I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order on September 2nd, 2025 and ask the city clerk to please call roll.

Commissioner Henderson.

Present.

Commissioner Smith.

Here.

Commissioner Thomas.

Here.

Commissioner Wilson.

Present.

Mayor Bray.

Present.

I would ask Commissioner Henderson to say the invocation if you would, and uh I'll ask everybody to remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

God of heaven, we thank you so much for this beautiful day that you've given us, and we thank you, Father always, for the blessings that we do enjoy.

Father, we come to you tonight as a body, as commissioners, as mayor, and we thank you for the privilege that you've given us to serve this community.

We pray, oh God, that in our deliberations and our thinking that uh we will make decisions that will indeed benefit the masses.

Father, we pray for our employees, we pray for our city, and pray your covering on all of us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

Mayor, none this evening.

Okay, we'll kick off uh Audra.

Uh welcome.

Um, we'll let you talk about we have a property tax hearing.

Yes.

Uh good evening, Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager, City Clerk.

The purpose of this public hearing is to give the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed 27.1 cent real estate tax levy.

A hearing is required by Kentucky revised statutes if the proposed rate exceeds the compensating rate, which is twenty-six point one cents this year.

Local government is permitted to adjust their rate upward by four percent above the compensating rate.

We're proposing to take the four percent allowable this year.

Later in tonight's meeting, the proposed property tax levy ordinance will be introduced.

Staff recommends that you set the city's real estate uh real estate property tax levy at twenty-seven point one cents.

The final reading for the levy ordinance is September 15th.

And I'll be happy to answer any questions you all might have.

Uh no questions from me.

I think I understand it pretty well.

Um is this the time we'd open but the hearing?

So there's some people that have filled out um some sheets here, so uh I'll start with Matthew.

Okay, sorry if I mispronounce it.

Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Well, thank you for the opportunity to uh to speak here today.

Um I find as as I heard about this today, I'm one of those people that doesn't come to these meetings very often.

In fact, if I come, it's because it's something I'm real passionate about.

So you'll not see me here very often.

But uh, I think there's a lot of people like that too.

In fact, as I look around, I really don't see a lot of people here.

And I think this is an issue that a lot of people are going to care about.

I think that when their taxes increase, they've already seen an increase in property value assessments, so they've seen an increase in tax, but when they actually see this come through, I think you're gonna find there's gonna be people like me that start coming to these meetings more often.

I I would call them sleeping giants.

Not that I'm a giant, but I'm someone that's willing to get involved in something like this.

I'm I'm willing to talk to other people about it.

I'm willing to share it on social media.

And I'm willing to really call out each one of our representatives here and say that uh I don't like property tax, period.

It seems unfair.

Um I can't even imagine going to buy an expensive bicycle, and then I get a bill every year for that bike.

Maybe it's a little different, but it's a lot of things that we buy, and no one wants to pay tax on something they already pay tax on year after year, and now you want to increase that.

So I find it very unfair, and I feel like by doing this, and I kind of feel like this is a meeting that you've called that you're already going to do it.

You've already got the pet projects lined up, you need the money, but this is just something you have to do.

I feel like you're gonna wake up a bunch of sleeping giants, a bunch of people, a bunch of citizens that are like me that don't come to your meetings, but have just had it.

I mean, everything costs more.

What would you not agree?

Cars cost more, homes cost more, groceries cost more, everything that you need that you want, it costs more.

And now we're gonna pay even more on tax, something we pay every year for something we already own.

And you may have reasons.

You may say, well, it's for city this and city that there's other ways to pay for things, but that's not my purpose to come up here and complain about that.

My purpose is to say each one of you will be up for re-election next year.

I believe that's correct.

And it's possible there could be a lot of new names on the on on those lists that people look at and people get upset about this kind of ban, because when you touch their money, you know, people will act, people will show up like I'm here today because of it.

I got other things I'd rather be doing.

I don't want to be here.

I don't want to be here.

But because I heard about this today, I decide to take my time away from my family.

I believe there are other people that will do it too.

But I'm surprised there's not more people here.

I'm curious, is there anyone here that came to support this?

Is there anyone that came here tonight that says I want to pay more tax on something I paid tax on the year before and the year before and the year before?

Anyone here for that purpose?

I don't think anybody wants to pay more taxes.

And you might say you don't care.

Well, you may care at election time next year.

I don't know.

Maybe people will stay asleep.

I'm not.

And I might start coming to these meetings more often.

Maybe I'll just run myself for counsel.

I don't know.

But I'd like to think.

Is there anybody here that came tonight to say they don't want to pay more taxes?

We got a couple.

Yeah.

So I think you'll see more people once this goes through.

It'll take the implementation of it.

It's very frustrating.

It's very we have multiple properties, but this is really gonna add up for us.

And I've got a business on top of that, so I'll be paying more for that business license.

So I just ask that uh I I respectfully ask the ask that you consider this, you consider these things, and uh that in the end you don't do it, even though I feel like you've kind of already decided you're gonna do it, and this is just a formality.

But I hope you don't.

I appeal to you.

And I don't mean to come across gruff.

Uh I I want to be respectful as I come to you today.

You're my neighbor, Buzz.

Right.

Um, I don't mean any ill will against you.

Um, I just I just wanted to come and share my thoughts on this, and I hope you'll give consideration to this.

Will you share your home address and your business address?

