Beech Tree News Network

The Morgantown City Council decided to pursue a raise in the property tax rate that would be equal to “a penny on $100” at their regular monthly meeting Thursday night.  The Council also favored increasing penalties for delinquent property tax and blighted property and proposed to change how the police chief gets paid to comply with state law.  Council member Sharon Johnson was absent from the meeting.
 
City Clerk Jarrod Barks told the Council that the compensating rate of property tax has not been raised since its inception in 1980, when it was .22; Barks said the rate has dropped steadily to keep the dollar amount of revenue generated unchanged as property values increased.  The current rate is .105.  Barks said the state would allow an increase of 4 percent to .116, which would generate an additional $13,400 in 2015; Mayor Billy Phelps said the increased rate would be equal to an extra penny per $100.  Barks pointed out that occupational tax revenue makes up 85 percent of budgeted revenue, and the proposed increase in property tax would help diversify city income.  A public hearing would be required to raise the property tax rate.  The Council decided to pursue the 4 percent rate increase for the 2015 fiscal year.  The Council decided to also pursue a change in property tax penalties, raising them to a 25 percent penalty every six months.
 
Barks told the Council that the city has authority under new state law to tax abandoned urban properties at a higher rate than the compensating property tax rate.  Mayor Phelps said the goal for such a rate would not be tax collection but to get property owners to comply with ordinances to maintain property conditions.  In response to Council member Dionne Merritt’s question, Phelps and Barks said Planning and Zoning would maintain a list of properties not in compliance and the measures needed to be corrected.  The Council decided to pursue a higher abandoned urban property rate of approximately $1.50 per $100 for the 2016 fiscal year.  Phelps stated that a public hearing for all three property tax proposals will be set and announced.
 
The Council had the 1st reading of an ordinance to change how the MPD police chief gets paid.  Kentucky Revised Statutes prohibit salaried police employees from patrol duty, so the Council proposed changing the position from salaried to hourly, keeping the same hourly rate of $19.08 per hour.  The 1st reading passed on a 4-1 roll call vote with Council member Dionne Merritt voting no.
 
Mayor Phelps reported that the city has cancelled four phone lines with AT&T that will save the city $19,300 per year.  Phelps also proposed to stop paying full-time city employees $35 per month to reimburse personal cell phone use for city business in favor of buying city cell phones for the employees, which would cost an extra $50 per month in total and limit potential liability issues.  The Council agreed with the proposal.
 
Phelps reported to the Council that he is calling a meeting with leaders of all Morgantown industries for September 4 to focus on workforce development, a topic of concern frequently mentioned by industry.  Phelps also said the tennis court repairs have been completed, and the fence and nets just need to be put back up.  He added that the new personnel policy has been passed and that delinquent taxes have been turned over to the attorneys for action.
 
Phelps discussed the appearance of store windows on Main Street, many of which are vacant, and said some windows are “absolutely horrible.”  Phelps suggested at least temporary fixes such as window-sized posters, and he proposed a volunteer day to paint some windows; he said he intends to talk with the owners of the buildings about remedies.
 
MPD Chief Charles Swiney said July was “another busy summer month” with the Catfish Festival included in the period; 501 calls for services were received, and 12 cases were presented to the Butler County Grand Jury.  Swiney said that Ethan Vincent had resigned to take a position with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife; Phelps said he does not intend to replace Vincent at this time.
 
In other business, the Council passed the 1st ordinance changing the City Clerk/Treasurer’s title to City Administrative Officer/Clerk.  Phelps announced that the CDBG grant which concerned Kentucky Copper was revised down from around $2 million to $888,000 due to lower employment levels and officially closed; Phelps also said Kentucky Copper is current so far with their payments.

Story by Don Thomason, Beech Tree News