FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House voted Wednesday to grant relief to taxpayers hit with hefty increases in their vehicle property tax bills, caused by a pandemic-related surge in used car values.
The measure cruised to House passage on a 95-0 vote, sending it to the Senate.
The House passed another high-profile bill that would ban the application of the death penalty for some people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses. The measure, which also advances to the Senate, represents the latest effort to chip away at the death penalty in Kentucky.
The vehicle tax measure would change the long-standing method to determine a vehicle’s value. Also under the bill, Kentuckians who already paid vehicle property taxes this year would receive refunds for the increased amount.
Last month, state officials notified county officials that 2022 overall valuation for vehicles would go up about 40%. For many vehicle owners, it meant a big increase in their tax bills.
The tax rate remained the same as previous years, but escalating used vehicle values caused the amount of taxes owed by some to go up, the state revenue department said.
The value of used vehicles soared as new cars became more scarce because of supply chain shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The legislation is a response to the fallout as lawmakers heard complaints from constituents.
“We’ve all received a lot of messages about this bill," said Republican Rep. Sal Santoro, the measure's lead sponsor. "So we’re going to try to fix this ... problem.”
On Tuesday, when the bill was heard in committee, Republican Rep. Jason Petrie said it would “hold everyone harmless" against increased vehicle appraisals and the resulting higher tax bills.
“So in 2022, you would pay no more tax than you would have paid on the 2021 bill,” said Petrie, the committee chairman.
Meanwhile, the death penalty-related bill won House passage on a 76-19 vote Wednesday. A similar measure cleared the House last year by a wide margin but stalled in the Senate. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.
GOP Rep. Chad McCoy has said key state senators were consulted as the latest bill was crafted in an attempt to win over the Senate.
Under the new version, the death penalty ban would only apply to defendants with a documented history — including a diagnosis from a mental health professional — of certain mental disorders. The disorders include schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and delusional disorder.
“There is absolutely no way that folks get away with committing the crime," McCoy, the bill's lead sponsor, told the House on Wednesday. "They still go to jail for life without the possibility of parole. All we’re doing is removing the death penalty portion.”
The bill would remove the death penalty as a possible punishment for someone who -- at the time of the offense -- had active symptoms of the mental disorders previously diagnosed by a licensed medical provider, he said.
The bill would not apply to defendants diagnosed later, but not at the time of the offense, with any of the disorders, McCoy said recently when the measure was reviewed in committee. Such defendants would remain eligible for the death penalty, he said.
Some death penalty opponents have expressed frustrations with the bill’s limitations.
Kentucky hasn’t carried out an execution since 2008 and currently has 26 inmates on death row.
———
The vehicle tax legislation is House Bill 6. The death penalty legislation is House Bill 269.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
