Knox County receives nearly half-million in CARES funding

In its August meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 26, the Knox County Fiscal Court addressed several attention-grabbing items on its agenda.

Among the items discussed and approved were approving bond refinancing for an old bond secured in the mid-2000s. Initially, county officials estimated a savings of around $70,000 by refinancing the bond, but will actually save over $120,000 during the life of the bond.

In other action, the fiscal court gave its approval to move forward with creating a Knox County Industrial Development Authority. Judge-Executive Mike Mitchell will approve a board, establishing the group that will enable to the county to, among other things, seek our property acquisitions to attract industry to the county.

Mitchell also announced the county would be receiving $464,875.18 in CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) funding, which is earmarked to be used for COVID-19 related expenses, such as equipment and payroll for the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and Knox Ambulance Service. The funding was part of $300 million awarded to city and county governments statewide, which was announced earlier by Gov. Andy Beshear.

Recently, the fiscal court matched grant funding to help the Knox County Sheriff’s Department to purchase two new Dodge Durango cruisers.

“The reason that we did this, because unlike other parts of the country where they do not support their law enforcement, we support law enforcement 100% and make sure they have up-to-date equipment to serve the citizens of Knox County,” said Mitchell.

The county’s Solid Waste Department recently held a Waste Tire Collection event, allowing people to discard of certain types of old tires.

Of the event, Mitchell, who is passionate about keeping Knox County clean and safe, said, “Knox Countians are really receptive to cleaning up our county.  Unfortunately our opportunities have been limited due to the pandemic but I am looking at ways to enhance these types of services. We don’t have a total for the Waste Tire Collect yet but this collection was a huge success. We will continue Dumpster Days on Saturday, September 12th.”