Like other cities across Northern Kentucky, Fort Thomas wants to raise property taxes this year. But recent financial mishaps have residents like Joan Ferris questioning whether the city shouldn’t consider a freeze instead. She says it’s an issue of trust.
“All of the bad financial stuff that’s come out,” Ferris said. “All of the bad performances by so many employees have come out can possibly justify ‘well if you give us another quarter of a million we will do so much better next year.’ I think it’s an embarrassment.”
Mayor Andy Ellison is opposed to the idea.
“We can go on about that forever, we can never raise property taxes because we had a bad bookkeeper,” he said.
But Ellison did announce Monday that the council won’t vote on what the new property tax rate will be until the city receives a final report of a forensic audit it requested from firm Dean Dorton in February. The city requested the audit to clear up years of poor accounting that led to an unaccounted $322,000. While the money isn’t missing, just not recorded properly, the city is attempting to mend broken trust with residents on all accounts.
And they’re facing a tight deadline to decide on a property tax rate.
“Time is of the essence to get the tax rate voted on,” Ellison said.
Residents usually get their tax bills by Oct. 1 — but the city says they might be later this year because of the delayed forensic audit. Taxes are still due Oct. 31.
Ellison and City Administrator Matt Kremer have seen drafts of the final report for weeks during meetings with Dean Dorton — and every time they did the firm promised the final report was coming soon.
Councilmember Ben Pendery asked if Kremer was confident Dean Dorton would have the forensic audit by the end of this week. Kremer wasn’t sure.
“I talked to them — it was through email cause it got a little aggressive,” Kremer said. “But they said by the end of this week — if not sooner.”
Even so, Ellison doesn’t believe the full report is going to reveal anything that would justify not increasing the property tax rate. He is in support of a 4% rate increase.
“If there’s another bookkeeping error does that mean no [tax] increase?” Ellison said. “For me it does not.”
A non-exhaustive list of city expenses includes new police and fire department cars and rifle replacements. The city says it’s looking ahead, and trying to plan for future years as well as this one’s expenses.
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