COVINGTON, Ky. — Kenton county is lowering its property tax rate for the fourth consecutive year, making it the lowest rate since 1983.

What You Need To Know

  • The Kenton County Fiscal Court voted to reduce the 2024 real property tax rate by 6%

  • It's the fourth consecutive year the fiscal court has cut its rate, going from 13.3 cents per $100 valuation to 12.5 cents, the lowest rate since 1983

  • The fiscal court has been trying to rebalance its revenue for two years

  • The two main streams are property tax and payroll or occupational tax

The Kenton County Fiscal Court voted to reduce the 2024 real property tax rate by 6%, the fourth consecutive year the fiscal court has cut its rate. It’s going from 13.3 cents per $100 valuation to 12.5 cents.

“Dollars out of the pockets of homeowners should be flat if not less than they were prior, even with property valuations increased,” said Kenton County Judge Executive Kris Knochelmann.

He said the fiscal court has been trying to rebalance its revenue for two years. The two main streams are property tax and payroll, or occupational tax.

“As costs always go up, less of a burden of that will be held by the Kenton County property owner and resident,” Knochelmann said.

He said as property value has gone up, it got to the point where more than two-thirds of the revenue was coming from property tax. Knochelmann said that was higher than most counties in the region, which rely more on payroll tax.

“It shoves more of the burden toward those who don’t live here. And a huge percentage, the majority of workers in Kenton County, are not residents. So we want to make sure we try and balance that out,” Knochelmann said.

He said the county intends to keep cutting the property tax rate further and further, something he thinks will play a role in more people wanting to live in Kenton County.

In Oct. 2023, the fiscal court approved legislation to lower the county’s occupational tax rate, while also eliminating the county’s net profits tax.

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