This story was written by Lia Salvatierra, our new Education Reporter. Find more of Lia’s reporting here. Do you have an NKY education story? Email lsalvatierra@linknky.com.
Taxpayers within Campbell County School District may see an increase in their property tax rates as the district plans to generate more local revenue.
Campbell County’s board of education voted to propose higher property tax rates at an Aug. 10 special meeting.
Under new state rules, districts must propose and advertise rates for two weeks before the board can officially adopt them at a public hearing.
The proposed higher rates would bring in 4% more property tax revenue than last year, based on the state’s assessment of property values in the district.
A district’s property value assessment also affects how much money it receives from the state.
Under the state’s school funding formula, higher property values reduce state funding and lower property values increase state funding. Other factors like attendance also play into the formula and determine a district’s final share of state funding.
In Campbell County’s case, the district is projecting a $1.2 million loss in state funding this year.
Last year, the district received the second-lowest amount of per-student state funding as compared with 16 other districts, according to the district’s Finance Director Joey Cucchiara.
The board is opting to change both types of property taxes: for real estate and for personal property.
Proposed rates are 65.2 on real estate and 64.5 on personal property.
That translates to $652 in tax revenue for every $100,000 in real property and $645 in tax revenue for every $100,000 in personal property.
The 2025-26 rates were 64.3 on real estate and 61.9 on personal property.
Real property includes land and its associated structures and property rights.
Personal property includes items used for business or commerce including inventory, raw materials and office supplies.
Part of the reason real property taxes would increase is due to allowed adjustments called “exonerations” which enable the board to increase tax rates to account for revenues lost the prior year.
Find more detailed information on how school property taxes work here.
Lia Salvatierra is a journalist with Report for America, a service program that helps boost coverage of underreported topics and areas throughout the United States. To help LINK nky continue to provide this kind of reporting, you can make a tax-deductible donation here.
