News In Newport

I was in a meeting tonight where the City Manager brought up the tax increase. This year we will get a 4% increase. That doesn't sound like much to you? Add it up. Newport has the second lowest tax in Campbell County. Wilder is first. That doesn't help the fact that I will be paying alot more to call Newport my home. I don't think Newport will be happy untill they run the home owners out of town. Tax increase, city stickers are coming back for our cars, double the money for parking meters and more meters will find their way around town. Cut funding for Fire, PD, city workers and even spoke about closing the kids baseball parks down around the city. Even with these changes they are still predicting that they are and will be broke in the future with the way the city is set up right now. They owe HUD $100K and are now giving them houses or property the city owns to pay off the money they owe so they can build more section 8 houses. When the question was ask if the houses would be rentals or owned homes the big wig for HUD said he wasn't sure yet but he had all the property for owner houses taken care of. So that means if you have a rough empty house on your block and they trade one of them to section 8 then you will more than likely get a new house built or the old one fixed and rented to a family straight out of the projects. I should say they will rent it because it's you and me that pay for their rent! They don't pay much if they pay any! If you are like me and have 4 or more empty houses on your block chances are you are going to have a bunch of retards sitting in kitchen chairs in the front yard, drinking 40 oz. and running your property value down.

I completely understand your concern. It is getting extremely difficult to justify working eight plus hour days every day for your employer and give a large percentage of your earnings to local, state, and federal agencies knowing that these agencies spend the money frivolously on illegitimate entitlement programs and fail to consider any type of fiscal responsibility and the only answer it raise taxes.

Wilder may have the lowest property tax rate in Campbell County, but it is greatly subsidized by the 2.25% payroll tax and the overzealous police department.

Out of curiousity, what is the current property tax rate in the City of Newport? The current property tax rate in the Northern Pendleton Fire District, where I am located, is $12.15 per thousand.

As a side note, it felt extremely nice to vent first thing this morning!

Greg I will have to look and see what it is now. I lost track. They have raised it the last 4 years. It's still low compared to most cities but people on fixed incomes are loosing their homes left and right. This will only hurt the struggling more. I know people that have retired and lived in their homes for over 20 years and lost them this past summer. It's rough. 3 of which where people I know that lives on my street. I don't know what I would do if I'd have to start over in a rental at 60 + years of age. It just doesn't seem right.

I think almost everyone is on a fixed income. Raises are about a thing of the past. If you do get a pay increase, there is usually a cut someplace else in the benefits so the net effect is zero of something below that.