Local Government

Hopkinsville native and retired bank president, Wendell Lynch was sworn in as Hopkinsville's first Black mayor on Feb. 23, 2021.

Wendell Lynch, who will be sworn in as interim mayor Sunday, said he and other council members received numerous calls from constituents about the tax increase.

Lynch, a Democrat, was the Ward 6 councilman up until his appointment as interim mayor.

The council will have a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, to approve the tax ordinances on second reading.

Council members serve a two-year term. Voters will cast ballots within the wards in the May primary and citywide in the November general election.

The ordinance would apply to the city's busiest streets downtown and to Fort Campbell Boulevard from 21st Street to the parkway.

Concerns about the ICREZ budget stem, in part, from the growing burden of dilapidated structures – that have been abandoned in many cases by owners – in Hopkinsville’s oldest neighborhoods.

The diplomats will meet one evening a month October through March. They will select and perform a service project in December.

Hopkinsville City Council will have to vote on the tax rate again at its next meeting Sept. 17.

City diplomats will “learn how to make municipal government work for them, gain knowledge of local municipal government, and have the opportunity to support their community through service, promotion, and volunteerism."

Hopkinsville City Council members were asked to consider a pit bull ban after two attacks in the past week left three people with serious injuries.