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Paducah adopts abandoned-urban-property tax to target long-vacant, unsafe buildings
Summary
The Paducah Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance creating an "abandoned urban property" tax of $1.50 per $100 assessed value, authorized under KRS statutes, and assigned the fire prevention division and the code enforcement board responsibilities for identifying properties and handling appeals.
The Paducah Board of Commissioners on Dec. 9 adopted an ordinance creating a new tax category for properties that meet Kentucky's abandoned urban property definition.
The ordinance, which the city summarized as authorized by KRS 92.305 and KRS 132.012, applies a tax rate of $1.50 per $100 of assessed value to qualifying properties and directs the fire prevention division to compile the list of candidates. The code enforcement board will review the fire prevention division's recommended list each year, determine which properties meet the statutory definition and hear owner appeals; the certified list becomes the official basis for applying the tax rate.
Mayor Bray, in explaining the measure, framed it as a tool to address long-term vacant or neglected properties that create safety hazards and depress neighborhoods. Commissioners noted the intent was to create an incentive for owners to repair properties rather than shift demolition costs to the city.
"We're trying to ... get at some of these empty buildings where people acquire them and they just sit there and they deteriorate," Mayor Bray said, describing conversations with Main Street and construction experts about stabilization costs.
The ordinance defines abandoned urban property consistent with the statute's examples (vacant structures or lots vacant for at least one year and that have become dilapidated, unsanitary, unsafe or otherwise dangerous) and lists factors such as tax delinquency and methamphetamine contamination notices that can qualify a property.
The board approved the ordinance by roll call. The ordinance takes effect according to the code's implementation provisions; the meeting record did not specify an effective date beyond adoption.
What happens next: The fire prevention division will develop policy for compiling the list and the code enforcement board will begin annual reviews and hear appeals as prescribed in the ordinance.
