Latest / Eastern Kentucky Newspapers / Hazard Herald - 8.16.26
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Now we turn to reading of the Hazard Herald for
- 0:04Speaker 1: news in Hazard and Perry County. Your reader today is
- 0:09Speaker 1: Timmy Ann Goodman. We'll begin with the online edition dated
- 0:14Speaker 1: August twelfth, twenty twenty six, which the publishers have donated
- 0:20Speaker 1: to RADIOI as a reminder. RADIOI is a reading service
- 0:25Speaker 1: intended for people who are blind or have other disabilities
- 0:30Speaker 1: that make it difficult to read printed material. Our first
- 0:35Speaker 1: article is entitled Wildcats Linda Hand at ARH Cancer Center
- 0:41Speaker 1: Hilling Garden by Justin Begley, News Editor. This article is
- 0:47Speaker 1: accompanied by two photographs captioned staff from Appalachian Regional Healthcare
- 0:56Speaker 1: and CEO Brian Springgate met with the universe diversity of
- 1:00Speaker 1: Kentucky men's basketball coach Mark Pope and his staff and
- 1:05Speaker 1: team on August seventh, as they came together at the
- 1:10Speaker 1: ARH Cancer Center to not only visit patients and inspire hope,
- 1:16Speaker 1: but to also construct a gazebo in the new ARH
- 1:20Speaker 1: Hilling Garden. Colfield's Landscape Service was on site to help
- 1:26Speaker 1: the Wildcats and ARH coordinate their project and participate in
- 1:32Speaker 1: creating the garden. One photograph pictures Coach Pope unloading gravel
- 1:39Speaker 1: from a wheelbarrow. A group of players use a variety
- 1:44Speaker 1: of tools to work on the gazebo. In the background.
- 1:49Speaker 1: The other photograph pictures four of Coach Pope's players loading
- 1:55Speaker 1: a bench into the gazebo and now on with the story.
- 2:00Speaker 1: The Kentucky Wildcatch traded the basketball court for a construction
- 2:04Speaker 1: site on August seventh, spending the day with patients and
- 2:09Speaker 1: helping build a new gazebo at the A. R H
- 2:11Speaker 1: Cancer Center Healing Garden in Hazard led by head Coach
- 2:16Speaker 1: Mark Pope, players and staff visited with cancer patients before
- 2:21Speaker 1: joining Appalachian Regional health Care employees, including CEO Brian Springate,
- 2:28Speaker 1: to work on the garden project. Under the supervision of
- 2:33Speaker 1: Coalfield Landscape Services, the group helped construct the gazebo, with
- 2:38Speaker 1: Pope and Springgate working alongside players throughout the project. Springgate
- 2:45Speaker 1: said seeing the team dedicate its time and effort to
- 2:48Speaker 1: the project demonstrated the type of service Pope has encouraged
- 2:53Speaker 1: within the program. First off, they have done a great job,
- 2:58Speaker 1: said Springate. As the CEO of this hospital, It's heartwarming
- 3:03Speaker 1: to see these young men out here working and they've
- 3:07Speaker 1: put in a lot of effort into this project. Mark
- 3:11Speaker 1: Pope and his servant leadership is amazing. His ability to
- 3:16Speaker 1: motivate his players and to give back to the community
- 3:20Speaker 1: is a heartwarming thing and I love to see it.
- 3:25Speaker 1: The visit was not the Wildcats first service project with ARH,
- 3:30Speaker 1: Springgate said the team at the hospital during a previous visit.
- 3:36Speaker 1: They've been here a couple of times now, he said.
- 3:39Speaker 1: Last year they built a wall for us inside the hospital.
