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Erlanger council sets special meeting after PVA error removes $49 million from assessments
Summary
City officials told the council a PVA data error removed about $49,000,000 from 2023 assessed inventory, leaving the city to decide how to balance revenues for 2024; council scheduled a first reading next Tuesday and discussed keeping the tangible rate unchanged while adjusting property rate modestly.
Mayor and finance staff told the Erlanger City Council caucus that Property Valuation Administrator data for 2023 contained a misclassification that removed roughly $49,000,000 of inventory from the city's taxable rolls, a development officials said will affect approved compensating rates and budget calculations.
The misclassified inventory, the mayor said, was recorded as warehouse inventory when it should have been listed as inventory in transit and therefore not subject to city tangible tax. "That $49,000,000 has been removed from our 2023 tax rolls and will not be in further tax rolls," the mayor said, noting the state acknowledged the error and offered an apology.
Why it matters: the error made last year's compensating rate appear artificially low, officials said. The mayor recommended a slight property-tax reduction to 0.247 this year to continue a multi-year trend of rate reductions while resolving the assessment discrepancy through current-year action rather than retroactive billing. Councilmembers debated whether to leave the tangible rate at last year's 0.198 or to raise it slightly; one councilmember urged searching the budget for about $35,000 to avoid raising taxes.
Finance staff said additional omissions on the certified personal-property rolls exist and may yield more omitted revenues when processed by state procedures. The mayor also said the city will return approximately $97,000 to a business that overpaid because of the misclassification.
Council members pressed for more data and better automation. One councilmember asked the mayor to "send the raw data" used in compensating-rate calculations so members could compare alternative scenarios; the mayor agreed. Several councilmembers expressed frustration with the timing and reliability of PVA reporting and urged improvements in data delivery.
Next steps: the mayor said the council will hold a first reading at a special meeting next Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., followed by a second reading at the September regular meeting, to finalize the tax rates within the statutory schedule. Staff will provide supporting materials and calculations before the special meeting.
The council did not take a final vote on a permanent rate change at the caucus; members signaled support for proceeding with the readings and further review at the special meeting.
