The Elizabethtown City Council met for a special meeting Monday evening.
The council approved, on their second readings, the ordinances that set city taxes for the 2024-2024 fiscal year. The franchise tax rate for all eligible bank deposits is set at .025 percent, the tax rate for real and personal property is set at 11 cents per $100 assessed value, and the tax rate for all motor vehicles and watercraft is set at 11.6 cents per $100 assessed value. Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the tax rates have been consistent.
“Just so we’re clear, we have not raised these percentages, at least in my tenure, and I think quite some time before that,” Gregory said. “I didn’t look up the exact date when they were adjusted last, but it’s been quite some time, so these were made the same as they did last year, in the year before, and so on.”
The council also approved a municipal order approving the application for up to $975,000 in grant submissions on behalf of the Elizabethtown Airport Board. The applications are for several grants through the Kentucky Department of Aviation for the terminal building renovation and expansion at Addington Field.
In other meeting news, SpringHaven Inc. CEO Georgia Hensley gave a report of the domestic violence shelter’s activities. Hensley said policy changes and work to increase reporting led to a jump in domestic violence survivors seeking support from SpringHaven from 379 in 2023 to 1,541 in 2024. Hensley highlighted some of SpingHaven’s initiatives including a court escort program that has rolled out in response to the shooting outside the Hardin County Justice Center and the establishment of a domestic violence intake center.
Elizabethtown Director of Planning Joe Reverman reported on the Planning and Development Department’s activities to this point in 2024. Reverman said 329 building, 501 electrical, and 156 sign permits have been approved, with 598 housing units approved for construction. Reverman said even without anticipated growth related to BlueOval SK, the rate of growth is outpacing the city’s infrastructure investment business model, so the city is exploring goals and initiatives laid out in the city’s comprehensive plan and other strategies.
The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet in a joint meeting with the Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau on September 23.