- 3:43Speaker 1: ARH is also a part of Team Kentucky. We see
- 3:47Speaker 1: this entire region in Kentucky as ARH Territory, and we're
- 3:52Speaker 1: glad to be in the heart of Appalachia. And just
- 3:56Speaker 1: like their shirts say Kentucky's Team, this is truthful Kentucky's team,
- 4:01Speaker 1: and it's been really nice to have them here. Beyond
- 4:05Speaker 1: the physical improvements made to the facility, Springgate said, the
- 4:10Speaker 1: player's interactions with cancer patients can leave a lasting impression.
- 4:15Speaker 1: Springgate said some patients who previously met the team continue
- 4:20Speaker 1: to share photographs and memories from those visits. We have
- 4:25Speaker 1: patients they visited last year in the cancer center, and
- 4:29Speaker 1: we have patients all the time that are getting chemotherapy
- 4:33Speaker 1: infusions and they will bring them up and show as
- 4:36Speaker 1: pictures of when they got to meet the team, said Springgate.
- 4:41Speaker 1: The impact it has on the patients, just them being
- 4:45Speaker 1: here has an enormous effect, Pope said. Visits throughout Kentucky
- 4:51Speaker 1: give the team an opportunity to connect with the people
- 4:54Speaker 1: who support the program while reinforcing the relationship between in
- 5:00Speaker 1: Kentucky basketball and communities across the state. We've had a
- 5:06Speaker 1: chance to come down and meet some great people, said Pope,
- 5:10Speaker 1: and hopefully we leave with something just a little bit better.
- 5:14Speaker 1: A thing I'd like people here to know is that
- 5:17Speaker 1: we feel them, and we hear them. We get it.
- 5:21Speaker 1: We understand how much it matters, and we understand how
- 5:25Speaker 1: important Kentucky basketball is. We want to work hard just
- 5:29Speaker 1: like they do. We're all in this together, and we
- 5:33Speaker 1: love the state of Kentucky. We love every part of it.
- 5:40Speaker 1: Our next article is titled Perry School Board proposes to
- 5:44Speaker 1: keep property tax rate unchanged for twelfth consecutive year by
- 5:50Speaker 1: Justin Begley, News Editor. The Perry County Board of Education
- 5:56Speaker 1: voted on August tenth to propose keeping its property ti
- 6:00Speaker 1: tax rate unchanged for a twelfth consecutive year, rejecting a
- 6:05Speaker 1: proposal that would have allowed the district to consider additional
- 6:09Speaker 1: revenue through a four percent increase. During a special meeting,
- 6:15Speaker 1: board members discussed maintaining the current rate of fifty four
- 6:19Speaker 1: point eight cents per one hundred dollars of assessed property
- 6:23Speaker 1: value or pursuing the allowable four percent revenue increase. Ultimately,
- 6:32Speaker 1: the board voted three to two to leave the rate
- 6:35Speaker 1: unchanged after a motion to propose the increase failed by
- 6:40Speaker 1: the same margin. District financial advisor Jody Maggard began the
- 6:46Speaker 1: discussion by explaining that the annual tax rate process can
- 6:52Speaker 1: sometimes be misunderstood as the introduction of a new tax
- 6:57Speaker 1: rather than the yearly considerization of an existing revenue source.
- 7:03Speaker 1: As we receive this every year, I know there is
- 7:07Speaker 1: some confusion, as there always is any time that this
- 7:12Speaker 1: goes out and is not explained properly, said Maggard. When
- 7:17Speaker 1: there's no context, people think it's a new rate or
- 7:21Speaker 1: a new tax, but it's not. This has been done
- 7:25Speaker 1: for decades and is our only real source of revenue
- 7:29Speaker 1: actually is through taxation. Maggart said. Changes enacted by the
- 7:36Speaker 1: Kentucky General Assembly earlier this year altered some of the
- 7:40Speaker 1: advertising requirements surrounding school district tax rates. Perry County, however,
- 7:47Speaker 1: has maintained the same rate for more than a decade.