Uh not over this microphone, I won't know.

It's on the paper.

Yeah, I think it's required.

It's on the paper.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you for the opportunity to come here.

Appreciate it.

Hey, I have a suggestion.

Can we uh there may be some confusion about this tax and how much it is personal property versus real property?

So maybe that might be good.

Yeah, I can give some clarifying comments.

So the city rate last year was 26.4.

So this is a uh a point seven increase to twenty-seven point one.

So that uh equates to about an eighteen dollar increase per 250,000 dollar of assessed value.

Uh or a home.

For a home for real property.

Yes.

Now the personal rate that we're proposing to keep that the same for personal property, which is point three five six, which is the same as last year.

Last year it was a decrease, and this year we're proposing to keep that the same.

Personal property being vehicles, just explain that so people really know what it's it's business, it's related to businesses, it's tangible, tangible property for businesses.

I've never heard of a bicycle being taxed.

Is that that I don't think that's I think it was an example that he was trying to use that it's not reoccurring tax on a bicycle.

Is there any other way?

Uh I'm trying to think of something else I could do to clarify that.

No, the only thing that I would add is, and it's taken me five years since I was elected the first time to really understand.

Um and I realize that property values have gone up uh and they've gone up because well, for a lot of reasons.

First of all, you know, property is increasing, and our PVA, which is an elected official, you know, not associated with the city, you know, goes out and does assessments, you know, on an annual basis and and make sure that properties are assessed at at current market value.

Um I know that because the previous PBA, prior to this person getting elected had not kept up with a lot of property values, there have been a lot of increased property values over the last let's say three to four years.

The city, uh in terms of what we can do as far as a tax, we are limited by state law.

Yes, that we can not take any more than uh in aggregate a four percent increase.

Yes, that's true.

Um and so the the tax rate is set on individual properties, but depending on what your property value, your property, your it's kind of hard to explain, but your tax bill might not go up four percent.

Uh it could go it could go down.

And uh depending on the mix of homes.

Yeah, I'm happy to give kind uh a stab at explaining that.

So uh for example, last year our rate was 264.

So we go through a calculation that uh with the assessments that tell us what rate could we assess that would give us the same amount of revenue as last year, and that was the two 26.1 that we referred to.

So that would give us the same amount of revenue.

We're allowed to take a 4 percent increase to that revenue.

So if assessments go up, the rate goes down.

It's possible if you have a huge increase in assessments that your compens your 4% increase could even be a decrease in rate.

Right.

It has to do with assessments as a whole across the city.

So if you have a $250,000 home, yes, you're gonna pay a dollar fifty more per month.

You said ACTs per year.

So it's a dollar fifty per month.

Yes.

Yes.

I don't know exactly what it is.

City manager you may, but I get uh I get a there's a lot of confusion.

I'm not saying any of the folks out here are confused at all about tax bills.

But uh if you get a thousand dollar tax bill from the city, how much it is actually city taxes because the city also bills for the school taxes.

We don't control the school taxes which go up every year.

But uh I don't know if the anyone goes down to the school board to make the same kind of uh comments that we just received.

I don't think there are, but but the city.

Our tax rate is like one third of what for well if you live uh you if you live in in district eight, which includes the city school district, uh your total rate with all with the with PJC school and the city is one point one six seven.

That's your total rate.

Uh percentage-wise, what you're paying the city is only 23 percent of your total bill.

So actually almost 76 percent of your bill is going to Paducah City.

So I think that's worth repeating because you know, and and again, as Buzz said, Um we're not assuming that anybody here tonight does not understand that.

However, when you get your tax bill, and the same for me, only 23 percent of the taxes that you owe on your tax bill is attributable to the city.

So I think it's it's really important that you know that everybody understand that.

And this has come up in previous years, so it's confusing.

And Commissioner, to your question, so for the school, the Paduca Independent Schools rate last year uh was 87.4.

This year that they passed, uh, and I don't know that there was any public comment that was made at their meetings, uh, but they were open and it was 88.2 um is their new rate, so 0.08 compared to ours 0.07.

But we you know, things like paving has gone up, you know, exponentially, things like that.

So we have costs increases too, but feeling better.

We have one more person that wants to make a comment.

Parker Riley Jaco.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me today.

Sir, thank you for being here.

Could you give us your address?

I don't want to give my full address, but I live near uh Noble Park, so yeah.

Um are they on the form?

I think they're supposed to.

Yeah, it's it's on the form there.

Oh, okay.

Thank you.

So today I've come to also voice uh my opposition for the proposed increase on the real estate tax.

Um I know on paper this might sound pretty small, but in practice it it honestly it creates the wrong incentives uh for Paducah.

Um by taxing higher value properties more heavily, uh we discourage people from investing in their homes, their businesses, and their developments as well.

Um every renovation, every upgrade, um, and every new project comes with a higher tax bill.

Uh instead of encouraging revitalization, we're punishing it.

We're actively punishing it.

Um what this actually encourages is low value use like surface parking lots that are already dominating key parts of downtown.

Um it makes more financial sense for a landowner to leave a lot sitting empty than to invest in apartments, retails, restaurants.

Um this is quite quite literally the opposite of what Paducah needs.

Um overall, I really don't understand why we don't, you know, put this tax towards those who underutilize their property instead.

Uh those who have four different parking lots who they refuse to develop anything of use on them.

