Mayor Girdler was presented with arguably the largest gavel in this part of the country. Mr. Cy Waddle, a long time owner of Somerset Refinery and many Somerset Oil stations throughout Kentucky, presented the Mayor with the gavel, saying he was proud of the city and the impressive growth in the last 12 years. Mr. Waddle is also a former Somerset City Councilman.

“Cy Waddle is an outstanding community and business leader,” Mayor Girdler said. “He has devoted his life to improving jobs and making the City of Somerset a great place to live. We thank Mr. Waddle for his investment and support of Somerset.”

Mr. Waddle loves to go to estate sales and other types of auctions. He got the material for the gavel at one of those auctions and had it made specifically for Mayor Girdler.

The City of Somerset is pleased to announce that the transfer of ownership of the former YMCA property has been completed. The City of Somerset will continue to operate the Somerfit facility until April 2nd, 2018. The fitness center will stay open after that date with a schedule of times to be posted by March 1st.

The transfer to the Somerset School Board will now allow the completion of the construction plans for the repair of the therapy and lap pools so that bids can be taken shortly.

PRESS RELEASE

November 27, 2017

The City of Somerset has received the independent Certified Public Accountants (CPA) audit report as required by state law for the period ending June 30, 2017. The financial audit, provided to the City Council, reported a clean audit with no audit findings. Mayor Eddie Girdler said that he was very pleased that the audit was presented as a clean audit with no audit findings and credited the successful audit to the cooperation of the City Council and the hard work of all city employees.

The Budget was in balance and any revisions were approved by City Council with revenues more than budgeted and expenses less than budgeted. Mayor Girdler indicated that Somerset’s Chief Financial Officer, Mike Broyles, works closely with the City Council and all departments to meet all financial standards. The Mayor said that it is a major positive achievement for the City of Somerset, City Council, and city staff to obtain an audit that is clean with no audit findings. He went on to say that the City is proud of financial activities and is happy to provide quality services at a low cost to the citizens of Somerset.

The Audit reported cash balances of $19.9 million. Over $17 million of that is unrestricted or non-obligated that may be included in any budget or revisions approved by City Council. Total long term debt decreased by $1.6 million. The General Assembly is currently reviewing Legislation on the pension system that continues to force cities, counties, and the state to place unfunded liability on every agency’s books. This was required by national accounting standards and no city or county has any say in what is finally approved. Only the General Assembly can make those approvals.

The Energy Center project has been closed with savings of over $350,000 which reduced the amount to be paid back or applied to future interest.

For additional information, please contact CFO Mike Broyles at City Hall or visit our web site at http://www.cityofsomerset.com for a complete copy. The City of Somerset is a fully transparent city with financial information on our web page and STV which televises all City Council meetings.