The local options sales tax – once chugging along at a good clip in Frankfort – appears to have stalled for good in the Kentucky Senate.
Support for the measure has been gradually peeling away since a group of big name employers in Louisville wrote to senators expressing worries that the temporary sales tax hikes communities could use to fund projects could translate to significant additional utility costs. And Senate President Robert Stivers said more companies are following their cue.
"Individuals started asking for carve-outs, such as the industrial electrical consumers... We had estimated it as $21 million out of the process. When that was heard, other industries like the Thoroughbred Association, they wanted a carve-out. So support started waning for that," he explained Wednesday night.
A constitutional amendment would be necessary to ok the local option sales tax, but a recent Bluegrass Poll found 63 percent of registered voters are on board with the idea.