Um those who you know have empty lots of grass that grow out to block the view of traffic.

Um those who are currently holding land to raise their own net worth, but yet refuse to reinvest, renovate, or revitalize any part of it.

Um we all know there's a demand for more housing and stronger businesses, um, and that's one reason why the city itself is put um pushing the South Side Revitalization Plan is what I'm assuming.

Um but if the city increases the tax burden on those who are willing to invest while nearby communities are keeping their rates lower, new development will simply go into other town, go into other towns and even across the river.

Um Paduca will be left behind while other capture while others capture that growth.

Um and so for that reason I urge the commission to reject this increase.

Um, like you were saying, you may have already made up your minds.

Um, but you know, raising taxes on improvements may help in the short term.

It may help in the short term, uh, but in the long term it lack it locks us into underdevelopment and missed opportunities.

Um let's choose growth and investment instead.

Paduca needs investment in this community, and this proposal will actively work against that.

Sorry.

Um and so yeah, it'll this proposal will actively work against that.

And if I've done my math correct, that's about what they were saying about a seven dollar increase per hundred thousand dollar um assessment.

And you know, people have multiple houses or multiple businesses, and like you were saying, that adds up to a lot pretty quickly.

Um I myself I don't own any property, uh, but I know people who own homes and own businesses, and we're actively working against them.

So, yeah, thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Shannon Crockett.

Good afternoon.

Appreciate y'all letting me talk for a second.

I am certainly not a public speaker, and you'll figure that out very quickly.

Um but um I live on um Jefferson Street.

I've lived in Paducah about six years now, and uh we left um six years ago we left Illinois for a high high tax state, um, and we moved into Paducah.

And I can tell you with 100% certainty, my tax bill uh for my household has gone up substantially.

Um it's not all city, you know.

You y'all pointed out the skulls have uh the taxes on the skulls are high.

Um, the state taxes are different, uh, personal property taxes, those are differently uh taxed differently than they are in Illinois.

But um, you know, one thing I would encourage and I ask of of the you know as my neighbors and and some of y'all are my friends, is to really look at um what the tax increases do to people, you know, in real life.

I I help um I work midnight shift uh at the Warman Center that your your church sponsors, and that's a wonderful organization, and there's a lot of people in our area that um that are in need and don't have a lot.

Um just adding you know, it's uh somebody said $18 a month a year, that's it.

really look at um what the tax increases is due to people you know in real life i I help um I work midnight shift uh at the Warman Center that your your church sponsors and that's a wonderful organization and there's a lot of people in our area that um that are in need and don't have a lot um and just adding you know it's uh somebody said 18 dollars a month a year that's it and also I heard uh uh a second hand quote from somebody that uh when when the parcel tax was was initiated and that new tax was was developed I was only 25 or 50 dollars a year per person and landlords can afford it because they got plenty of money and um those costs all get passed on to uh to the other people um so um you know one thing I would ask you know I know four percent's not a big increase um I wish my raise was four percent last year but it wasn't um at work but uh what I would ask you know with the 911 tax that was uh assessed last year I guess I think the beginning um of that uh my understanding was the the money that went to kind of fund the 911 portion or cities portion of 911 before that was came out of the general fund and now we have all this influx of money that's a new pot of money that's coming out and um where did that money go?

You know is that a new pot of money that we have a glut of money that now we don't have to pay it to the 911 because we have a designated tax for that is there you know is there a way you know I I don't know every every little detail and item of your budgets but is there a place we can cut you know you know trim our trim our waistline a little bit is there are there things we can do better and um we're not asking y'all to turn the lights out and work in the dark and not use the air conditioning but you know we're we're asking for everybody to put a really a real effort into trying to save money just like it's your own because it is you know y'all are our neighbors and y'all pay the taxes and share that burden too but um it really does add up and it's not uh the consequences aren't always great for uh folks that aren't on the upper end of the of pay scale so I would urge you all to really consider it and think think hard about it appreciate your time thanks Sha thank you so much Anna Okay were there any other comments from people can we open it up for any comments yeah that was all that signed up I believe right okay so we would need does Audre do you have anything else to close out the public hearing no then but I had a what what's the next steps with that then in relationship to decision or do we vote so so later on tonight you'll on your agenda you'll have the first reading of the ordinance uh for the introduction of setting the tax levy so like any other ordinance introduction that'll be read tonight no action will be taken and then you come back at your September 15th meeting to take the vote it's uh so it's it's the same process as we do for any ordinance introduction should I wait to ask any questions then or will you have a presentation I guess with that or no this is what this is yeah so I guess if I can ask that sure yeah so with that what would be the difference in the income the city has if we did add this tax versus if we didn't like what would be the deficit or difference in that a number amount if you if you have it no I did not read the number amount it is it is assuming a four percent increase in revenue which we included in the fiscal 26 budget that we passed it was assuming that we would take the four percent so in order to meet the revenue that we budgeted for this line item we would need to take the four percent but you can get that number to us.

Yeah yeah okay so she would shouldn't she didn't come with it but you can get it yes so we would have to adjust the budget if we made any difference yes we would have to adjust the budget if we did not take it.

So then am I hearing you hearing us say that there is a possibility that we can come again and reconsider all of this because that what I one thing I don't want to do is to have residents come and express their concerns and then we move forward as if we've not heard them so I'm wanting to know is it opportunity to reconsider what the recommendation might be.

