Fiscal Court sets tax rate By CINDY HENNING All members of the Meade County Fiscal Court were present on Sept. 20 at a special called meeting to set the real property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. Magistrates Harold Davidson and Herbie Chism made and seconded a motion to follow state guidelines and raise the rate by 4 percent. Magistrate Kent Allen questioned the need for this increase since revenue would rise anyway due to county growth. Theresa Padgett agreed and cited statistics showing increases in the past five years that put Meade County’s tax rate at 28.1 percent higher than the average Kentucky county. She asked for an amendment to decrease the tax rate by 10 percent, which she figured would still yield 25 percent more funding than last year. Magistrate Don Callecod stated that it would be fiscally irresponsible to cut the tax rate since surplus money had been needed to meet budget expenses this year. He explained that almost half of the more than one million dollar costs of the new EMS service had not been paid through collections and Fiscal Court had to cover that. Magistrates Chism and Jamie Staples cited rising fuel and insurance costs along with added budget responsibilities that would make a decrease impossible. Magistrate Davidson declared that Fiscal Court had to be realistic. Magistrate Allen asked about specific services that were not covered by a different tax already. He added that the taxpayers are tired of giving more and receiving less. He amended the motion to keep the tax rate at the same level as last year. Both amendments failed along party lines. The state recommended 4 percent tax increase passed the same way with a rate of $0.216 per $100.
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