LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some Oldham County residents are paying a double tax for emergency services ever since 2019, when the Worthington Fire District merged with Anchorage-Middletown added a second ambulance service to parts of Oldham County.
Oldham County Judge Executive David Voegele said the merger led to a second tax for hundreds of residents.
"Once Worthington merged with Anchorage-Middletown, then a second tax got put on these people, because Worthington didn't have an ambulance but Anchorage and Middletown did have an ambulance license to operate in that area," Voegele said.
"The only people subjected to this are the 1,200 property owners who live in Oldham County who are served by the Worthington Fire District."
Voegele said the double tax started at the end of 2019, but a lot of people still don't know they're paying twice.
"Oldham County EMS tax rate is 4.74 cents per $100 of value," Voegele said. "The Anchorage-Middletown-Worthington tax is actually $0.06."
For a property valued at $300,000, that would be $142.20 for the Oldham County service and $180 for Anchorage-Middletown Fire & EMS.
"Because the $180 is a little more than $142, it's more than double taxation," Voegele said.
Voegele sent a letter to property owners to invite them to a meeting to talk about options. That includes making Oldham County the only EMS service for the entire district and the only tax that is collected.
"We don't know if the law will allow Anchorage-Middletown to wave the tax for the ambulance service," Voegele said. "That's a question that's out there and not solved, but we would like to see what the people in the district feel."
The meeting will be held at Crestwood Elementary School at 7 p.m. Dec. 9.
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