MARTIN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18/EKB) – The failure of the Martin County Fiscal Court to pay their bills will cause a ripple effect all over the county, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a post on social media by Sheriff John Kirk, he alleges that the county has not paid any of the sheriff’s department’s bills. Martin County pools fees, so all of the tax money collected is swept from the sheriff’s accounts to be redistributed.
It’s another chapter in a county that has been plagued by drama in recent months.
Some of the organizations affected included the library, the cities of Inez and Warfield, the fire department and 911.
"The Martin County Sheriff’s Department regrets to inform the taxpayers of Martin County, Ky. that due to the fiscal court not paying our bill to the vendor that supplies our taxing program, they have suspended their services to our department. This will impact anyone who has not paid their taxes in Martin County. This will impact all taxing districts such as Warfield City, Inez City, the health department, the school board, the extension office as well as the library and the fire and 911 districts. We are truly sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused but until the fiscal court pays this bill, which is very delinquent, we cannot collect the taxes without this program," wrote the department.
Sheriff Kirk says his office receives daily calls from vendors wondering when they can expect to be paid for services, and he has been using his own money to pay for some essential services. He also tells LEX 18 that some of the outstanding bills date all the way to 2015. The sheriff said he has reached out to the finance office multiple times to try to work on the budget, but has not received a reply.
Our news partners at East Kentucky Broadcasting contacted Martin County Fiscal Court who said that no one was available to comment.
