FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. — The chamber of the Floyd County Council was packed with residents -- some who took to the microphone, some who jotted down numbers on a notepad, and many whose faces fell to disappointment after the council voted in a new income tax.
Floyd County residents will now have to pay a pretty penny to call 911. The county council voted 4-3 to implement a 0.5% local income tax rate.
That means if you make $100,000 a year, you'll pay $500 towards this new public service tax.
Or, a household in Floyd County making $74,000 a year, can expect to pay about $370.
It totals to be an annual $14 million generated in taxes for an undefined list of public safety services including law enforcement and jails, but with an emphasis on emergency medical services.
"I heard a whole lot about 'we need things' with no specifics," said Lois Hertog, a Floyd County resident.
"Then there's going to be 'things that we want,'" Hertog added. "Well, hello, welcome to our world. Us too."
Suzanne Davis is a former New Chapel EMS employee, which is the service once operated by the former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel who is now in prison.
New Chapel EMS also operated in Floyd County.
"I honestly don't know if you can put a dollar value on EMS response when lives are at risk," Davis said.
She said she was hoping for the tax's approval.
"For the sake of people know that if they need an ambulance, there's not going to be an ambulance coming from 30 minutes away," Davis said.
Hertog was hoping the vote went the other way.
"We fully expect to get the middle finger from just about everybody up there when the vote is coming down," Hertog said. "That's pretty much what happened."
Some councilmembers called the new tax the largest tax increase in the history of Floyd County.
Floyd County Councilmember Jim Freiberger (R-2) voted against it.
"I think it's a slush fund," he said. "I don't know who's getting the benefit of this are who's actually going to control it."
The council's president Danny Short (R-3) defended the new tax.
"We are long term planning for what the next decade of services will look like," Short said.
The new tax will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025.
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