Vehicle owners could get reprieve from higher car values under Senate measure

Senate discussion turns into bashing session

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Vehicle owners in Kentucky could receive up to $70 million in tax relief under a measure that won unanimous support on the Senate floor Friday.

And while it was approved 34-0 with support from both parties, it became a platform for the Republican-controlled Senate to bash Democrats for everything from inflation to supply chain difficulties to higher used-car values.

Senate Joint Resolution 99 would direct state officials to assess taxes on vehicles using valuations from 2021 for the next two years. It also calls on the state Department of Revenue to issue refunds for taxes that have already been paid based on current year assessments.

The resolution’s primary sponsor, Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, said the proposal would help Kentuckians cope with the once-in-a-lifetime jump in vehicle values that occurred during the pandemic.

“This would bring tax relief to Kentucky vehicle owners, to our job creators in the automobile industry as well as to people who own fleets of vehicles,” he said.

Douglas said Kentucky taxpayers are facing financial challenges and it’s incumbent on the legislature to require changes.

“Typically, vehicle values go down from year to year,” he said. “But the director of state valuation said …that overall in 2022 these valuations have increased. And compared to previous years, it is up approximately 40 percent.”

Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, also spoke on behalf of the bill.

“You know, probably every member of this chamber has received phone calls from back home in their district about this situation,” he said.

Sen. Robin L. Webb, D-Grayson, called it a bipartisan effort.

“This issue is so important that the House and the Senate have both addressed it at the same time. It was one of the first things that we did, and you can see that by the bill numbers and the importance of that,” she said.

But several others blamed the situation on Democrats in Frankfort and Washington.

“These people have suffered enough, they don’t need to be punished by this administration after they’ve already been punished by the people in Washington,” said state Sen. Phillip Wheeler, a Pikeville Republican who launched into two different verbal assaults on the Beshear and Biden administrations.

“To stand up here and say you are working for the poorest and the neediest in our state, honestly I find that disingenuous. Of course this is a good bill and I’ll vote for it, but I also think people need to look in the mirror,” responded state Sen. Karen Berg, a Louisville Democrat who noted Republican failed to protect state residents from having their unemployment benefits taxed and a variety of other measures that would have helped state residents during the pandemic.

Senate President Robert Stivers, who represents Clay, Jackson, Knox, McCreary, Owsley and Whitley counties, noted the state has record surpluses and reserves totaling more than a $1 billion. Republicans want to use some of that for tax cuts for state residents while Democrats mostly want to use the money to invest in state workers, child care and pre-k, education, pay raises, infrastructure and other needs.