Paducah's Board of Commissioners passed the ordinance that would assess real estate parcel fees to fund the 911 systems operation and maintenance.
The City of Paducah and McCracken County have both adopted the proposal that would charge fees for each parcel of land based upon its use. Real property is categorized as residential, commercial, or public use and the fees will be assessed accordingly. Commercial properties are charged based on size and residential properties are charged by the housing unit. Unoccupied buildings and vacant lots will not be charged under this fee structure.
The city said previously that the landline and cellphone fees assessed for that purpose are not enough to cover operations, maintenance, and upgrades. The ordinance states that the city and county cannot collect more than it costs to operate and maintain the system. Therefore, the real estate parcel fees will be reviewed annually and adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index by an advisory board. The landline fee was also repealed as a part of the new structure.
The ordinance sets up an appeals board to deal with issues of classification. Owners wishing to appeal classification or occupancy have until December 1st to file that with the City Clerk's Office. The ordinance also allows rental property owners with occupied units to get a rebate of $22.50 per unit in the first year.
The 911 working group modeled the fee structure on a similar program in Kenton County, Kentucky. The fees will appear on property tax bills beginning this fall.
This is the fee structure as it was passed at Tuesday's meeting:
- Residential Unit $45 – each house, apartment, duplex or quadplex unit, or mobile home is a separate residential unit
- Public Use Unit $35 - emergency service, governmental, religious, charitable, and educational parcels
- Super Commercial Unit (contains structure in excess of 25,000 sq. ft.) $1,550
- Large Commercial Unit (contains structure between 7,500 and 25,000 sq. ft.) $860
- Medium Commercial Unit (contains structure between 2,500 and 7,500 sq. ft.) $325
- Small Commercial Unit (structure between 1 and 2,500 sq. ft.) $210
- Parking Lot $150 – This category is for parking lots and garages