- 7:51Speaker 1: According to what the legislation did back in May when
- 7:55Speaker 1: they enacted rules regarding advertisements, which has been back and
- 8:00Speaker 1: forth in school districts for some time now, he said,
- 8:04Speaker 1: it allows districts to pass anything less than the four
- 8:07Speaker 1: percent tax rate with basically no advertisement, and it can
- 8:12Speaker 1: be passed and done. We haven't really benefited from that
- 8:16Speaker 1: as much because, as you guys know, for eleven years now,
- 8:21Speaker 1: the Perry County schools have kept their rate the same,
- 8:26Speaker 1: so in some regard we're a little bit different than
- 8:29Speaker 1: those around us. This year, we are required to come
- 8:33Speaker 1: in tonight, propose a tax rate, advertise it for two weeks,
- 8:39Speaker 1: come back in seven to ten days after the second advertisement,
- 8:46Speaker 1: hold a hearing and allow public discussion if there would
- 8:50Speaker 1: be any, and after that time would follow with our
- 8:53Speaker 1: board meeting to approve the tax rate. He continued. Using
- 8:58Speaker 1: the median Perry County property value of ninety one thousand,
- 9:03Speaker 1: eight hundred dollars, Maggart illustrated the difference between the district's
- 9:08Speaker 1: current rate and the proposed four percent option. According to
- 9:13Speaker 1: his calculation, the change would amount to approximately four dollars
- 9:17Speaker 1: annually on property valued at the county median. Our tax
- 9:23Speaker 1: status would stay the same unless it is changed by
- 9:26Speaker 1: the board, said Maggard. The only thing is for the
- 9:31Speaker 1: board to choose. Currently we are at fifty four point eight.
- 9:36Speaker 1: It's a very simple formula. If you take the property value,
- 9:41Speaker 1: which in Perry County the median property value is ninety
- 9:44Speaker 1: one thousand, eight hundred dollars, divide that by one hundred
- 9:49Speaker 1: and multiply it by point five four eight, and that
- 9:54Speaker 1: would be the current school tax that someone in Perry
- 9:57Speaker 1: County would pay. It's a a five hundred and three
- 10:01Speaker 1: dollars property tax rate for anybody with a personal property
- 10:06Speaker 1: valued at ninety one thousand, eight hundred dollars, going with
- 10:11Speaker 1: the four percent going to fifty five point three would
- 10:15Speaker 1: put it at five hundred and seven dollars. That's an
- 10:19Speaker 1: annual increase of four dollars for the median property value
- 10:24Speaker 1: in Perry County. Maggard also compared Perry County's rate with
- 10:29Speaker 1: neighboring and regional school districts, saying Perry and Harlan Counties
- 10:35Speaker 1: currently have the lowest rates among those he presented, I
- 10:40Speaker 1: also like to always point out where we're at in
- 10:44Speaker 1: relation to all the other school districts. Maggard said, Pike
- 10:49Speaker 1: County is currently at eighty two point eight, Leslie is
- 10:53Speaker 1: at seventy three point four, Floyd is at sixty eight
- 10:58Speaker 1: point five, Is at sixty eight point four, Hazard Independent
- 11:04Speaker 1: is at sixty eight point two, Letcher County sixty eight
- 11:09Speaker 1: point zero, Clay County is sixty five point six, Not
- 11:15Speaker 1: County at sixty four point nine, and Harlan and Perry
- 11:19Speaker 1: County are the lowest in our region at fifty four
- 11:23Speaker 1: point eight. While Maggard said the district remains in solid
- 11:28Speaker 1: financial condition, he warned that maintaining the same rate indefinitely
- 11:34Speaker 1: could become more difficult as operating expenses increase. He pointed
- 11:40Speaker 1: to employee raises, transportation cost, utilities, and insurance premiums among
- 11:47Speaker 1: the district's growing expenses. Currently, our contingency is at nine percent,
- 11:53Speaker 1: said Maggard. I would say it's time we start talking
- 11:56Speaker 1: about how much money we have going out the door.
