JCPS board lowers property tax rate for second consecutive year

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Jefferson County Board of Education lowered tax rates Tuesday for property owners in Kentucky’s largest school district.

The board set Jefferson County Public Schools’ property tax rate at 76.3 cents per $100 of assessed value for upcoming tax bills, down from 79.6 cents per $100 of assessed value last year. The board’s approval followed a public hearing in which few attended and no one spoke for or against the proposed rate.

The new rate would generate lower tax bills for those whose property values did not increase this year. The owner of a $200,000 home, for example, would owe $66 less in property taxes this year compared to 2021.

The district’s new tax rate is expected to generate $674,192,066 in revenue, and $75,353,551 of that is from new properties and assessment increases, according to board documents. JCPS expects about $35 million more property tax revenue this fiscal year compared to last year, documents show.

"Property assessments have gone way up in Jefferson County," JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said after Tuesday's meeting of the district's expected revenue growth while lowering its property tax rate. "That's not up for us to decide."

The new tax rate is expected to generate about 4% more revenue for JCPS, within the threshold of avoiding a voter referendum under Kentucky law.

The board’s vote represents the second consecutive year that the district’s property tax rate dropped since 2020, when board members voted to raise the rate by 7 cents in anticipation of 9.5% revenue growth that year.

The district’s 2020 property tax rate, 80.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, survived a recall attempt. Property tax rates expected to generate more than 4% revenue growth can be subject to voter referendums under state law, but the Kentucky Supreme Court in June tossed out thousands of signatures on the recall petition because of erroneous, duplicate or altered entries.

The high court sided with Jefferson Circuit Judge Brian Edwards in ruling the petition fell thousands of votes short of the more than 35,000 needed at the time to put the tax rate before voters.

The fight to increase the district's property tax rate in 2020 "was quite the battle," Pollio said after Tuesday's meeting.

"At this point in time, we're not necessarily doing that," Pollio said. "Can't say the board won't do it in the future, but at this time, we're not interested in that. We're just getting the normal 4%."

While the district’s property tax revenue increases, its share of state dollars shrinks.

The $1.5 billion working budget discussed by the board, which is set for consideration Sept. 13, includes $214.7 million in Support Education Excellence in Kentucky funding for the current fiscal year.

That’s down $9.6 million from the $224.3 in SEEK funding allocated for JCPS last year and the $260.4 million in state support given to the district in the 2017 fiscal year, budget documents show.

SEEK funding fluctuates based on local tax revenues under the current formula, meaning school districts with poorer property tax bases get more state dollars and vice versa.