Frankfort Mayor Chris McBarnes introduced the 2019 budget to the Frankfort City Council Monday night to give them a head start on the budget hearings coming up in August.
“Not only have we gotten a lot done, met the needs for our employees and given them the tools they need to do their job safely and effectively, but we’ve also grown those funds in city general, which I’m very proud of, and also made investments that gives our community the opportunity to attract investment so we can have new homes, new jobs and a community that’s not withering away or staying stagnant. But a community that’s growing and thriving,” said McBarnes.
McBarnes said some of the projects and items they are working in the next year includes school resource officers in all Frankfort schools, park funding for restrooms and new playground equipment, Phase II of the Washington Avenue project, done $956,000 worth of road paving, drug rehabilitation funding, a home health care clinic for employees, a new police station, a five-year capital improvement plan and a 3 percent increase for employees across the board.
Budget hearings will be held August 16 and 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The council unanimously approved a resolution to fund to receive donations for adaptive playground equipment in the community.
“We’re establishing a fund so we could start raising money for adaptive playground equipment throughout our city parks for individuals in the community that have a physical challenge in their life,” said McBarnes. “We want everyone to be able to enjoy safe parks and have recreational equipment that’s adaptive for those specific needs.”
The council also unanimously approved a resolution adopting a not-for-profit organization funding request policy and establishing the NPO contribution fund.
“We do have $20,000 in the budget for NPO’s to apply for funding from the city,” said McBarnes. “We have a $20,000 cap on that. It’s first come, first served and now we can put those applications out on the streets. NPO’s can read through the literature and submit their documents this fall.”
Not-for-profits will be able to submit requests beginning August 1 through September 30. Requests will be awarded November 1 and given to the respective NPO’s on January 31 of the following year.
This resolution came from a proposal made earlier this month by Frankfort City Councilman Eric Woods.