The chairwoman of the Pike County Board has spoken out on the recent passing of the county’s budget for next year and the animosity directed at her as a result of the budget process.
Facing a December 1st deadline, the board finally passed its 2026 budget in November, but not without tensions running high between county department heads, the Pike County Board and its Chairwoman, Reta Hoskin.
The board even took the step of taking a vote of no confidence directed at Hoskin. The vote was 4-to-3 in favor, but it needed a two-thirds vote to pass.
In a Letter to the Editor distributed to area media, Hoskin addressed Pike County’s financial woes.
Hoskin said she had, “watched this board dig the county deeper into a financial hole year after year by overspending and covering it with one-time funds.”
In talking about the divisions among board members, Hoskin wrote, “those divisions exist because we fundamentally disagree on how to fix the problem. Some believe the solution is continued tax increases. Others of us believe the solution is controlling spending.”
Hoskin says her goal has been to make the budget process more transparent and to encourage the board to “face reality and make responsible decisions.”