Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Tax topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Spencer County Board of Education adopts 59.8¢ property tax rate, adds 0.2¢ exoneration
Summary
After a public hearing on Aug. 26, the Spencer County Board of Education unanimously approved a 59.8¢ tax rate on real and tangible property (plus a 0.2¢ exoneration allowance), set motor-vehicle and utility rates, and said the recommended rates will generate an additional $556,000 under a full-collection assumption.
The Spencer County Board of Education unanimously approved a tax package on Aug. 26 that sets the real-property and tangible-personal-property rates at 59.8¢ per $100 of assessed value, plus a 0.2¢ exoneration allowance. The board also set the motor-vehicle rate at 56¢ and the utility tax at 3%.
Mister Murphy, who presented historical rate data and county comparisons during a public hearing, told the board that Spencer County’s current assessed valuation is $1,961,417,530 and that property-value growth has changed the district’s relative ranking among Kentucky school districts. He said the district could generate about $556,000 from selecting the 4% revenue-increase option and that the levied-equivalent rate (LEQ) trends reflected both valuation changes and rate choices.
Doctor Foster, the superintendent, recommended adopting rates that would produce 4% additional revenue (he emphasized that was a 4% revenue increase, not a 4% tax-rate increase) and urged the board to include the 0.2¢ exoneration allowance. "This does assume a 100% collection rate, which is done by the Spencer County Sheriff, Sheriff Scott Herndon," Foster said, acknowledging the collection assumption behind the revenue projection.
Board members moved and seconded the measure during the regular meeting immediately following the hearing; the vote was unanimous.
Why it matters: property taxes and related utility levies provide roughly 30% of the district’s general-fund revenue, according to the presentation, so the chosen rates will directly affect the 2024–25 budget. Administration noted the rate package represents a marginal overall decrease of 0.1¢ per $100 in assessed value on the total real-property tax rate compared with the prior reporting and a 1.6¢ per $100 decrease on the total tangible-property rate when combined with the allowances referenced by the superintendent.
What the board said next: the superintendent and finance staff will incorporate the adopted rates into the district budget documents and related submissions to the Kentucky Department of Education as required. No public speakers had signed up to comment during the hearing, and board members did not record any dissent in the vote.
The public hearing portion of the meeting opened at 5:45 p.m. and adjourned at 6:03 p.m.; the regular meeting followed at 6:03 p.m., where the board formalized the action.