Yes yes and you would have to have another special call meeting you'd have to do whatever your decision is you would have to do it within 24 hours of that next meeting or there shortly after because you do have to you're on a timeline of getting the bill sent to so you know whatever your decision is and that's that's why we always have these early in September because we have to get that out to so that means that you would have to have another special call meeting should you choose to go different than staff's recommendation uh then you'd have to go back through uh two more readings and so you wouldn't have to you would be a substantial change and I believe and so it would not only be one more special call meeting but two more special call meetings and any special call meeting would have to be within no sooner than 24 hours of the previous call meeting.

And I guess then at the same time, what we what I don't want to do is to to even make the staff feel as if their time and their energy and their work has gone to naught.

You know, but I would like for us to reconsider or have other options perhaps.

I believe when we approved the budget, we knew we would be the assumption was we would be taking this four percent.

Yeah, we we knew that.

I mean I thought I guess we talked about it at the meeting.

I guess being brand new, I didn't, you know, I'm still learning the ropes, so I would have had more discussion then versus now if I would have had been more aware of what it meant.

So I think we have talked we have talked about it, but we've not had an opportunity prior to tonight for a public hearing.

And we've not had an opportunity prior to tonight for residents to come and say I'm for it, I'm against it.

So since the since there have been maybe three, and then perhaps more who didn't come that says I'm concerned about it, is gonna bring perhaps some hardship or whatever the case might be.

I think then it's worth us going back and saying, should we do this?

Or should we increase it this much?

Well, what we'll do is we'll read the ordinance tonight and then we will you know we'll talk about it in the interim and um and determine next steps.

Yeah.

But we can certainly discuss it at our next meeting, correct?

I mean, and that that's typically how it works.

An ordinance introduced.

I guess in this case we have a hearing.

Think about it, you got two weeks to think about it, and then you can also discuss it at the next meeting.

But what I mean, is that not a good process?

That's fine with me.

I just neighbors and other people in the interim, you know, I mean, as well.

So you know, when we go through the budget process, and just for you know, communities understanding as well, is that we we don't know what PVA's value assessed is going to be.

And so that's uh typically why staff makes the recommendation at that point to do the four percent, and we have that discussion during the budget process.

Um, but we don't get and the the reason that we are in the first of September of having this is because uh well, we'll back into it again just for I don't want to over-explain it, but we get the valuation from the PVA that doesn't come in until uh we got that first part of August, you know, about three weeks ago, three or four weeks ago.

Uh but then we also have to publicize two uh two times in in the media per state law that we're going to have this public hearing.

And so we don't actually get that number to start backing into to doing the assessment, the PVA assessment, to be able to understand what that means until and so it is because of state law, it does put us in a crunch, you know, of that of that.

And so it's not not that we were trying to hold off of having this public hearing and then at this point.

Well, I get it.

I guess the purpose of a public hearing is to hear from the public, yeah, exactly.

Correct.

Which we had uh advertised twice already.

Yes, as it was required, yes, public hearing.

I do have one other comment to make.

Um I've been speaking with my constituents about this with other cities that uh that I talked to on a regular basis.

And we actually had a meeting about it a couple weeks ago discussing, you know, what our proposed rates were gonna be.

And uh we I know of a city, um Owensboro, I I speak with them quite frequently.

They were actually deemed in a recent, if if you want to call it deaned, that's not a very formal word, but they were deemed in a recent bond rating hearing because they were not taking the four percent.

And so the structure that the state provides in this in this revenue, it keeps you from going into recall where your rate would be subject to recall.

So it's protecting the taxpayers from getting like uh an excruciatingly high rate, but it's also in allowing the four percent, what it's doing is it's laying out a structured path for growth for the city.

And so what that does is rating agencies when they look at when they look at your city and they see that you take the four percent, they want you to use stable and reliable revenue sources, and so they're seeing that like uh like you're a prudent fiscal manager if you take the four percent, because that is allowing for the cost of uh the cost of living increases and the cost, because our costs have gone up as well in the services that we provide.

And so that's kind of the path that the state lays for us is to say you can take the four percent without it being subject to recall to kind of allow for us to have uh have allowance for those growth and expenses as well.

So I don't know if their rating was decreased or if it was a comment, but between um as I get those numbers to you on how it would affect revenue, I'm gonna speak with her and find out what exactly their rating agency comment was and how it affected their bond rating.

Because if it did decrease your bond rating, that could end up costing taxpayers more in the long run from having a higher interest rate on future bond issues.

Before we close the public hearing, I just want to make this comment.

As elected officials, we're all elected, you know, we're accountable to the people, and we have to balance you know the effects on people with keeping moving this city forward.

And you know, however we determine that to be, whether that be housing, the South Side project, you know, projects that people want to see in the you know, making contributions to homelessness, you know, all the things that we do as a city.

And so, you know, that's a constant rub, you know, that we always have to consider.

And um, and and so you know, we're reflect on this, come back in two weeks, talk about it, and make some decisions on how to move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So, Lindsay, do we just say this ends the formally concludes the public hearing?

This formally concludes the public hearing.

Thank you.

Okay, we have a new employee introduction, and I'll ask Taylor Morshing to come up and introduce us.

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for the opportunity to introduce Jennifer Adams, our newest recreation supervisor with Paducah Parks and Recreation.

