Fulton County highway improvement negotiations underway Hickman Courier 05/07/09 Charlotte Smith Email this story to a friend Last November it was announced that Fulton County would receive a Delta Regional Authority grant in the amount of $300,000 for improvements to KY 1354 and KY 94. During a Fiscal Court meeting April 29, magistrates in attendance reviewed the qualification of three potential engineers for the project. Magistrates Henry Callison, James Black, and George A. Jones along with Fulton County Judge/Executive David Gallagher ranked the three engineers in the following order: Paul Cloud Engineering, first; GeoTech, second; and Florence Hutchins, third. The Court gave Judge Gallagher permission to begin negotiations on the price of the work, which is to be under $20,000, with Cloud. If an agreement cannot be made with the first engineer, Gallagher would move on to the second pick and so on until the parties agree. Once improvements have been made to KY 1354 there will be year round access to that road, which Judge Gallagher feels is pertinent to future economic development in Fulton County. In other business the Court: •Authorized advertising for Request for Qualifications from Engineering firms for KY 94 & KY 1354 retroactive to April 16, 2009 •Approved County Road Aid Agreement Resolution between Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Fulton County FY 2009/2010, the County will lose a portion of the funds for costs incurred during ice storm clean up. The County, and each city of Fulton and Hickman, are obligated for 13% of the total cost. Right now it is estimated that 72,000 cubic yards of debris has been collected, 60,000 from state roads, 22,000 in the city of Fulton and 19,000 in the city of Hickman, all at a cost of $4.76 per cubic yard. Storm debris is no longer going to the site at Bypass 1099 and Broadway. A watchman is watching over the debris pile. It is estimated that only 30% of the debris has been removed from Fulton County roadways at this time. Crews are in the process of assisting the County with the cleanup. Workers have been hired through West Kentucky Workforce Development. •Approved first reading of Fulton County Budget Amendment #5-08/09 which was read by County Attorney Rick Major •Approved transfer of $36,139.12 from Grant Account to Road Money Market retroactive to April 14, 2009 •Approved Fulton County Detention Center expansion project bills •Approved County Bills County Attorney Rick Major also discussed an issue regarding franchise taxes from 2003 and 2004 that were allegedly billed twice due to an error by a Revenue Cabinet employee who assisted in the preparation of those bills. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, which collects the payments, was instructed by the Auditor to escrow sufficient funds from current franchise tax receipts to make refunds if required. The statute of limitations for the filing of refund requests has passed on all of the potential overpayments. The Fulton County Attorney’s office has been in contact with the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet in an attempt to rectify the situation since August 2007. The County Attorney’s office and Fulton Co. Sheriff’s office initially proposed a credit to the taxpayer against current collections, but this action was prohibited by the Revenue Cabinet. Revenue Cabinet officials stated that Kentucky law did not authorize a credit for franchise taxes and advised that the law required the taxpayer to request a refund. As of the present date, none of the taxpayers have made any contact with Fulton County officials regarding a possible refund. Franchise taxes are associated with large corporations such as telecommunications companies, pipelines, and barge lines. Upon verification that the existing statute of limitation has passed, the Court has instructed County Attorney Major to inform the taxpayers in writing and by legal advertising that the escrowed funds will be disbursed to the tax districts unless the taxpayer takes Court action within 30 days of the date of notice. The Court adjourned at 10:15 a.m. and is slated to reconvene May 11 at 9 a.m. in the Fulton County Office Building located on Myron Cory Drive in Hickman.