- 12:00Speaker 1: We've given a lot of raises. We are in the
- 12:03Speaker 1: top twenty in school districts over the last twenty years
- 12:07Speaker 1: that have given out more raises than any of the
- 12:10Speaker 1: other one hundred and seventy one school districts in the
- 12:13Speaker 1: state of Kentucky without raising revenue. I think we cannot
- 12:21Speaker 1: continue down a path where we keep tax rates the
- 12:24Speaker 1: same and leave revenue on the table. Taking the four
- 12:28Speaker 1: percent is always going to be my recommendation. I'm sorry
- 12:32Speaker 1: about that. I have to do that. As the board treasurer,
- 12:36Speaker 1: I'm always going to give you the recommendation that maximizes
- 12:40Speaker 1: tax revenue. I'm a taxpayer too, but I know we
- 12:44Speaker 1: can't keep up with what we want to do. If
- 12:47Speaker 1: we stay at fifty four point eight, I would say
- 12:50Speaker 1: that we are in good shape right now. But over
- 12:53Speaker 1: the next five to ten years, are we going to
- 12:56Speaker 1: continue to buy more buses? Are we going to continue
- 12:59Speaker 1: to see an increase in utilities? Because as of last year,
- 13:04Speaker 1: we saw one point two million dollars in utilities. We
- 13:08Speaker 1: have a two hundred thousand dollars or more increase in
- 13:12Speaker 1: our insurance premiums. Do we want to continue giving staff
- 13:17Speaker 1: raises because we have to pay for those? Declining enrollment
- 13:23Speaker 1: could create another financial challenge, Maggard said, as the district
- 13:28Speaker 1: seek funding is projected to decrease by approximately seven hundred
- 13:33Speaker 1: thousand dollars this year, and estimated that maintaining the existing
- 13:39Speaker 1: tax rate could leave roughly one hundred thousand dollars in
- 13:43Speaker 1: potential local revenue uncollected. Our SEEK funds are proposed to
- 13:50Speaker 1: be down seven hundred thousand dollars this year. We no
- 13:54Speaker 1: longer have the student body that we once did. Nobody
- 13:58Speaker 1: else does either, said Maggard. That's not just an Eastern
- 14:03Speaker 1: Kentucky thing. That's a national thing. Since COVID kids have
- 14:08Speaker 1: not come back, we can't continue to do the things
- 14:12Speaker 1: we want to do. I'll be honest. If we keep
- 14:15Speaker 1: the tax rates the same, we are probably giving up
- 14:18Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars. I know in the grand scheme
- 14:22Speaker 1: that doesn't seem to be earth shattering, and it's not.
- 14:26Speaker 1: But how many years are we willing to leave that
- 14:29Speaker 1: on the table when everyone else around is going to
- 14:35Speaker 1: take it. Maggart said he could support maintaining the current rate,
- 14:40Speaker 1: but caution that doing so year after year would leave
- 14:43Speaker 1: Perry County significantly below surrounding districts. I'm fine with keeping
- 14:49Speaker 1: the rate the same, said Maggard, but we are at
- 14:52Speaker 1: a point where we could never reach where other school
- 14:56Speaker 1: districts like Pike County are Board member Ritchie Miller echoed
- 15:01Speaker 1: concerns about the district continuing to forego additional revenue. Miller
- 15:06Speaker 1: said the immediate financial impact may be manageable, but warned
- 15:12Speaker 1: that delaying increases could eventually force the district to make
- 15:16Speaker 1: a more substantial adjustment. We're leaving money out there right now.
