Florence staff proposes 3% cut to 2025 property-tax rates; public hearing set for Sept. 3

Jason Lewis, the city—s finance director, presented Florence City Council caucus members with a proposal to reduce real and tangible property tax rates by 3% for tax year 2025 and outlined how assessment shifts from Boone County affect the city—s maximum allowable rates.

Lewis told council that Boone County—s 2025 assessments show real property grew about 3% while tangible property assessments fell nearly 20%, driven in part by a roughly 30% drop in warehouse assessments. "Assessments went down," Lewis said, "so there's sort of an inverse relationship there," explaining that lower tangible valuations can raise the city—s maximum tangible rate even as assessed values decline.

Under state law, Lewis cited KRS 78 5 30 c 3 as permitting a special assessment to fund hazardous-duty retirement service costs; he said the statutory maximum for that assessment is $1.47 per $1,000 of assessed value. Lewis listed the Boone County-derived maximums for 2025 shown in the council packet: a maximum real-property rate of $1.87 per $1,000 and a maximum tangible-property rate of $2.39 per $1,000.

The staff—s 3% proposal would include a $0.44-per-$1,000 special assessment and result in a proposed real-property total rate of $2.31 per $1,000; Lewis presented a corresponding tangible total of $2.83 per $1,000 under the approach in the packet. He said the city—s adopted property-tax revenue projection for FY2025-26 is $10,100,000 and that, under the 3% scenario, the average real-estate tax bill would fall by about $25. "Every percentage change amounts to around a $100,000 decrease in revenue collection for us," Lewis added, and he estimated a resident—s bill would change roughly $10–$15 for each percentage-point cut.

Councilmember Whalen asked Lewis to explain what is included in the tangible assessment. Lewis said Boone County lists six tangible categories, led by goods stored in public warehouse (about 50% of the total), merchant inventory, manufacturers— finished goods, schedule C items (charter aircraft, registered watercraft), and construction work in progress. Whalen observed that warehouse inventories are self-reported by companies and can vary year to year; Lewis agreed that tangible assessments are a moving target and noted that assessments are sometimes revised at higher levels.

Mayor (unnamed) reminded the public that the law requires the city to advertise state-law maximum rates but that council may adopt rates below those maximums. A formal public hearing on the proposed 2025 tax rates was scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 4:30 p.m. in the council chambers at the Florence Government Center "to receive public comments regarding the proposed 2025 tax rates on real and personal property," the mayor said.

The caucus did not set final rates at the meeting; council members will review the financial impacts and consider adoption at a later meeting after the public hearing.