City council approves 2 percent raise for employees in budget

The Harlan City Council gave its first reading of the budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year during their meeting on June 25 and followed with the second reading on Monday. One of the more noteworthy announcements was that city employees would be receiving a 2 percent raise to offset the increased cost of living. While health insurance premiums have also seen a stark increase, Mayor Joe Meadors made it clear that the city would be the ones footing the bill.

"I think we've got an excellent workforce—well qualified," said Meadors. "If you make them start paying for part of their health insurance and cut it back, you're taking from them." Meadors went on to say, however, that this might not be sustainable in the long term.

"This can't last forever," he said. "At some point in time, we'll either have to cut benefits back or we'll have to ask for co-payments . . . This year, we were able to not pass any of that increase over to employees."

According to Meadors, the increased price of health insurance will cost the city an additional $63.57 per month for each individual employee, which comes out to approximately $15,000 in total for the year. While the increase isn't ideal, it's far from the worst-case scenario:

"Although it has went up 9 percent, that's a heck of a lot better than we were prepared for; we were told to prepare for fifteen to eighteen percent . . . so, that's good news," said Meadors.

Furthermore, the cost of retirement continues to show year-on-year improvements, with Meadors stating, "Retirement systems are in a much better financial position than they were ten or twelve years ago, and they get better every year."

"This was the best [budget] we've had, to be honest," said city treasurer Amy Miller. "I think a few factors went into that; retirement dropping helped offset the increase in health insurance," she said. Miller went on to state that the city saw an increase in revenue in almost every area over the previous year.

"To be honest, I was surprised, because I have it all formulated so when I plug numbers, it tells me, 'Okay, we're off,' [but] we were closer to balancing than ever," Miller continued. "A lot of times, we have to go through it, like, five different times to cut in places. I felt like we didn't have to cut as much, so that's a positive," she said.

In addition to financial reports, motions were carried to appoint residents to various city roles. Firstly, Pamela Huff was appointed to the Housing Authority board, replacing Eugene Farmer, who resigned at the beginning of June. Due to moving outside of city limits, Farmer was no longer eligible to continue serving in this position. Meadors described Huff as someone who has displayed great interest in Housing Authority affairs.

Additionally, John Jones was re-appointed to continue serving for the Harlan Municipal Waterworks commission board for another six-year term. Jack Miniard was also appointed to serve alongside Jones as a newcomer to the water commission board, replacing Fred Howard, who is no longer eligible to serve due to living outside the jurisdiction. City council member Anne Hensley lamented that Howard can no longer serve, describing him as a "true asset," having lobbied in Washington for the needs of Harlan Countians on several occasions during his time serving, which has spanned nearly four decades.

"It's sad to lose that much experience," Hensley said.

Finally, Meadors confirmed he has appointed Will Clem to the Harlan County Board of Tax Appeals. Meadors is confident Clem will find success in this role as someone who is well experienced in banking and tax assessment.