- 15:22Speaker 1: It's not killing us to leave it there, but if
- 15:24Speaker 1: we take that from these guys, our sheriff's department, it would,
- 15:29Speaker 1: said Miller. This is my sixth year and we've never
- 15:33Speaker 1: raised taxes since I've been on the board, and we've
- 15:36Speaker 1: kept the sheriffs the same since I've been on the board,
- 15:39Speaker 1: and I know as a property owner it will affect
- 15:42Speaker 1: all of us, but it is a small amount it
- 15:45Speaker 1: will affect us by. Miller said his concern was that
- 15:50Speaker 1: repeatedly maintaining the same rate could eventually leave the district
- 15:54Speaker 1: facing a larger financial adjustment at one time, rather than
- 15:59Speaker 1: small increases over several years. If we keep kicking the
- 16:05Speaker 1: can down the road on this though, one day it
- 16:09Speaker 1: won't be able to be put off anymore and it
- 16:12Speaker 1: will have to be bigger to do the stuff we
- 16:16Speaker 1: want to do, Miller said, we have things that have
- 16:20Speaker 1: to be done in our district, so if we keep
- 16:23Speaker 1: putting it off, we will be in worse shape down
- 16:26Speaker 1: the road. Miller made a motion to propose the four
- 16:30Speaker 1: percent increase, which would have allowed the district to advertise
- 16:34Speaker 1: the proposed rate and receive public feedback during a hearing
- 16:39Speaker 1: before taking final action. The motion failed two to three.
- 16:45Speaker 1: Miller said proposing the higher rate would not necessarily have
- 16:48Speaker 1: required the board to ultimately adopt it, but would have
- 16:53Speaker 1: given members an opportunity to hear directly from taxpayers before
- 16:58Speaker 1: reaching a final decision. I don't want to raise taxes.
- 17:04Speaker 1: We all pay taxes, said Miller, But I don't want
- 17:08Speaker 1: us to get into a mess where we have to
- 17:10Speaker 1: make a decision that would have a longer lasting hurt
- 17:14Speaker 1: on the people down the road then it would. If
- 17:17Speaker 1: we started this now and let the people come in
- 17:20Speaker 1: and voice their opinions and concerns. After we hear from
- 17:25Speaker 1: the people, we could decide on if the four percent
- 17:28Speaker 1: is the right move or not. We want improvements here
- 17:33Speaker 1: and at all of our schools, and we're leaving money
- 17:36Speaker 1: out there. If we pass this now, it wouldn't be
- 17:39Speaker 1: as painful compared to if we keep kicking this down
- 17:43Speaker 1: the road. Board member Del Morris supported maintaining the current rate,
- 17:49Speaker 1: pointing to the financial pressures already facing families in Perry County.
- 17:54Speaker 1: Morris compared the district's current tax burden on a one
- 17:58Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollars property with what the same
- 18:01Speaker 1: property would be taxed at under Pike County's rate. When
- 18:06Speaker 1: you do the math on a one hundred and fifty
- 18:09Speaker 1: thousand dollars home, that's eight hundred and twenty two dollars
- 18:13Speaker 1: at our current rate, said Morris. If we were to
- 18:17Speaker 1: have let's say Pike County's rate, you're looking at one thousand,
- 18:22Speaker 1: two hundred and forty two dollars. I think past board
- 18:26Speaker 1: members have done a good job with this, and I
- 18:29Speaker 1: think you, Maggard, have done a good job with this.
- 18:33Speaker 1: With our finances, I'm going to vote no for now,
- 18:37Speaker 1: but it's coming. We're going to have to raise them eventually.
- 18:41Speaker 1: But with the math comparing us to Pike, that's not
- 18:45Speaker 1: that far away, and that's a big difference, and our
- 18:49Speaker 1: county struggles enough. Inflation is crazy right now. It'd be
- 18:54Speaker 1: nice to see somebody other than us turn it around.
- 18:58Speaker 1: We've had enough people leave this area and let's maybe
- 19:02Speaker 1: keep something that makes them want to stay here, even
- 19:06Speaker 1: if it's just a little something. I know the increase
- 19:09Speaker 1: isn't that much, but it matters a lot to people.