Um Jennifer is a married mother of three adult children.

She's originally from Niagara Falls, Canada.

And she came to Kentucky for university at Union College and played volleyball there.

She met her husband John in college and moved to Hawkinsville after graduation.

Um she's a recently retired health and physical education teacher after 28 years of service.

Um the last three years we're at Paducah at Silman High School.

She also taught at Reathland High School and McCracken County High School.

Um she's now the kid for healthy living, gating her community, and all she's excited to possibly positively impact her community and to kind of get a change of pace from the classroom.

Um you'll see her leading a couple of important events this fall for Paducah Parks and Recreation.

Um that includes touch a truck, pumpkin lock, veterans day celebration, tree lighting ceremony, as well as help with Robert Cherry Civic Center operations.

Um we're excited to have Jennifer here as a member of our team.

Welcome, Jennifer.

Thank you.

So you were born and raised in Canada?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

Well, I'm married to a Canadian.

So welcome.

It's great to have you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, before we move to the consent agenda, um, I just make um uh a couple of remarks.

Uh this week, uh, we kick off um you know, a new uh schedule for recycling.

And I just wanted to mention this because it we're changing up uh exactly when recycling is actually picked up.

It's gonna be picked up every other week.

We put a lot of publicity out about this, but actually I'm my own worst enemy, so I got up this morning and I thought, you know, my recycling is going to get picked up this morning.

Well, nay, no, it's not, Mayor.

It's got gonna pick up.

So I had to write it, stop and think, you know, and I'm sure a lot of people are trying to, you know, consider uh that, but your recycling uh is gonna be picked up.

You should have gotten everybody should have gotten a letter and a schedule in the mail, and uh it's gonna be picked up every two weeks on the same day, not at the same time, but on the same day as your regular refuse.

And so it'll take a while to get used to it, but I just wanted to remind people uh you know to be um uh observant of when their um uh time for recycling is actually takes place.

So that's enough of my comments.

We'll move on uh to the consent agenda.

Uh items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the Board of Commissioners and will be enacted by one motion and one vote.

There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member saw a request, in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.

City clerk will read the items recommended for approval, unless any commissioner would like an item removed for separate discussion.

If not, City Clerk.

Approved minutes for the August 26th, 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting.

Receive and file documents, appointment of Alexis Mars and Carrie Seatman to the Paducah Main Street Board.

Said term shall expire September 2nd, 2026 and September 2nd, 2027, respectively.

Personnel actions and municipal order approving a memorandum of agreement with Darren and Kelly Hack for certain incentives and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to SAME.

A municipal order accepting the bid of reliable electric LLC in an amount not to exceed $58,980 for new lighting in Dolly Maynot Plaza and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to SAME.

The municipal order amending municipal order number 3022, a schedule of fees for Oak Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum, pursuing it at Chapter 26 cemeteries of the code of ordinances of the City of Paducah, Kentucky.

A municipal order authorizing the application for USTA Southern Parks and Recreation Grant through the United States Tennis Association in the amount of $2,000 to provide an adaptive tennis program for the youth and adults in Paducah and surrounding areas in the spring and fall of 2026, accepting all awarded grant funds and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same.

I mean, it's a order authorizing the purchase of structural firefighting gear for the fire department in the amount of 46,688 dollars and 20 cents and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same.

Municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute an application for a 2026 Kentucky Fire Commission grant in the amount of $5,700 for purchase of a thermal imaging camera, accepting any grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Fire Commission and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same a municipal order authorizing and directing the mayor to execute a contract with the Pedic Alliance of Neighbors and an amount not to exceed 100,000 dollars for specific services and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to SAME.

Municipal order accepting the bid of Linwood Motors for sale to the city of Paducah of two compact SUVs for use by the Paducah Parks Department in the amount of $33,890 each for a total of $67,780 and authorizing the mayor to execute a contract for same.

Municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute a 2026 Kentucky litter abatement grant application to the Kentucky Division of Waste Management for the Paducah Works Public Works Department Street Litter Abatement Program, accepting all awarded grant funds and authorizing the mayor to execute all award documents.

A municipal order approving and authorizing the execution of the modification to the tolling agreement to the city of Paducah and Jim Smith contracting company LLC and JSC terminal DBA Midwest Terminal.

So move.

Second.

Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson.

Aye.

Commissioner Smith.

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Wilson.

Right.

Mayor Bray.

Aye.

We have uh two municipal orders tonight.

Uh the first one is for our contract for services with our economic development organization, and I'll ask the city clerk to please read it.

A proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to adopt a municipal order entitled A municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute a contract for services with the Greater Paducah Economic Development Council and an amount of 250,000 for specific services.

So move.

Second.

So I just I wanted to uh just talk us a couple of minutes about this.

Um I I serve on the uh Greater Paducah Economic Development Council board.

I attend meetings monthly and uh committee meetings and sometimes um outside of those regular meetings, and uh I am intimately uh familiar with the work that we do uh trying to attract companies.

Uh we've had some recent success uh with uh general matter announcement and some of the other announcements out at the uh the Department of Energy site.

Uh we've got a lot of other balls in the air of companies that we're talking with.

And um this is just an example of monies that this that the city is expending, you know, to recruit people to come in here and create jobs for the community.

