By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Kentucky property tax is calculated and payable each year based upon a formula determined by the state. According to revenue.ky.gov, “The amount you pay in property taxes each year depends on two things: (1) the assessed value of your property and (2) the tax rates that are levied at both the State and local levels.”
Kentucky statutes regulate property taxes in several ways, including KRS 132.020(2), and rates are set each year (by July 1) and apply to all real property tax bills throughout Kentucky. This statute, “requires the State real property tax rate to be reduced anytime the statewide total of real property assessments exceeds the previous year’s assessment totals by more than 4 percent.”
There are fluctuations in the taxes owed each year on real property at all levels of government, and those taxes are collected by the government entity in question or their representatives. Typically, there is some sort of discount for those who pay their tax bills early, as well as a penalty for those who pay late. Tax bills can be paid in person, and there are usually provisions in place for paying through the mail as well as (in some cases) being able to pay tax bills over the phone.
The City of Olive Hill held a special meeting last Wednesday, November 5, to hold a public hearing concerning the proposed new tax rate, with time set aside allowing any Olive Hill resident who chose to comment on the new tax rate to do so. No residents of Olive Hill were present at the called meeting and hearing, which had been advertised online and in the local newspaper of record for the appropriate amount of time leading up to the meeting.
Following the public hearing, city council conducted the first reading of the ordinance concerning real property taxes in the city. The ordinance, 2025-06, is an ordinance setting the property tax for the City of Olive Hill and follows the KRS (Kentucky Revised Statutes) 182.027, and any and all other applicable laws. The ordinance set the property tax rate at 0.226 per 100 dollars.
The ordinance was set to go into effect when it was voted upon at a subsequent special meeting set for that reason on Thursday, November 6. The new tax ordinance did not raise property taxes in the city, and the new rate was the same as the tax rate for 2024. It has been some time since property taxes have been raised in the city, and that is by design.
“We do need the tax base,” City Council Member Eric Rayburn said. “But it is more beneficial to the city to ease the burden of our current residents. We need to encourage people and businesses to purchase and renovate buildings in the city, because this raises the value of property in the city overall, and not simply tax the existing businesses and residents more.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