- 19:15Speaker 1: At the end of this article, there is a photograph
- 19:18Speaker 1: captioned members of the Perry County Board of Education discuss
- 19:22Speaker 1: proposed property tax rates during a special called meeting Monday,
- 19:27Speaker 1: August tenth. The board voted three to two to maintain
- 19:32Speaker 1: the district's current rate of fifty four point eight cents
- 19:36Speaker 1: per one hundred dollars of assessed property value, marking the
- 19:40Speaker 1: twelfth consecutive year without an increase. In the photo, five
- 19:46Speaker 1: members of the Perry County Board of Education are seated
- 19:50Speaker 1: at a board table inside the Board of Education offices.
- 19:56Speaker 1: Moving on to our next article, which is titled has
- 20:00Speaker 1: Assistant Fire Chief elected KFA Vice President by Justin Begley,
- 20:07Speaker 1: News Editor. This article is also accompanied by a photograph.
- 20:14Speaker 1: It is captioned Hazard Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Smith, left,
- 20:20Speaker 1: was elected third vice president of the Kentucky Firefighters Association
- 20:25Speaker 1: at its recent meeting. Smith, who also serves as president
- 20:29Speaker 1: of the Mountain Firefighters Association is expected to advance through
- 20:34Speaker 1: the KFA leadership and service president in twenty twenty nine.
- 20:40Speaker 1: The photo depicts Assistant fire Chief Brandon Smith along with
- 20:45Speaker 1: a companion in front of a sign that says Kentucky
- 20:49Speaker 1: Firefighters Association and now to the article hazard. Assistant fire
- 20:56Speaker 1: Chief Brandon Smith will take on a statewide leadership rule
- 21:00Speaker 1: after being elected third vice president of the Kentucky Firefighters
- 21:05Speaker 1: Association during the organization's recent conference in Ashland. Smith, who
- 21:11Speaker 1: also serves as president of the Mountain Firefighters Association, is
- 21:16Speaker 1: one of three KFA presidents serving firefighters across Kentucky. He
- 21:22Speaker 1: said the statewide organization has represented the fire service for
- 21:27Speaker 1: more than a century. Smith said the position begins a
- 21:31Speaker 1: progression through the organization's leadership. He said the region had
- 21:36Speaker 1: previously declined opportunities to nominate a candidate as firefighters focused
- 21:42Speaker 1: their attention on responding to disasters in eastern Kentucky. Each
- 21:47Speaker 1: year I will move up, and in the year twenty
- 21:50Speaker 1: twenty nine, I will be president of the KFA. He said.
- 21:55Speaker 1: Every few years an association can elect to put up
- 21:59Speaker 1: a member for the vice presidency. The past couple of
- 22:03Speaker 1: years we have had to deny our seat because we
- 22:06Speaker 1: had too much going on with the multiple flood disasters.
- 22:11Speaker 1: We decided our focus was best trained on eastern Kentucky
- 22:15Speaker 1: and at home. Smith said his eventual presidency will also
- 22:20Speaker 1: provide an opportunity to bring the association's annual conference to
- 22:25Speaker 1: Hazard for the first time. He anticipates the event will
- 22:29Speaker 1: draw approximately four hundred people to the city for several
- 22:34Speaker 1: days in twenty thirty. It lasts four to five days
- 22:39Speaker 1: and will be bringing about four hundred people to Hazard
- 22:42Speaker 1: for those days of the conference. He said. The last
- 22:47Speaker 1: president from Hazzard was in twenty thirteen and he elected
- 22:51Speaker 1: to take his conference to Ashland, and the one before
- 22:55Speaker 1: him was in two thousand and six and he took
- 22:58Speaker 1: his to Lexington. But I want to bring it to Hazard.
- 23:02Speaker 1: Smith said the position gives him an opportunity to give
- 23:06Speaker 1: back to a profession and community which have played a
- 23:10Speaker 1: significant role throughout his career while advocating for firefighters across Kentucky.
- 23:18Speaker 1: I'm very honored to be given this opportunity, he said.
