Ed Hastie grew up on a farm in Montgomery County and always wanted to live in the country. But he became a lawyer, not a farmer, so in 1978, he and his wife bought a 10-acre lot in southern Fayette County.
To protect farms from the bulldozer, Kentuckians long ago agreed to keep property taxes low on land that produces crops and livestock. But the bulldozer often comes anyway.
A former investigator at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services who alleged that her superiors wanted her to cover up mistakes made in a horrific child abuse case in Berea has settled her whistleblower lawsuit in exchange for a cash award and a new position.
Blake Shouse, manager of Shelbyville Monument Co. in Shelbyville, Ky., makes his case for why the state should not put a sales tax on tombstones and grave markers. The tax exemption on gravestones costs Kentucky about $8.5 million each year.
Kentucky loses about $8.5 million a year by not applying its 6 percent sales tax to gravestones, monuments and tombstones — part of a whopping $13 billion the state loses each year through tax loopholes.
Kentucky’s sales tax generated more than $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2017, but the state could have brought in an additional $2.5 billion in revenue that year if it expanded the sales tax to cover services, ranging from haircuts to legal work.
Kentucky’s state property tax rate on small boats is 30 times higher than the tax rate on many luxury houseboats. That means owners pay less state property tax on a $150,000 houseboat than on a $25,000 fishing boat.
A law to spur economic development in blighted areas is now sometimes used for private developments in upscale neighborhoods. Overall, Kentucky has given developers $111 million through TIF tax rebates in the past decade and at least $2.9 billion more has been pledged.
Each year, Kentucky gives away more tax revenue through loopholes and incentive programs than it actually collects. Gov. Matt Bevin promised earlier this year to turn some of these "sacred cows" of Kentucky's tax code into hamburger, but that's ea
Kentucky film producer AJ Hochhalter explains how Kentucky's film incentive program helped him produce his documentary "Neat: The Story of Bourbon" just before the production's hometown screening at Kentucky Theatre.
Kentucky has promised more than $90 million in incentives to companies making movies, television shows, documentaries and commercials inside the state.
Kentucky has approved more than $90 million in film incentives for companies producing movies and television shows here. But nobody in state government can say whether taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.
Mark and Sharon Bryant run Gun Violence Archive, a website based in Lexington which fills a real-time information gap left by government, law enforcement and academic researchers.
Most accidental child shootings could be prevented if gun owners properly secured their weapons with a gun lock, Louisville gun safety activist Luther Brown says.
Gun safety activist Luther Brown says the man who accidentally shot and killed his 8-year-old grandson in 2016 is likely to spend little time behind bars.
Tens of thousands of Americans are shot every year. Who tracks the carnage? Gun Violence Archive, a website based in Lexington, fills a real-time information gap left by government, law enforcement and academic researchers. “Mass shootings drive much of the traffic to our website,” says Mark Bryant, who runs GVA. “Children getting shot is second.”
Blake Shouse, manager of Shelbyville Monument Co. in Shelbyville, Ky., makes his case for why the state should not put a sales tax on tombstones and grave markers. The tax exemption on gravestones costs Kentucky about $8.5 million each year.
