The Kenton County Fiscal Court conducted a first reading of an ordinance this week that would lower resident’s real property tax rates and tangible personal property tax rates.
Last August, the Fiscal Court passed an ordinance that set their real property tax rate at 14.4 cents per $100 valuation and personal property tax rate at 19.1 cents per $100 valuation.
Now, the Fiscal Court has proposed to lower the their real property tax rate to 13.3 cents per $100 valuation and personal property tax rate to 16.5 per $100 valuation.
Last November, Kenton County voted to increase the occupational license tax rate from .7097% to .9097%. The tax collects from the amount of all wages and compensation paid in Kenton County for work done, or services performed by every resident and nonresident who is an employee.
During a fiscal court meeting on Nov. 8, Kenton County Treasurer Roy Cox said the county currently puts a greater burden on property owners by having a higher property tax. In the court’s opinion, raising the occupational license tax rate would help them continue to reduce their property tax rates.
“I think the work that we did with occupational (tax) and as that is coming along, doing exactly what we want it to do is get the burden off the rooftops as much as possible,” Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said during the most recent fiscal court meeting.
In Kentucky, real property is defined as land and any permanent structures attached to it. Tangible personal property is defined as physical, and taxable, property like manufacturing machinery, artwork, antiques, coin collections, and construction equipment. Registered cars and watercraft are excluded for qualifying as tangible personal property.
Cox said the county’s compensating tax rate was devised so the county could have the same amount revenue as the prior year.
The Kentucky Department of Revenue defines the compensating tax rate as a rate that is “applied to the current year’s assessment of real property, excluding new property, will produce an amount of revenue approximately equal as that produced last year from real property.”
Essentially, as property assessments rise, the tax rate is lowered so the revenue generated from existing real property assessments come out to around the same as the previous fiscal year.
“This year’s compensating rate for us was actually 13.4. We’re taking the rate down even further to 13.3. That’s a 7.6% reduction in property taxes,” Cox said during the meeting. “We’re also taking the personal property tax down to 16.5. That is a reduction, again, of below the compensating rate. That is a calculation based on whatever real property rate that we choose. This is a 7.6% decrease overall.”
Additionally, Kenton County’s motor vehicle tax rate is remaining the same as last year: 15.8 cents per hundred dollar valuation.
The Fiscal Court will vote on reducing property tax rates during their next meeting slated for 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Kenton County Government Center in Covington.