And jobs is something that's uh more jobs for this community, more uh living wage jobs is one of our commission's primary goals, and um this is an very important investment that we're making uh to help promote that and continue that.

So I just wanted to call that out and invite any of the commissioners uh that uh have any comments to make comments or the city manager.

You could say that about the other things that you have on here too.

That's right.

Well, the spray park at Robert Coman.

I'm getting ready to say that.

All of those projects.

I mean, it would be easy to compare it for that.

So I just it's part of the long-range goal for Paducah is that we've got a we need a lot of housing, but we also need people with good jobs that can pay for the housing.

So it all kind of ties together.

So we want the community to be successful.

This money is an investment in doing that.

And some years are lean years.

You know, we don't have a lot of success, but it seems like we're hitting on all cylinders this year, and so I commend you and your service on that board that I mean, there's a lot of success going on right now that will really make a difference in Paducah two, three years down the road once these uh businesses start building and start hiring more people and all that.

So it's a it's thank you for your work.

Thank you.

It's team success.

We have a whole team of people, you know, they're working on it.

Uh, you know, the county, the city, and leaders in the community, but uh everybody's very dedicated to the success.

So we we certainly do commend you for the work, but I I can't emphasize enough.

Livable wage.

Yeah, yeah, and I think I think that's important because people don't want to get up and work 40 hours a week and still can't afford to live.

We're gonna use things.

I can assure you, Commissioner Henderson, that is a primary goal, you know, of the recruiting work that we do, you know, and we and we delineate between projects based upon the salary.

I mean, that's one of the one of the most important things that we talk to people about is what is what is your payroll?

What is the average salary?

So it's it's very important.

I believe that used to be one of the primary factors in the recruitment as well as benefits.

What benefits do you provide?

That would provide medical insurance or that would provide them security for the future.

Amen.

Okay, if there are no other comments, I'll ask the city clerk to call roll.

Commissioner Henderson?

Aye.

Commissioner Smith?

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas?

Aye.

Commissioner Wilson.

Aye.

Mayor Bray.

Aye.

And I'll ask the city clerk to read the second uh municipal order.

A proposed motion of the board of commissioners to adopt a municipal order entitled and municipal order accepting the bid of R.

L.

Turner and the amount of $54,000 for design services for the reconstruction of the spray ground located at Robert Coleman Park and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same.

So moved.

Second.

I'm gonna ask Amy to come here and I know a little bit about this, but she knows a lot more.

She and the city manager, so I think it's important.

Sure.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager, and City Clerk.

Um, so this is a contract for design services for a new spare ground.

If you remember when we put out this RFP, we actually had the um restroom facility looped into this project.

Um, but the bids came back high, and so we pulled that out.

We decided to do this as a separate project and address the bath bathroom separately.

Um so this is just for the spray pad for design services.

And do we have like RFPs?

Do we put those out for design contracts as well, or is that just for like construction contracts?

Both.

We do both.

Yeah.

And sometimes we actually do a what's called a design bill to where we wrap it all up into one, and so you don't have two separate ones.

We just looking on a project by project basis, but sometimes we find um cost savings by doing a design bill project.

Is this what this one is?

That was originally how we used that.

That was how this one was originally put out.

So the the reason I want to you know call this out again again as Commissioner Wilson said.

This we could talk about a lot of projects, you know, that we're doing here, but but this one in particular, um, we put that spray park in some 20 years 20 years ago, and we wrapped it into the you know the the piping that was there for the swimming pool uh that was there originally, and it's coming to end of life, uh, and it's gonna have to be replaced.

And we've seen some estimates that I'm not gonna mention right now for for a new spray park that you know that knocked my head off.

I mean, in terms of what we may have to spend.

Now we'll put that out for RFP to try to get the best price.

But again, you know, we talk about all the things that that we have to do as a city.

You know, we've got um uh you know a rather large expense coming down the road at some point for this project.

Potentially, it just depends on what we want at the end of the design process.

Exactly.

Yeah, so I would make a comment on that, but uh these spray parks are so much more economical than a pool because you don't have to worry about getting uh lifeguards, you know, it's just it's a lot less money, and that's kind of a lot more safety for the people using them.

So you it may end up being more money.

I mean, seems like a lot of money, but it's not a lot compared to a pool.

So any other comments.

Thank you, Amy.

Yeah, I'll ask I'll ask the city clerk to call roll.

Commissioner Henderson?

Aye, Commissioner Smith, aye, Commissioner Thomas.

Aye, Commissioner Wilson, aye, mayor Bray.

Aye.

We have one ordinance to adopt tonight, and that's the business license fee schedule that we talked about two weeks ago.

And um are there any questions about that from anybody?

Okay.

I'll ask the city clerk to call roll.

I proposed a motion of the Board of Commissioners to adopt an ordinance and titles and ordinance amending chapter 106 taxation of the code of ordinance of the city of Paducah, Kentucky.

This ordinance is summarized as follows.

This ordinance amends section 106-101 of the City of Paducah Code of Ordinances by replacing the longstanding $3.5 million gross receipts threshold with a phased in schedule that increase this that it increases the threshold to 11.65 million dollars over five years beginning January 1, 2026.

Starting in year six, the threshold will be adjusted annually based on changes in consumer price index, rounded to the nearest 10,000 dollars with authority for the city commission to forego adjustments in any year of its choosing.

In addition, this ordinance increases the minimum annual license tax from $35 to $50.

