Campbellsville City Council on Monday night had final reading of an ordinance authorizing the city to borrow up to a half-million dollars to cover Rescue's outstanding bills.

The money will be borrowed from the Kentucky League of Cities, according to Campbellsville Mayor Paul Osborne, with the city and county equally sharing in the payments.

Effective July 1, Rescue will become a city entity with all administrative power lying with the mayor and budgetary responsibility with both city and county.

An interlocal agreement between the city and county states that the two governments will share equally the cost of operating Rescue over and above what it can generate on its own. That cost is estimated to be $175,000 each.

City and county governments must also equally share in the cost of Rescue's outstanding debts, including a note for $315,000. The total comes to about $440,000.

"We are asking for approval for $500,000," Campbellsville Mayor Paul Osborne said recently. "I don't think we'll need that much -- I don't plan to actually borrow that much -- we're just getting approval for that much."

Osborne also explained that the League of Cities requires a city ordinance regarding general obligation debt. The ordinance, he added, states that the city agrees to do whatever necessary to pay the money back.