- 23:22Speaker 1: The Fire Service the City of Hazard has given me
- 23:26Speaker 1: a lot over the years. This opportunity for me is
- 23:30Speaker 1: to give something back and help make a difference for firefighters,
- 23:35Speaker 1: not just in eastern Kentucky, but across the entire state.
- 23:39Speaker 1: I want to be someone that anyone in the state
- 23:42Speaker 1: can reach out to at any time and ask for help.
- 23:47Speaker 1: Beyond its leadership role within the fire service, Smith said,
- 23:52Speaker 1: the KFA works to improve firefighter training and education, advocate
- 23:58Speaker 1: on legislative issue, and provide assistance to firefighters and their
- 24:03Speaker 1: families during difficult circumstances. We want to provide resources and
- 24:10Speaker 1: assistants during difficult times, especially around the loss of a firefighter,
- 24:15Speaker 1: he said, when tragedy may occur, we want to be
- 24:20Speaker 1: there for support. Firefighting is a brotherhood and sisterhood and
- 24:26Speaker 1: it doesn't stop at the county lines. We may have
- 24:29Speaker 1: different types of departments or different challenges based on where
- 24:33Speaker 1: we live, but we're all there for the same reason,
- 24:37Speaker 1: and that's to serve our communities. Moving on to our
- 24:43Speaker 1: next article, Basher executive order establishes ratepayer cost environmental protections
- 24:51Speaker 1: on data centers. An Appalachian Newspaper's staff report. Kentucky Governor
- 24:57Speaker 1: Andy Basher issued an executive order on August six requiring
- 25:02Speaker 1: that data center developers assure the state that projects will
- 25:07Speaker 1: not result in additional energy cost on ratepayers and requiring
- 25:12Speaker 1: that they follow environmental regulations. According to the order, there
- 25:17Speaker 1: are several components to the executive order, including that data
- 25:22Speaker 1: center developers are required to submit an energy plan to
- 25:26Speaker 1: the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet showing how it will
- 25:31Speaker 1: protect residential rate payers, including assurance it can meet its
- 25:38Speaker 1: energy needs now, into the near term and long term
- 25:43Speaker 1: without imposing additional cost on other utility rate payers. The
- 25:49Speaker 1: Kentucky Public Service Commission shall not allow a utility to
- 25:55Speaker 1: increase rates paid by other rate payers to recover costs
- 25:59Speaker 1: caused by the development and operation of a data center.
- 26:04Speaker 1: The Energy and Environment Cabinet is directed to deny any
- 26:08Speaker 1: permitting applications where a data center would negatively impact Kentucky's
- 26:13Speaker 1: air quality, water use, water quality, water supply, federal, jurisdictional wetlands,
- 26:23Speaker 1: or natural resources. Data center developers must also demonstrate compliance
- 26:29Speaker 1: with all applicable environmental laws and public engagement requirements. Data
- 26:36Speaker 1: center project developers must pay their fair share of state
- 26:39Speaker 1: and local taxes and not attempt to avoid paying taxes.
- 26:44Speaker 1: Data center project developers must commit to engaging in public
- 26:48Speaker 1: discussions with local community leaders and members where the project
- 26:53Speaker 1: is proposing to locate, addressing with full transparency the community's questions,
- 27:00Speaker 1: including how the data center will create local job opportunities.
- 27:06Speaker 1: The executive order notes that it does not impact decisions
- 27:10Speaker 1: made by local communities regarding the operation of data centers
- 27:14Speaker 1: within their jurisdiction. In the order, Basher acknowledges the demand
- 27:19Speaker 1: for data centers and energy resources has risen. This concludes
- 27:24Speaker 1: the reading of the Hazard Herald for today, which is
- 27:28Speaker 1: donated to RADIOI by the publishers. Please stay tuned for
- 27:32Speaker 1: continued programming. Thank you for joining me and on behalf
- 27:36Speaker 1: of everyone here at RADIOI. This is Timmy an Goodman,
- 27:40Speaker 1: wishing you a very good day.