Barren County officials question delay in employee raises
Barren County officials say raises for county employees are expected by September, but Sheriff Kent Keen questioned why they were delayed after the new budget took effect July 1.
GLASGOW, Ky. — In a rare public disagreement, Sheriff Kent Keen, Jailer Aaron Shirley and Clerk Helena Birdwell questioned the Barren County Fiscal Court Tuesday morning about why requested raises for county employees had not yet been provided.
Keen said he submitted two requests to Treasurer Amanda Steiger and Judge/Executive Jamie Byrd asking to present his proposed raises to the magistrates, who are responsible for administering the budget.
“Well, they haven’t been presented yet, so I wanted to bring it before the court to ask why or when they will be presented,” Keen said.
Byrd said the county is reviewing its year-end financials and cash flow before moving forward with raises. She said she expects the raises to be provided by September.
Although the raises were included in the new budget, county officials said they want to review cash flow before increasing payroll expenses to make sure the county can cover its other obligations.
Brennan Crain
Jailer Aaron Shirley said the jail had turned over about $400,000 to the fiscal court in July, though Byrd said her office had not yet received the money.
She later clarified to Barrenside the funds are accounted for but she did not have immediate answers when being question at the meeting.
At the end of the fiscal year in June, the Barren County Sheriff’s Office had spent $1.51 million, compared with a $1.43 million budget. The new fiscal year budget, which began July 1, provides $1.48 million for the sheriff’s office.
“You were already over on the amount,” Byrd said.
The sheriff’s office was not the only county department requesting raises.
Byrd said she had already told Keen the county would need to wait until the end of August or early September before providing the raises.
“I just wanted to get a comparison of your two-week payrolls to see where you’re going to end up at,” Byrd said. “We just need to wait until the end of the August, beginning of September, and those should be no problem.”
Keen said he had hoped the fiscal court would vote on the raises Tuesday, but no vote was taken.
“As much money as we have going out every day, it could look like there’s a lot of money in there today, and tomorrow it might not be,” said Magistrate Marty Kinslow, who chairs the Administrative and Budget Committee.
Kinslow questioned whether Keen believed the fiscal court would not follow through on the raises, which were included in the recently passed budget.
“Therefore, considering what we’ve always done, do you really have a valid reason to wonder if your guys are going to get them this year?” Kinslow said.
Keen said his concern was not that the court had refused the raises, but that the timing was different from previous years.
“I don’t believe that magistrate, but it’s the deviation from the norm,” Keen said. “The norm has been is July the first, fiscal year, and we’re past that.”
Keen then asked when he could tell his employees to expect an increase.
Byrd said the raises are expected by September following the county’s financial review. She said that includes employees at the jail, road department and other county offices.
Birdwell said the lack of communication was part of the problem, particularly for employees who expected raises when the new fiscal year began.
“If we had known there was an issue prior to that new budget year starting, then they could have been better prepared. That’s the issue, OK?” Birdwell said. “They look at us for the answers, and we didn’t know there was an issue until past July 1.”
A small round of applause followed Birdwell’s comments.
Magistrate Brad Groce reiterated that the fiscal court had not rejected the raises.
“No one said ‘no,’” Groce said.
Employees at the county clerk’s office received their raises, Byrd said, after the office finished the year under budget.
County faces higher costs
The dispute comes as Barren County faces higher costs in several areas.
County leaders have pointed to rising jail costs, increased medical and other fixed expenses and a roughly $380,000 reduction in state funding for the county road fund.
The county is also awaiting more than $763,000 in FEMA-funded payments for storm damage, including flooding in February and April 2025 and the ice storm earlier this year.
Last year, although the sheriff’s office spent more than its budget, increased costs in the deputy line item were covered by another account that had been budgeted but not fully spent, Byrd said.
Byrd said the county has increased the sheriff’s office deputy salary budget by $525,000 over the past four years. Keen acknowledged the increases have helped him retain employees.
“And I’ve heard that three times, judge, and I appreciate that,” Keen said. “That’s the very reason I still have the employees I have today, but that’s the very reason I’m now behind in the community.”
