BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Property owners will see no change in their county property tax rates for the coming year. The Martin County Fiscal Court voted unanimously to keep the real property tax rate unchanged at 12.1 cents per $100 of assessed value for the upcoming year.
According to the Department for Local Government, the compensating rate necessary for the county to generate the same amount of revenue as the previous year would be 12.6. Keeping the rate at 12.1 is expected to generate $15,000 less in revenue than last year, according to Martin County Deputy Judge Carolea Mills.
Magistrates also kept the motor vehicle and watercraft tax rates at 14.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.
During the Oct. 16 meeting, the county also accepted tax rates from special districts and the cities of Warfield and Inez. Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty noted the court “accepts” the rates so that tax bills can be generated, but does not set the rates for the special districts.
The worksheet reflects the following tax rates:
Fiscal Court – Real estate 12.1, personal tangible 14.5, merchant inventory 14.5, watercraft 14.50.
Extension Service – Real estate 14.3, personal tangible 33.78, merchant inventory 33.78.
Health District – Real estate 4.0, personal tangible 4.0, merchant inventory 4.0, watercraft 4.0, aircraft 4.0, inventory in transit 4.0.
Library – Real estate 10.6, personal tangible 10.7, merchant inventory 10.7, watercraft 10.7, personal aircraft 10.7, inventory in transit 10.7.
School district – Real estate 84.6, personal tangible 84.6, merchant inventory 84.6, watercraft 84.6, aircraft 84.6.
City of Inez – Real estate 9.2, personal tangible 9.2, merchant inventory 9.2.
City of Warfield – Real estate 11.2, personal tangible 11.2, merchant inventory 11.2.
Moving to other topics, District 1 Magistrate Cody Slone mentioned that residents had approached him about putting speed bumps on a couple of county roads.
“What do we need to do about getting speed bumps?” Slone asked. “Can we just put them down?”
County Attorney Melissa Phelps said it requires a process.
“We can’t just go put them down,” she said. “We can’t just put up speed limit signs. First we have to develop an ordinance.”
Before the ordinance, the county would need to get the state’s guidelines.
“We can do it, but it isn’t just something that you can say, ‘I’m going to put up some speed bumps tomorrow,’” said Phelps. “We can, if it is an immediate concern, put up the ‘Slow, Children at Play’ signs.”
On the same topic, Little Blacklog resident Joe Horn spoke to the court about speeding on Little Blacklog.
“I’ve been down here many times to ask John Herman to come and get people to slow down,” Horn said. “They’re running 50 and 60 miles per hour through there. I’ve asked them to slow down, and that’s why I’m here. I want speed bumps.”
Judge Lafferty told Horn the court would consider his road as well.
According to Phelps, it would take a couple of months to go through the process, which includes having the state study the road to determine the proper speed limit.
“It’s probably something we need to have in place,” she said.
Phelps will begin work on an ordinance.
The court also:
• Approved an agreement with the Kentucky Department of Highways to purchase 250 tons of salt for a total cost of $30,059.
• Approved a litter abatement agreement.
• Awarded bids for surplus property on Turkey.
• Approved an easement for Crum Branch on Turkey.
• Authorized advertising for a grant fund program and a FEMA road project on Big Lick.
• Approved hiring Alex Adams part-time for the emergency management service.
• Paid bills.
• Appointed James Ayers to the Big Sandy Regional Industrial Development Authority. (See separate story.)
• Approved a resolution for a grant for flood mitigation. (See separate story.)
• Recognized the football team for its recent PRIDE cleanup. (See separate story.)