City council scraps third occupational tax measure, revives earlier one
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 11:45 p.m. — For the third time in six weeks, the Bardstown City Council has reversed course on the changes to the city’s occupational tax, scrapping a proposal the council approved at a previous meeting and replacing it with a different one.
The version of the occupational tax ordinance approved at Tuesday’s city council meeting is identical to the one the council approved four weeks ago but voted down two weeks later.
The 4-2 vote to scrap the previously approved occupational tax measure at Tuesday’s council meeting came as a surprise to Mayor Bill Sheckles. Councilman Tommy Reed said he voted against the ordinance because it wasn’t the compromise he had agreed upon at an earlier council meeting. In addition to Reed, councilmen Bobby Simpson, Francis Lydian and Fred Hagan voted against the measure.
The tax plan the council rejected would have kept the tax rate of ½ of one percent the same; it would have eliminated the exemption on the first $15,000 of income and removed the current $75,000 cap.
Bardstown Mayor Bill Sheckles reacts after the city council voted down the occupational tax ordinance it had approved two weeks earlier. The measure approved by the council eliminates the current exemption on income under $15,000 and raises the cap on the tax from $75,000 to $100,000 while keeping the rate of 1/2 of one percent the same. In the 4-2 vote, councilmen Tommy Reed, Roland Williams, Fred Hagan and Joe Buckman voted for the proposal.
TAX DETAILS. The measure approved Tuesday night is identical to the one the council approved June 28th. The ordinance keeps the tax rate at ½ of one percent; it drops the exemption on the first $15,000 of income. Rather than drop the cap on taxable income, the replacement ordinance approved Tuesday raises the cap from $75,000 to $100,000.
Sheckles said he had no problems with the replacement ordinance. “The problem I’m having is that we keep going back and forth,” he said.
Francis Lydian, who voted against leaving a cap on the occupational tax, voiced his displeasure with the council’s move to put a cap back on the tax.
“I think it’s unfair to cap this occupational tax. I think it’s unfair for someone who makes $200,000 to pay the same amount of tax as someone making $75,000,” Lydian said. “The council members should have a guilty conscience.”
Lydian said he also had a problem with applying the tax to those who earn less than $15,000. Sheckles explained that the 2011-12 budget the council approved depends on additional revenue from the occupational tax – and only by removing the exemption can the occupational tax generate enough revenue.
After additional discussion, the council voted 4-2 to approve dropping the exemption on the first $15,000 of income and raising the cap to $100,000. Councilmen Reed, Williams, Hagan and Buckman cast votes in favor of the measure; Simpson and Lydian voted against it.
WHAT’S NEXT? The council will take up the question of its occupational tax at its next regular meeting on Aug. 9th.
Check back for more coverage of Tuesday’s Bardstown City Council meeting on the Nelson County Gazette.
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