Park Hills to Set Tax Rates

The City of Park Hills is to set its property tax rate at $0.209 per $100 of assessed value, the same as it has been since 2008.

The compensating rate is $0.216.

Councilwoman Pam Spoor said that the city currently has the largest savings and reserve Park Hills has ever had, and she said it was achieved without raising taxes.

The ad valorem tax rate is proposed at $0.731 per $100 of assessed value. Since this is the first reading of the ordinance, it could be changed before the second reading to the current rate, which is $.75 per $100, to accommodate the compensating rate.

Council also held the first reading of an amended nuisance ordinance.  Language was changed, adding the terms ‘Unreasonable’ and ‘Unlawful’ to the description of the nuisance. Basically, most of the change is that the city doesn’t want to be involved in every little conflict with neighbors, so they are limiting city involvement to events that meet the criteria.

A first reading of the ordinance on noise control was read, and councilmembers decided to limit the hours for events, banning noise from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.  It also specifies no noise over 85 decibels, which was likened to a gas powered lawn mower. The limit is 100 feet from the source of the noise.

Police Chief Cody Stanley asked if council will make the new law enforceable for his officers. He said that he wanted a form of measurement to be able to enforce any law that came from complaints about noise. Stanley told council to come up with their wants, and said since it needs to work as far as writing citations, if it doesn’t work, they could fine-tune it.  

The schools are exempted, since they have their own noise rules.

Council asked if they can make the intersection where Emerson meets Breckenridge a three-way stop, which would require another stop sign, and Attorney Dan Braun said they could just install another stop sign.

Another request from council was to reduce the speed limit on Cleveland to 15 MPH, since it was reported that most of the motorists were not from Park Hills. However, to change the speed limit, there will have to be two readings of an ordinance to that effect.