Electric rate hike, new budget approved
Plus, Tourism on a tear, and fireworks for Fourth of July
Council Briefs
Electric rate increase approved
Electricity customers of Berea Municipal Utilities will see their rates raise by half a percent starting July 8, 2025. Council unanimously approved the measure in a roll call vote in a second reading of an ordinance proposing the rate hike. It is the first rate hike since 2013.
“We’ve held the rate down as low as we can and it’s just time to make an adjustment … we didn’t have a choice but to raise it,” Councilmember Jerry Little said during the Comments section.
Councilmember Steve Caudill commended his colleagues, and Utilities General Manager, Kevin Howard, for making the switch from Kentucky Utilities to Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency (KYMEA) in 2019. KYMEA is an interlocal cooperative agreement among 10 Kentucky municipalities who use their collective purchasing power to buy energy at a discounted rate, and noted that had the switch not been made in 2019, rates would have gone up multiple times by now.
“The average customer is going to see very little difference in their bill,” added Councilmember Teresa Scenters.
FY26 Budget approved
The FY26 Budget was approved 7 to 1 in a roll call vote when Ordinance 08-2025 received its second reading after a motion to adopt it from Audit Finance Committee Chair Caudill. Little was the lone dissenter, but declined The Edge’s invitation to explain why.
Both Caudill and Mayor Bruce Fraley noted during Comments that the budget is a policy document that reflects the City’s values, and thanked all City department heads and Finance Director, Susan Helton, for their work on the budget. Fraley congratulated new city administrator, Shawn Sandlin, for successfully making it through his first annual budget session for the City.
Resolutions
10-2025: Cost Overrun Responsibility
The Farristown Community Center has received a $750,000 federal block grant, which regulations stipulate must be distributed through the City. Council unanimously approved the City covering any cost overruns for the project. City administrator, Shawn Sandlin, told Council the project’s pre-bid overage is projected to be $150,934. Councilmember Steve Davis said this amount is already a line item in the budget.
11-2025: Anti-Displacement Agreement
Council also unanimously approved assistance to anyone displaced by the Farristown Community Center build site, although there is no known need for relocation at this time, according to Fraley.
Ordinances
09-2025: Pay Scale Revision
Aside from the ordinance to pass the new budget (08-2025), ordinance 09-2025 received a 7 to 1 voice vote approval in a second reading for a 4% pay raise for authorized City personnel, assigned by pay grade and pay scale. This includes a new position of City Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator, which was included in this ordinance. Little voted against the ordinance.
There was some discussion as to whether this pay increase was merit-based, driven by cost of living adjustments (COLA), or to simply bring Berea’s civil service pay up to the average in the region.
“I want the employees to make all they can make, but when we’re raising above the local averages, it’s concerning to me,” said Scenters. She noted the raise will total more than what the average pay is in local schools, hospitals, and factories, however, Scenters voted to approve the revision.
“The ‘cost of living raise’ okay, that’s my problem. The cost of living raise or the COLA should be the same for everybody … People need to be paid all they can, but I just feel like the bread, the milk, the gas cost the same for everybody and it should be a straight amount of money [equal cost of living adjustments] across the board,” said Little. Consequently, he said he didn’t think the ordinance was fair.
Caudill said Little was correct. Fraley clarified that the ordinance should say pay adjustment instead of COLA and that the pay increase would mean being more on par with other city and county governments in our area. Caudill said that this was not a COLA and it should not be called such.
Department Head Reports
Tourism
Berea’s annual craft festival will be held this year on the weekend of July 11th through the 13th. More than 100 vendors are currently scheduled to participate in the event at the Pinnacles’ Indian Fort Theater.
Last year, about 80 million people who traveled 50 miles or more to visit somewhere in Kentucky, or who stayed overnight somewhere in the state, infused over 10 billion dollars into Kentucky’s entire economy, according to Nancy Conley, director of the tourism department.
Conley said this is the third year in a row that Kentucky tourism has beaten its economic impact record, infusing more than a billion dollars into state taxes.
“I hope you will all agree with me when I say that tourism is big business for Kentucky and is big business for Berea,” said Conley. “The tourism industry is a driving force for Kentucky’s economy.”
Codes and Planning
A community survey for the Comprehensive Plan 2025 will be available soon on the City’s Facebook page, according to Codes and Planning Director, Amanda Haney. She encouraged all citizens of Berea to take the approximately 20 minutes necessary to thoroughly complete the survey. After the survey data is processed, another public meeting will be announced to discuss the results.
One-Eyed Jack’s is Berea’s best social club for singles and groups. Visit One-Eyed Jack’s for more information. You can read more about the club here.
City administrator’s report
Sandlin spoke about how this was his first time making a FY budget and thanked everyone who put work in on it and the Council for approving it.
Berea has accepted a bid from Morton Salt at $112,000 per ton of road salt to be delivered to Berea, according to Sandlin.
He also mentioned the fire chief and police chiefs’ efforts in working on a career pathway for the firefighters and police officers.
Construction on a shade structure at Community Park will soon begin, weather permitting. Also, rain delays have continued to impact the pool construction, according to Sandlin.
Fourth of July Spectacular
The Fourth of July spectacular will be held Friday July 4 from 6 to 10 p.m. behind Berea Community School at the City Park. Fireworks are scheduled for 10 PM. Prior, the classic rock band, Thick as Thieves will perform. Other activities prior to the fireworks display include face painting, a photo booth, games and prizes, a bouncy castle, and several food trucks.
“Please come out to the Fourth of July celebration, I know you’ll enjoy it,” said Fraley.
Mayor and Council Comments
Mayor
Construction began at Fire Station 2 last week for a Safe Haven Baby Box and will hopefully be ready to be used, if needed, imminently, according to Fraley.
“I was really happy to find out Smithsonian Magazine named Berea one of the 15 best small towns to visit in 2025. I think that speaks very well for our entire city, especially our tourism department,” said Fraley.
Council
Caudill thanked Sandlin and the department heads for putting together a budget that “reflects our values” and others expressed their thanks as well. He noted that the budget could now be found online. Caudill also commended the tourism department and reiterated some of the previous electric rate discussion saying it was his “least favorite” ordinance, but was necessary.
Cora Jane Wilson expressed her appreciation for the city employees and noted that they are how the city keeps going.
Katie Startzman spoke about an email she received from Sandlin, stating that department heads will no longer be making appearances before Council, but will give written reports instead. Startzman expressed her wish to keep the in person reports.
“I think we’re going to lose something if we shift to purely written reports and I’m also concerned about letting the public know what’s going on… I know we all want to be as transparent as possible, but I think it’s going to make it a little bit harder for citizens to know what’s going on with different departments,” said Startzman.
John Payne noted the summer events that the public library does and said they can be found on their website.
Steve Davis expressed annoyance with some aspects of the budget, but was happy it was done and thanked everyone who contributed. He also suggested that more budget work sessions should be held before the budget is passed in the future.