Ashland Mayor Chuck Charles says the city’s finances are in better shape than they were a year ago, unemployment is down one percent from 2014 and new initiatives promise to make Boyd County a healthier community.
Charles touted all three points on Thursday (July 9) during his “State of the City Address” in the municipal building.
Charles says Ashland has increased its general fund surplus by about two-million dollars and downtown revitalization and other economic development efforts have created new jobs. He says community volunteers helped create walking and jogging trails in the new Russell Park and a citizen coalition has been formed to promote healthier lifestyles.
In addition, Charles says, serious crime in Ashland has declined 25 percent over the past five years. He cites several reasons for that decline.
“I think good policing and I think good neighborhoods. Some of the neighborhood watches I think generally people want safe neighborhoods. They call to report things. It’s a community partnership. It’s just not the police, it’s the community helping also.”
However, the mayor is quick to add the picture is not all rosy. Charles says rising pension costs are posing a major challenge for Ashland and it’s likely the city will see its federal subsidy for the bus system reduced by 200-thousand dollars over the next year.
Ashland City Commissioner Amanda Clark says the financial problems outlined by Mayor Charles in his State of the City Address are both real and worrisome. She says commissioners have already taken some steps to deal with “worst case” scenarios.
“You know, nobody wants to raise taxes, nobody wants to do that, ever. But, we’re looking at those things like the two hundred thousand dollars less in federal funding and the one hundred and forty thousand dollar, one retiree, one hundred and forty thousand dollars in pensions backing and we have to plan for how we’re going to pay for those things.”
Clark says, commissioners raised property taxes by four percent in their new budget and increased utility rates by eight percent.