So moved.

Second.

Call roll, please.

Commissioner Henderson.

Aye.

Commissioner Smith.

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Wilson.

Aye.

Mayor Bray.

Aye.

Okay.

We have one ordinance to introduce, and that's the tax levy that we've had previous discussion about, and I'll ask the city clerk to please read it.

A proposed motion that the Board of Commissioners introduce an ordinance entitled and ordinance setting the tax levies and rates of taxation on all property in the city of Paducah, Kentucky, subject to taxation for municipal purposes and for school purposes for the period from July 1, 2025 through June 30th, 2026, with purposes of said taxes here in underdefined.

Purpose and rate per 100.

General fund of the city, real property, 0.271 per 100.

Personal property except inventory, 0.356 up rate per 100.

Motor vehicles and watercraft, 0.39 per 100.

School purposes, Paducah Junior College, real estate 0.014 per 100.

Personal property except inventory 0.014 per 100.

Motor vehicles and watercraft 0.031 per 100.

The city of Paducah shall collect the following taxes for the Board of Education, Paducah Independent School District, real property 0.882 per 100.

Personal property including inventory 0.882 per 100.

Property taxes levied herein shall be due and payable in the following manner.

In the case of tax bills, which reflect an amount due less than $2,000.

The payment shall be due on November 1st, 2025, and shall be payable without penalty and interest until November 30th, 2025.

In the case of all other tax bills, payments shall be in accordance with the following provisions.

The first half payment shall be due on November 1st, 2025, and she'll be payable without penalty and interest until November 30th, 2025.

The second half payment shall be due on February 1st, 2026, and she'll be payable without penalty and interest until February 28th, 2026.

So move.

Second.

So we'll um we'll we'll be ready to discuss this again in two weeks.

Um and so that's it for um for uh municipal orders and ordinances, and so now we have a discussion item.

And I'm gonna turn it over to our city clerk.

Maybe before I do that, I'll let me just say this.

The city introduced an app a couple of years ago that wasn't the most user-friendly app in the world, and we got feedback that it was not very user-friendly, and so we made a decision to do better.

And I'm very pleased with the decision that we made and the company that we've gone with, and a lot of a lot of cities are using it, using it, and it is very user-friendly, but I'm gonna let Lindsay do the introduction with Eric's support.

You're gonna say what your screensaver is here.

This this is my daughter Nora.

So everybody gets to see her pictures when I pull up my iPhone.

So that's why you want to do this presentation.

That's right.

That's why I said Eric, you don't get to do it.

I got to show off.

So thank you, Mayor, for that introduction.

Um, tonight.

I just want to kind of give you all a demo of the app itself.

Um, it is out on the app store right now, so it is downloadable for anyone who wants to use it.

Um earlier this year.

Um, Kathy, Bryant Quimby and Eric and I, we went out and looked for what other products were on the market.

We've been using a container app with a bunch of other different cities, and it was not a super user-friendly, so we wanted to do something that was very user-friendly, and we think that we found that in C click fix, and you've probably heard of that.

A lot of different cities use that technology, and so we went through the implementation process.

So in order to download, you're gonna want to go to your app store.

Um, if you have um an iPhone, it'll look kind of like what what you're gonna see me do here tonight.

Android users will look very, very similar as well.

Um so I'm gonna go to my app store and I'm gonna search for my Paducah, all one word.

And I've already downloaded it, but if you haven't, it'll look something like this, and you'll have an opportunity to download from there.

I downloaded it earlier today, but I can't find it now.

It may be at the very end.

If you have as many apps as I do, I have to scroll all the way over to the very end.

No, no, okay, okay, okay.

So this is what the front page kind of looks like when you when you get into it for the first time.

You have an opportunity to make a new request.

You can go to our website, that'll take you external to like your safari or something like that to pull up our website.

You can go to our Facebook page if you have the Facebook um app downloaded, it'll take you right there in the app.

Um, and then you can call us, and this number uh goes directly to our customer experience line.

Um so you can talk to Kathy and Donna if you call that.

Um, I'm gonna kind of walk through if I am someone brand new using the app.

Um, and I am not the most technologically savvy person, so if I can do it, anyone can do it.

Um so if I go in and I want to submit a new request, I hit there at the bottom, um new request, and then I have an opportunity to either put in a photo, um, no photo, I can go to my camera and and take a photo, or I can go to my photo library and I'm gonna go to my photo library and I'm gonna get um one of Chris Yar today over at the farmer's market parking lot when we were looking at um some pavement that needs to be updated.

So I'm gonna put this in my app as a real one.

So when you go to next, it'll take you to location.

You can type in a location if you want.

If you have your location services turned on in your settings, it will geolocate to where you're actually at.

So it's geolocating me to City Hall right now.

I can look at this on satellite as well.

That helps me kind of get an idea of what I'm looking at a little bit easier.

Um, so I want to drop this right over here near the farmer's market where we were talking about this today.

So when I hit next, it gives me the opportunity to put in what type of inquiry this is.

So we have a whole bunch of different options here.

Um, under general inquiries, if you just want to get on and subscribe to notices, you don't really have anything to put in yet.

You can select subscribe to notices, and it will take you through the process of registering.

Um we have other types of requests in here, um, large brush pickups since we just recently changed to anything over that dimension, being the only thing you have to report to to get it picked up.

