City of Elizabethtown expects to increase occupational tax

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Elizabethtown residents could pay hundreds of dollars more in taxes next year.

The city expects to raise its occupational taxes by .6%, meaning someone making $50,000 a year would pay about $300 more per year.

Mayor Jeff Gregory presented the city's budget for the upcoming fiscal year last month. He said the $109 million budget would require the tax increase to help cover costs.

Kevin Addington has helped to renovate several buildings around the city's downtown area, including the Stewart Opera House which is now home to Impellizzeri's. He's embracing the tax increase he says is necessary to help expand services.

"Taxes are never popular by any stretch of the imagination," Addington said. "But for things to grow successfully, you have to have funding."

Longtime attorney Dwight Preston loves his hometown and the growth, but hopes city leaders find a different way to pay for the budget expansion.

"I would hope they look for some other way as far as putting more taxes on us," Preston said. "So, even though I trust them (city council) because I know them, they're good people, I would hope that we can try another way. Maybe built another sports park."

The budget is a $12.5 million increase from this year to prepare for growth stemming from Ford's BlueOval SK battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky.

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