Hopkinsville City Council is expected to vote tonight on Mayor Carter Hendricks’ recommendation to name Steve Futrell the city’s next fire chief.
Futrell is currently the Hopkinsville Fire Department’s deputy chief. He would fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Freddie Montgomery, who is now Clarksville’s fire chief.
If the council approves the mayor’s recommendation, Futrell’s salary will be $91,397. He would serve a six-month probationary period.
“Deputy Fire Chief Futrell has been with the City of Hopkinsville Fire Department since July of 1999,” Hendricks wrote in a memo to the council. “He was promoted to Fire Lieutenant in June of 2014, promoted to Captain in October of 2014, and promoted to Deputy Chief in August of 2017. Deputy Fire Chief Futrell has excelled in his performance at all levels while serving with the City of Hopkinsville Fire Department.”
In other business at tonight’s meeting, the agenda includes final approval of the city’s property tax rate.
The council voted 9-2 at its Sept. 3 meeting to increase the city’s real property tax rate by eight-tenths of 1 cent per $100 of assessed value, pushing the rate to 23.9 percent. The rate would generate an additional 4 percent in property tax revenue for the 2019-20 fiscal year over the previous year.
The council meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Hopkinsville Municipal Center, 715 S. Virginia St.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
