Daviess County Fiscal Court is set to see an ordinance to lower the tax rate on insurance premiums from 7.2% to 4.9% for property outside Owensboro and Whitesville city limits, effective July 1 according to Judge-Executive Al Mattingly.
The Fiscal Court is expected to discuss it at their first February meeting on Thursday. As it will be the first reading of the ordinance, there will not be a vote during the meeting.
Mattingly said that should it go into effect, the rate will drop 2.3 percentage points, which will save taxpayers $2.30 off every $100 for their insurance.
It’s estimated to save the county citizens $1 million to $2 million dollars altogether.
This ordinance comes after a rise in insurance premium tax in 2010 from 4.9% to 8.9% to pay off $20 million in bonds for Fiscal Court’s share of the cost of the Owensboro Convention Center. It was expected that the Court would pay the debt off by 2030.
However, after refinancing and paying an additional $500,000 toward the principal in 2014, they cut six years out of the term. Last year the court reported to the Owensboro Times they have still been over-collecting by nearly $100,000 per year, meaning they can shorten the term even further as well as lower the rate.
Last year, Fiscal Court ruled to decrease the premium from 8.9% to 7.2%.
While this will benefit the county residents, City of Owensboro residents will continue to pay the higher tax for two more decades.
