Woman organizing protest Friday against proposed occupation tax hike

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015, 2 p.m. — A Nelson County woman has planned a rally to protest the Bardstown City Council’s plans to raise the city’s occupational tax by as much as 150 percent.

The event is slated for 6 p.m. Friday at the Old Courthouse on Court Square, and its intent is to highlight what Sorrell said amounted to Mayor John Royalty’s bullying tactics to achieve what she believes is his personal agenda.

Nelson County resident Wilma Sorrell speaks at the Aug. 11, 2015 Bardstown City Council meeting regarding the council’s plan to increase tax revenues.

Sorrell said she and others who are against the tax increase will be on hand with signs and flyers.

In an email to the The Nelson County Gazette, Sorrell took issue with plans that include the council raising the occupational tax rate by as much 150 percent — from .5 to 1.25 cents — as well as possibly lowering the property tax rate for city residents.

The majority of the workers who pay the city’s occupational tax — 82 percent — live outside the city limits. Those who work inside the city but live outside it — like Sorrell — must pay the tax without an opportunity to vote in the elections for those who approve it. It leaves the majority of occupational taxpayers without a voice, she said.

The council has also discussed occupational tax rates of .75 cent and 1 cent per dollar of revenue earned inside the city limits in its discussions to raise revenue to cover the fire department costs.

City administrators point to the city’s continued investment in its infrastructure that make it an attractive location for industry and businesses. The occupational tax is a way for those who don’t live in the city limits to pay their share of the costs of street maintenance, recreation, and fire and police protection — which are all part of making the city an attractive place for work and live, and are services non-residents also receive while working in the city.

In her letter, Sorrell points out that the move to raise taxes goes against Royalty’s published pre-election campaign statements about holding the line of taxes rather than raising them.

She also takes Royalty to task for splitting the joint city-count recreation agreement and for the split between the city and volunteer fire departments.

After negotiations failed between city government and the volunteer fire department, the city decided to move to a full-time fire department. Raising taxes is necessary to create the additional revenue pay for the seven additional firefighters needed to create a 24/7 fire department. That move was funded in the current year’s budget by taking money out the city’s financial reserves.

In a May 7 letter to the editor published in The Nelson County Gazette, Royalty said the move to a fulltime fire department was not due to the fire departments’ split, but was due to the need to improve fire department response times in the afternoon and evening hours. Volunteer firefighters remain a vital component of the city’s fire department, he said.

City administrators have already warned the council in committee meetings that the number of firefighters the city will need may climb as high as 25 positions.

Sorrell says raising the occupational tax and then lowering the property tax rate would be self-serving because it would benefit Royalty, his family, and other members of the council who hold investment property in the city.

Sorrell has invited local and regional media to attend tomorrow evening’s event.

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