Got your property tax bill? Lexington residents might receive another one this fall
Fayette County residents are getting their property tax bills in the mail, but the amount listed may ultimately not be what they end up paying when the bill comes due.
That was the message Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator David O’Neill recently broadcast on Facebook.
O’Neill aimed to inform residents about the consequences of an ongoing tax recall effort that will ultimately decide what the local rate is.
Here’s what to know about the proposed rate, the petition seeking to challenge it and how taxpayers will be affected if it succeeds or fails.
Lexington residents could see second property tax bill this fall
During the 2021-22 fiscal year, property owners in Fayette County paid property taxes of 80.8 cents per $100 of assessed property value. However, board members at Fayette County Public Schools have proposed a rate increase from the current 80.8 cents to 83.3 cents.
“For most of us, the 2022 property tax bill recently received indicates a tax cut - the amount owed decreased from last year’s bill,” O’Neill wrote in his post Oct. 12. “However, this bill DOES NOT include the rate increase proposed by Fayette County Schools to 83.3 cents per $100 of value.”
The current tax bills Fayette County residents received effectively amount to a tax cut because many properties have been reevaluated and are now worth more. More money is coming in, but the rate itself has not changed.
“Based on Kentucky’s ‘compensating tax rate,’ the property value increases in 2022 resulted in lower state, city, school and health department tax rates. Therefore, for most homeowners, the bill they received last month was a net decrease from their bill in 2021,” O’Neill told the Herald-Leader.
In his Facebook post, O’Neill added that, “if the school tax recall petition, or subsequent recall vote fails, each of us will receive an additional tax bill for the difference between the two tax rates.”
That difference would equate to an additional 4.8 cents per $100 in value, or roughly $100 for a $200,000 home, O’Neill noted.
What’s the status of this tax recall effort?
A group is circulating an online petition to recall the school board tax hike, and it has until Oct. 28 to deliver at least 5,000 signatures in support of that outcome.
The group previously stated it intends to obtain 7,500 names in case some are disqualified. Only registered Fayette County voters may sign the petition.
For its part, school district officials have said the property tax rates would generate enough funding to complete more than half the projects on its current facilities plan. Critics say the district hasn’t done enough to keep up with current maintenance demands, including addressing reports of mice and at least one snake falling from classroom ceilings during the school day.
If the petition has enough signatures to succeed by the deadline, the school district can do one of three things:
Vote to set their tax rate back so the district is getting an increase of 4% revenue
Run a special election in early January to decide the recall and pay about $400,000 for it
Wait until the 2023 general election
Tax bills become delinquent if unpaid by April 17, 2023, with a 21% penalty, then transferred to the county clerk’s office for continued collection.
According to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, which is tasked with collecting the tax, “mailed payments will be accepted for the amount due on the date of the postmark. Note that a postal meter date is not acceptable proof of posting. Property tax due dates are set by statute and the Office of Sheriff has no authority to negotiate deadlines or offer extensions.”
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