden, and all proceeds from the plant sale benefit our horticulture team and the upkeep of plants here at Bernheim,” Cox said.

Visit www.bernheim.org or the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Facebook page for more information on both events.

City of Elizabethtown announces plans for new City Hall facility on Ring Road

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The City of Elizabethtown is announcing a change in their plans for a new City Hall.

In a post on the City of Elizabethtown Government Facebook page Friday, Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory announced that rather than construct a new City Hall campus at the former Elizabethtown Laundry property on south Main Street, the city will instead acquire the former First Federal building on Ring Road that was most recently occupied by BlueOval SK.

Gregory said the city is excited about the new plan for several reasons.

“We’ve been out of space at City Hall for some time, with people doubled up in offices and some even working out of spaces that were really never intended to be workspaces,” Gregory said. “Our city’s growing, and with that comes growth in government as well, so sometimes things present themselves and you have to pivot and reconsider, and that’s exactly what happened here.”

The city moved into the current City Hall in 1995, and moved the city council chambers to the former Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame building earlier this year as part of a five-year plan for a new city campus. Gregory said with the Ring Road property recently renovated, the city can accommodate more growth, bring the city council back into the City Hall footprint, and reduce a planned $40-45 million budget to about $16 million.

“We think we’re getting a better opportunity in saving between $25-30 million doing it, and it really provides an opportunity for city government to have a great place for decades to come,” Gregory said.

Gregory said in the Facebook post: “With City Council awareness, we signed a purchase agreement for the property, and the plan is to close in November.”

Glendale farmer finalist for KFB Farmer of the Year award

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A Hardin County farmer has been named a finalist for Kentucky Farm Bureau’s 2026 Kentucky Farmer of the Year award, which recognizes an individual “for their outstanding agriculture operations, as well as their service and leadership both on and off the farm.”

Steve Rogers of Glendale grows corn, soybeans, and wheat on 1,800 acres he owns and 1,500 acres he rents. KFB says Rogers began farming on 38 acres of his father’s land during his junior year of high school in 1978, renting 66 acres from a neighbor the following year and 140 acres from another neighbor. Those early operations helped Rogers pay his way through college, graduating from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in agronomy.

KFB says the Rogers family has supplied white corn to Weisenberger Mills since the 1980s, and after improving upon early renditions of no-till equipment in the early days of the technology the operation is now nearly 100 percent no-till. Rogers and his wife Ann raised their three children (Phillip, Adam, and Sarah) on the farm, and a formal succession plan for the farm is in place with the children taking on more decision making each year.

Rogers and his fellow nominees, Terry Brown of Hopkins county and Mike Jones of Mercer County, were honored during KFB’s Country Ham Breakfast at this year’s Kentucky State Fair. The winner will be announced at the organization’s annual meeting in Louisville on October 12.