Owensboro City Commissioners heard the first reading of proposed tax rates for the 2020-21 fiscal year during a meeting Tuesday. According to the proposal, real property would decrease by 20 cents.
According to City Manager Nate Pagan, the proposal is to decrease the real estate rate from 26.60 cents to 26.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
So, a property assessed at $100,000 would pay $264 in property taxes to the City.
The tax ordinance sets three distinct property rates, Pagan said.
“The primary rate is on real estate — your house, or whatever property you own in the City,” Pagan said. “That represents about 82% of all the property tax, so that is by far the most prominent.”
The proposed vehicle tax rate will be left unchanged at 30.3 cents per $100 assessed value. When rates were set last year, Director of Finance and Support Services Angela Waninger said the City’s vehicle tax rate has stayed the same since 2000.
The proposed tax rate also sets the personal property taxes at 27.87 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
“The personal property rate is calculated automatically based on the real property rate,” Pagan said.
If the ordinance is passed, it will mark the second straight year the City has reduced property tax rates after voting to increase them for fiscal year 2018-19.
The second reading is scheduled to be heard at the next City Commission meeting on Sept. 15.
