By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 — Nelson Fiscal Court approved renewal of its employee health insurance plans that go into effect as of Aug. 1, 2026.
County government opted to become self-insured in 2023, and that has helped save the county — and county employees — significant amounts of money.
The renewal means that county employees will see their health insurance premiums remain the same for the next year, Nelson County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins explained.
Minor changes in the employee health insurance offerings include raising the county provided life insurance benefit from $15,000 to $25,000 for each employee. The health insurance program also offers participants the ability to save $600 off their health insurance costs if they participate in a series of wellness checks. The deadline to complete the wellness checks has been extended to June 30, 2026, Hutchins told the court.
In other business, the court:
— agreed to reject all bids received for site preparation work on Lot 1 in the existing industrial park. According to Hutchins, the bids received would make it difficult to recoup the county’s investment on the tract if it were sold for industrial development.
— approved soliciting bids for the equipment that is funded in next year’s county budget.
— approved allocating up to $5.5 million to purchase land for a new joint city-county industrial park. The move required the approval of an emergency budget amendment that would not require a second reading at a future meeting.
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