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County clerk to begin customer guidance on registering off-road vehicles; ordinance questions remain
Summary
County clerk Rebecca Johnson said the clerk's office will begin sharing guidance and accepting registration requests for previously off-road vehicles as street legal starting the next day, but questions remain about property tax and whether local ordinances will follow.
Scott County’s clerk’s office will begin distributing information and accepting requests to register previously off-road vehicles as street-legal starting tomorrow, Clerk Rebecca Johnson told the Fiscal Court on June 26 — but county officials said several policy questions remain.
Johnson said clerks prepared a flyer to explain basic requirements and to warn residents that local ordinances in Georgetown, Sadieville and Stamping Ground may also be considered by those cities. "We were gonna possibly have it come from the fiscal court, then we recognized the city had to put or all our cities ... would potentially be putting an ordinance in place as well," Johnson said.
She told the court that discussions are ongoing among the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Department of Revenue and state legislators about whether previously off-road vehicles will be subject to property tax in addition to registration fees. "So that's gonna have to be hashed out between now and January. So, that's why we put proposed, property tax," Johnson said.
Johnson said the Transportation Cabinet had indicated rule information could be released on June 27 and that clerks would attempt to use the state system once it is available. She described a process in which an off-road title would be inspected by the sheriff's office and then reissued as a street-legal title; she said some counties with established ordinances already allow such uses but that local drivers should be aware it is not currently legal to operate these vehicles on Scott County roads or within relevant city limits unless an ordinance is adopted.
The court agreed to put the topic on the July 3 work session for further discussion and asked staff to gather public feedback before moving forward. Johnson recommended care before making any ordinance permanent: "If we pass an ordinance, you're not taking that ordinance back ... taking that rescinding that ordinance would be a big challenge and would be a big headache."
