Electric rates increase in July
Plus, FY26 budget gets first reading, and Comprehensive Plan committee wants to hear from teens
Council Briefs
Electric rates increase
Electric rates will increase by a half a percent this July. It will be the first increase in 13 years, according to Berea Municipal Utilities general manager, Kevin Howard.
Howard made his comments during the first reading of Ordinance 10-2025 at June’s first regularly schedule meeting of the City Council.
“If the current electric and connection rate schedule is left unchanged the Berea municipal utilities will face a deficit,” Howard told Council in a work session held prior to the meeting. “We take it seriously, the last thing anyone wants is a rate increase.”
The rate adjustment will keep customer electric rates fairly flat each billing cycle, Howard explained in a sideline interview with The Edge. Inflation and tariffs are driving the increase, he told Council in the work session.
The next and final reading of the rate increase ordinance will be at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting on June 17.
Juneteenth proclamation and celebration
Berea’s second annual Juneteenth Day of Celebration will take place Sunday, June 15th, from 4 to 8 PM at the Chestnut Street Pavilion. Local talent will perform music, dance and spoken word, according to Sharyn Mitchell, chair of the Berea Human Rights Commission. There will also be food trucks and activities for children, Mitchell said.
Mayor Bruce Fraley invited all Bereans to attend the event in order to “commemorate the end of slavery and to honor the culture and achievements of African Americans.”
“It’s in celebration of the end of slavery, but it's also the beginning of a new era where we communicate and act as family, so for that reason we decided to have a community event,” Mitchell said.
Ordinances
07-2025: Clerical error
An ordinance to amend a clerical error in the City’s contract with Waste Connections, as reported here, received its second reading and passed unanimously in a voice vote.
08-2025: FY26 budget
The City’s budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 received its first reading at the meeting. There were no comments from Council who were presented the budget in a work session last week. The budget is expected to pass at the next regularly scheduled meeting on June 17.
Highlights of the current draft:
Governmental funds estimated at $21,461,000
Total revenue source - $21,316,000
Total expenditures - $25,266,000
Ending fund balance - $17,511,000
Proprietary fund and operating budget
Total operating revenue - $20,165,000
Total operating expenses - $21,896,000
Loss from operations - $1,731,000
Debt service principal - $536,000
Rate revenue - $2,268,000
Capital budget
Grants and contributed capital - $4,620,000
Total capital expenses - $15,370,000
Net cost for capital additions - $10,750,000
Department Heads Report
Business Development
In the past year, Berea has welcomed 18 new businesses, according to Donna Angel, the City’s business development director, who said that’s up from 12 new businesses the year before. There has been one closure, Gold Star Chili. The empty site is outfitted for food service and is available for purchase, Angel said.
Goodwill Industries has purchased land in town and is expected to open a new site by January 2028, Angel reported.
The City has supported small businesses over the past year with three workshops for entrepreneurs, including ones on time management, marketing and budgeting. The next workshop will cover grant writing for small businesses, Angel said.
Three of those who attended these workshops are now businesses owners in the City, according to Angel.
In Industrial Park news, Angel said Hitachi Astemo Americas will be changing their name to Astemo Americas. New signage indicating this change is due by September.
Angel encouraged people to support local businesses and expressed excitement for Berea’s continuing growth. She noted the current population is about 16,400 while the number of laborers employed in Berea is about 49,400.
Utilities
Howard recognized his staff for winning the Waste Water Treatment Plant of the Year Award from the Kentucky Water & Wastewater Operators Association. Last year, the operations manager, Scott Johnson, won Operator of the Year from the KWWOA.
“It’s a very sought after award,” Howard said of the Plant’s triumph. “These guys that we’re recognizing did an absolutely fantastic job.”
He also commended the facility for not having a violation in the last decade, and said it was a “joy” to work with his team of professionals.
City administrator’s report
Shawn Sandlin, the city’s administrator, told Council he did not have anything to report this week.
Mayor and Council comments
Mayor
Fraley thanked those who attended the ceremony yesterday morning at the Utilities building to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the blazing of Boone Trace. Since April, a group of hikers retracing Daniel Boone’s path through the wilderness and over the Cumberlands, are making their way from Kingsport, Tennessee, and ending their trek this weekend at Fort Boonesboro. The hikers came through the trail at Brushy Fork.
Fraley also encouraged folks to attend the 14th annual U.S. 25 Yard Sale this weekend, June 6 and 7. The event features individual yard sales and charity events beginning at the southern end of the state in Williamsburg, running through Berea all the way up to Walton, Fraley said.
Fraley also encouraged citizens to get involved in the Comprehensive Plan to map the future of the City over the next five years. The mayor urged younger citizens to become involved by taking the surveys created by the Plan’s steering committee for teenagers. Fraley called upon Codes and Planning director, Amanda Haney, in the audience to elaborate. Haney said the hope is that if younger citizens have a say in the Plan, they will be more likely to stay in the City after graduation.
Haney and Fraley both mentioned the first Plan meeting held on May 29, was well-attended and that future Plan meetings will be announced soon.
Here is the link to the youth survey.
Council
Congratulations to the staff of the wastewater treatment plant were roundly offered, and Steve Caudill remarked on the good job the Parks staff has done with maintaining the parks through a season of bad weather.
You can watch the video of this meeting on the City’s YouTube Channel. The next regularly scheduled Council meeting will be on Tuesday, June 3, at 6:30PM in the City Annex building, 304 Chestnut Street. Council meets on the first and third Tuesdays of every month.
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