We've got that in here.

Um, bulk item pickup, road maintenance and obstructions, alley maintenance.

We can you can put in a code violation and then park maintenance requests.

So for this one, I'm gonna do a road maintenance and obstruction, and I'm going to just type in a description for this.

Umers market needs at entry second.

Each one of these will take you through giving a little bit more information.

Um, this is um gonna be a cracked or in even pavement.

Is it causing an active hazard?

And yes, this is a city maintained area.

If you don't know, you could put I don't know.

And then I'm gonna submit that.

So it's gonna prompt me to uh register or sign in, so I'm gonna do that for you live.

Um I'm going to register as a new user, as if I've never been in it before.

So I can show you all kind of what that looks like.

It's gonna take you to um put in your email and first and last name.

You just do this one time and then it'll remember that.

You do this one time and it'll remember you from then on.

Correct.

That was one of our main questions when we were researching, and then I hit create account.

And then I hit create account.

Okay, data breaches, okay.

Eric, what am I doing wrong?

Don't know.

Okay.

It said an unexpected error.

It was an error that was not expected.

Okay.

It was not expected.

That's I will say I just created an account here and everything worked out for it.

Lindsay, are you trying to use your same email that you already had in there?

Yeah.

It may be tracking that you've already got that email in there, so you couldn't.

I just did it too.

Yeah.

So I think you can just go back and log in under your original and then we can move.

No pressure.

No pressure, right?

Okay.

Because if you're I think that's what it was trying to do.

If you just back out of it.

Once you get one in here, so I'm gonna jump in.

Once you submit, it'll take you in, and you will see you can see on our map under requests the ones that have been put in.

And the ones in orange are the ones that are still open.

So you can take a look at this one right here.

And you can see what is kind of going on in the city.

Um you can also take a look at ones that have been closed recently, um, like this one downtown.

So are you saying you could see your own or other people's?

You can see your own and other people's if it is a public request.

So you can follow ones that your neighbors have put in.

So if something is going on um in your neighborhood and you want to look and see if someone's already reported it, you can see if they've already reported it and what the resolution is to it.

The only ones that are um set to private right now are subscribe to notices and um any code violation ones, those would be automatically private.

Gotcha.

You can also see these as a list if you want to look through them that way.

And so in the next few weeks, we will be um sending out uh notices, hopefully by mail with a QR code that will allow people to just scan that QR code and get in here.

Um we're also hoping to run some promotions to get people to download the app and be able to start using it.

So I think that it is um gonna be a better experience.

Once you get signed in, you'll stay signed in.

Um and it's a much easier on the back end as well for um city staff to use.

So how how many downloads did we have with the previous app?

Do you is that a number that we have?

I do have it, but I would have to go and look.

I want to say it was around 1500, I think.

Did you have that exact number?

15 and 18.

Between nine and yeah.

Because it was a container app, we should we share it with a lot of other cities that are also Tyler subscribers.

So Tyler has to run the number and then filter out what's only for the city of Paducah.

Um last time we got that was I think four or five months ago, but it was somewhere in the thousand to fifteen hundred range.

We can get the exact number, but well, I mean, I think our goal is to beat that.

Yeah, you know, and and one of the things I want to say to citizens, you know, who use the app.

I mean, one of the things that we've emphasized is that you know, when somebody puts something into that app, it's gonna get followed through on.

Follow-through, follow-through, follow-through.

You know, so under lead Lindsay's leadership, you know, we are we are going to make sure, you know, the people have confidence that when they put something into that app and it ends up here, you know, we're going to do something with with that, and we're going to communicate back to people and let them know what's going on.

So that's that's really the key to the success from my standpoint.

And obviously, user friendliness and and I would just ask all the commissioners to download the app and use it themselves and you know, and and talk to your constituents about it so that we can get uh you know more widespread use.

Yeah.

So one other really neat thing about this app is um if you sign in, if you do register and sign in and and start interacting with the system, it will um send you notices as far as like push notifications.

So when we um send out something for remember the hours for labor day and the changes in um recycling routes and these kind of things for different um things that are coming up in the city, you'll get basically a notification pop-up, just like you're getting a text message.

Um and so that's another way that we can keep in contact with our citizens as well.

That's awesome.

That's good.

Absolutely.

We also have an online uh portal like we have always had, so that is um available on our website at Paducah KY.gov slash myPaduca.

If you go to that page, it's embedded in that page.

You can submit um requests online as well.

So if you prefer to go online and do that, that's another option.

Okay.

Any uh questions or thoughts from commissioners?

I like it.

That's great.

Mayor, I would say that uh you know, staff heard the frustration that uh with the previous and kudos to Lindsay and Eric and and all the team that that took uh took that challenge to heart and has been working really hard uh to get us to this point, so thank you very much.

Thank you.

That's a lot of work.

Thank you, Eric.

Thanks, Lindsay.

Okay, uh we're just about to wrap up here.

Comments from city manager?

None this evening, Mayor.

Comments from commissioners.

None this evening, Mayor.

None this evening, Mayor.

All right.

We do not have an executive session, and so I would entertain a motion uh for adjournment.

Thank you.

So move.

Thank you.

Call roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas?

Aye, Commissioner Wilson?

Aye.

Mayor Bray.

Aye.

That was quick.

You know, just as an FYI.

Do I think that's the one that's a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit