WQXE NEWS

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory delivered his message on the city’s budget for fiscal year 2025 during a special meeting of the Elizabethtown City Council Friday.

The mayor thanked the many people involved in developing what he believed to be the largest budget in the city’s history, starting with the department head’s identifying how to improve their departments.

“They have zeroed in on that and figured out how to make their departments better, therefore making it better for our citizens,” Gregory said. “They have sent it to us. We reviewed it. The council did a great job going through each project individually and determining whether it was cost effective and whether it was something that was warranted and needed in the city, and that’s how we got to where we are today.”

The budget includes $119.7 million in expenditures, up $10 million from the prior year, and includes raises to starting pay for fire and police personnel as well as a four percent increase for all other employees. The city will use “reserves from fund balances and external funding sources” to help realize several projects the city has planned for 2025 and beyond.

“All city departments are planning for anticipated growth through the anticipated start of production at BlueOval SK and related developments,” Gregory said. “This budget continues preparations for future years.”

The total police budget is set at $13 million and the total fire budget comes in at $11.7 million. After raising the occupational rate for the current budget, the city does not have plans to raise that rate in the 2025 budget, but an increase to sewer rates is anticipated this fall.

Gregory said the budget includes improvement to current facilities and infrastructure, but also focuses on expansion to support further growth.

“Work continues on the Hawkins Draft project and should be completed early in the budget year,” Gregory said. “This is an important piece to the growth of the south end of town. $1 million has been allocated to complete this project. Funds have also been allocated for various other small projects as well.”

The budget ordinance will go up for its first reading at Monday’s city council meeting.

The Community Health Clinic announced in a Facebook post on May 30 that the clinic will be closing on June 28, citing “changes in healthcare policies, funding challenges, and other factors” that made it increasingly difficult to sustain operations.

A Plus Family Heathcare Marketing Director Meighan Cable says that A Plus, a Federally Qualified Health Center, learned of the impending closure of the clinic and put together a plan to cover the clinic’s patients.

“My dad is actually on the board of directors for the Community Health Clinic and had talked to me a little bit about it to let me know that there was a potential for someone else to take it over, and I brought it up to our team down at A Plus Family Healthcare in Brownville and it just kind of worked out,” Cable said.

A Plus Family Healthcare currently operates clinics in Brownsville and Sonora, and will be opening an Elizabethtown location this summer. The same services available at the Community Health Clinic are available through A Plus.

“A Plus Family Healthcare is actually a family practice, so it’s your general practitioner, and so that’s where you can go to do all of your normal family practice type things, with full care for pediatrics all the way up to seniors,” Cable said.

Cable says A Plus Family Healthcare’s mission aligns with the mission of the Community Health Clinic.

“The heart of A Plus is taking care of people and making sure that people have quality and affordable health care, for all,” Cable said.

Community Health Clinic patients looking for care after the June 28 closure but prior to the Elizabethtown A Plus clinic opening can visit the Sonora location. Visit A Plus Family Healthcare on the web or on social media for more information and updates.

A deadline for folks looking to run for local office is coming up quickly.

“Tuesday, June 4 at 4 p.m. is the deadline to file for several local elected offices,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. “If someone has been thinking about running for local office, they need to make sure they get their paperwork in on time.”

Candidates looking to run for Elizabethtown City Council, West Point City Council, Sonora City Commissioner, Upton City Commissioner, the Elizabethtown Independent School Board, Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor, and Hardin County School Board Divisions One, Four, and Five will need to get their paperwork and fees to the Hardin County Clerk’s Office by the deadline.

“Interested candidates should start at the Secretary of State’s Office’s website,” Smith said. “There they can download instructions and the paperwork that is applicable to the office they’re filing for.”

Smith and the Hardin County Board of Elections will host the public ballot position drawing in the fiscal courtroom on Thursday, June 6 at 2 p.m. after the 1 p.m. election board meeting.

“This is a lottery drawing to determine which candidates come first, second, third, fourth, etc. for those races where we have multiple candidates,” Smith said. “The candidates are welcome. The public’s invited to attend. If you’ve never been to something like that, it’s worth checking out to learn a little bit about how elections work in the background.”

Contact the Hardin County Clerk’s Office for more information.