City Commission discusses funding for 911 ordinance

Paducah's Board of Commissioners took a first look at the ordinance that would assess real estate parcel fees to fund the 911 systems operation and maintenance.

As a provision of the interlocal agreement between the city and county, both bodies will be adopting the proposal that would charge fees for each parcel of land based upon its use. Real property would be categorized as residential, commercial, or public use and the fees would be assessed accordingly. It was noted that commercial property would be charged based on size, while residential properties would be charged by the housing unit.

The city said that as it stands, the landline and cellphone fees assessed for that purpose are not enough to cover operations, maintenance, and upgrades. The real estate parcel fees would be reviewed annually and adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index by an advisory board. There would also be an appeals board established to deal with issues of classification.

The 911 working group modeled the fee structure on a similar program in Kenton County, Kentucky. Once passed, the fees will appear on property tax bills beginning this fall.

This is the fee structure as it was discussed at Tuesday's meeting:

• Residential Units $45 – each house, apartment, duplex or quadplex unit, or mobile home is a separate residential unit
• Public Use Units $35 - emergency service, governmental, religious, charitable, and educational parcels
• Super Commercial Retail Unit (contains structure in excess of 25,000 sq. ft.) $1,550
• Large Commercial Retail Unit (contains structure between 7,500 and 25,000 sq. ft.) $860
• Medium Commercial Retail Unit (contains structure between 2,500 and 7,500 sq. ft.) $325
• Small Commercial Retail Unit (structure between 1 and 2,500 sq. ft.) $210
• Non-Retail Commercial Units $150 – This category is for parking lots and garages