W’burg delays second reading of its tax until after meeting

After conducting the first reading of their payroll tax ordinance Monday afternoon, Williamsburg leaders seem to be finding out that they have more questions than answers regarding the proposed ordinance.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison announced Tuesday afternoon that he was postponing a special called meeting slated for the next day to approve the second reading of the ordinance for two reasons.
Harrison’s primary reason for postponing the meeting is that he wants to meet with Whitley County Judge-Executive Mike Patrick and Corbin Mayor Amos Miller later this week to see if the two cities and the county can reach a settlement in terms of how payroll tax revenue that comes out of the cities will be split.
“I want to meet with them before making any final decisions,” Harrison noted.
Harrison said there are also a lot of questions he has regarding the net profits portion of the tax that he would like to get answers to before Williamsburg addresses the second reading of its ordinance.
In late June, the Whitley County Fiscal Court implemented a 1 percent occupational tax in order to balance out its budget. The tax includes provisions to tax not only payrolls, but net profits generated by businesses.
The Corbin City Commission approved the second reading of its 1 percent occupational tax ordinance Thursday afternoon, which could enable that city to keep 100 percent of the payroll tax revenue generated in Corbin. However, there is debate on whether this would occur, or if the Corbin tax would have to stack on top of the county tax, thus causing Corbin residents to pay a 2 percent tax rather than 1 percent. This controversy is part of the reason city and county leaders are planning to meet later this week.
Harrison said one major question he has is whether Williamsburg would have to automatically collect the tax if the council passed the second reading of the ordinance like Corbin did, and then later negotiated a deal with the county for splitting the revenue coming out of the city.
A provision in the Williamsburg ordinance would make the city tax null and void if it was determined it would have to be stacked on top of the county tax.
During their special called meeting Monday, city officials debated about initial provisions in their ordinance that would have exempted banks from paying the net profits tax, and other entities, and whether the net profits portion of the tax should be dropped all together.
In the end, the council amended the ordinance to exempt only national guard pay, students workers doing work-study programs, election precinct officer pay, and non-profit groups from paying the tax. However, council members directed Harrison and other city officials to research the matter to see how much revenue would be brought in from the net profits portion of the tax.
Harrison said he didn’t feel he could get answers to these questions and others prior to a special called meeting Wednesday, and instead plans to call a special meeting for early next week after he meets with Whitley County and Corbin leaders over a possible division of the existing county tax.