Hopkinsville City Council heard the financial report at Tuesday meeting and approved keeping the keeping the tax rate on real property the same as last year’s on second-reading.
The property tax rate will stay at 23.9 cent per $100 of assessed value with personal property at 24.0 cents. The original ordinance had been to raise the rate to 24.7 cents, but many councilmembers had expressed that they didn’t agree with raising taxes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin says the city has officially received the $2.2 million in CARES Act funding and it has gone into the general fund until council decides what it will be used for.
He says the equivalent payroll tax collection for August was better than anticipated, but it’s still down by about five percent due to COVID impacts.
In other action, council approved a municipal order that authorizes the mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding with Christian Fiscal Court to apply for a $10,813 grant from the 2020 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, with the funds to be given to the Christian County Juvenile Drug Court.