COVINGTON, Ky. — Property taxes in Covington are dropping to their lowest point "in modern history" thanks to a vote from the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

The city voted to cut property taxes by 17% after freezing the rate for five years in a row.

The new property tax rate for the northern Kentucky city is just over a third of what it was in the mid-1970s, officials said in a news release.

The new tax rate is likely a historic low for the city. (City of Covington)

The tax rate translates to $2.71 per each $1,000 in assessed value of real estate, down from $3.27 previously. Covington also lowered its personal property tax rate from 0.349 to 0.328, officials said.

Tax bills reflecting the new rate will be sent out Sept. 15.

Interim Finance Director Jerome Heist said the decrease was possible because the total worth of property in the city increased dramatically between 2021 and 2022.

“In my 22 years here at the City, I’ve never seen an increase that large,” Heist said.

The increase was tied to three things: new construction in the City, dramatic increases in the housing market, and a reassessment of property values conducted by the office of the Kenton County Property Valuation Administrator, which is required by law every four years.

Those reassessments explain why not every individual homeowner – despite the Commission’s decision -- will see a corresponding 17 percent decrease in their tax bill, Mayor Joe Meyer said.

“Let me just explain a fact of life to everybody: Not everybody is going to get a tax cut,” the mayor said. “There are those who will be paying more because their assessment has gone up – but they will not be paying as much as they would have under the previous tax rate.”