The Boyle County Fiscal Court has adopted a compensating property tax rate for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, 6.6% per $100 on real property. This is lower than the previous year’s rate of 6.7%.

Other rates are remaining the same as the previous fiscal year: a personal property rate of 7.8%, distilled spirits rate of 7.8%, aircraft rate of 7.8%, watercraft rate of 7.8%, agricultural products rate of 4.5% and motor vehicle and watercraft rate of 6.9%.

The fiscal court made the unanimous decision to adopt the compensating rate during a special called meeting on Monday. The previous Tuesday during the regular fiscal court meeting, they had made the unanimous decision to keep the current rate of 6.7%, which would have required two public hearings.

However, during the special called meeting, Magistrate Jamey Gay said, “But I think based on the timing and everything, it is what we need to do at this point in time, is to take the compensating rate.”

During the regular meeting, Gay outlined the revenue the county would generate from the different options for rates: 6.6%, what the county decided on, would generate approximately $1.26 million, a 4% increase in rate would generate about $1.3 million and keeping the same rate at 6.7% would generate approximately $1.28 million.

There will be a small increase in overall revenue to the county due to inflation with the compensating rate. The compensating rate does not require public hearings.

“The compensating rate is the inflation-adjusted rate that the county can adopt that will generate the same amount of purchasing power in the prior year,” Gay explained at the regular meeting.

However, the fiscal court during their regular meeting had considered keeping the existing rate of 6.7% because it would have meant generating about $19,000 in real property over what the compensating rate would generate.

County administrator Julie Wagner explained at the regular meeting why the county was considering keeping the rate of 6.7%. She said an industry in the city was appealing its 2018, 2019 and 2020 tangible property it had paid, and “It looks like we’re going to have to pay some of that back.”

So the additional $19,000 would help offset paying some of the amount back.

She said “it’s probably going to be around $70,000” paid back from the county, with the schools and the library needing to pay larger amounts.

On Wednesday, Wagner said she does not know what the name is of the industry appealing.