Kentucky Lawmakers Working on Tax Break for Tornado Victims

Article

Leaders of both parties in the Kentucky Legislature are working together to provide sales tax relief to residents of the 21 counties declared disaster areas by President Barack Obama following March 2 tornadoes.

Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, and Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, were joined by Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg; House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook; House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown; Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, and other lawmakers in announcing the emergency measures Tuesday.

The bill would offer home and business owners a rebate of the state’s 6 percent sales tax on construction materials used to rebuild in the counties where the damage occurred.

The Department of Revenue would send each owner a tax rebate check after receiving documentation from an insurance company or the Federal Emergency Management Agency and receipts for the materials.

The bill would also include provisions to help schools and school staff by authorizing the commissioner of education to declare 10 additional disaster days and to assure teachers and other employees that they will not lose any pay or benefits as a result of the disaster.

“I think the people standing here together are a testimonial to the fact that when Kentuckians get knocked down, we get up together,” said Stacy, whose town of West Liberty was one of those hit hardest by the storms. “We’ve got people from both sides of the aisle, from both chambers, and both leaders in the Senate and House.”

Stacy explained what the bill would do.

Under the proposal, building owners who replace or repair damaged structures in the counties where their losses took place may receive reimbursement from the state for the sales taxes paid on the materials if they submit receipts and other required information to the Revenue Cabinet. They may submit the receipts for three years, until March 2, 2015, in the House bill.

Stacy said it’s important that the rebuilding occur in the communities were the damage occurred because the objective is not only to help the homeowners and business owners, but also to rebuild and revitalize those “devastated” communities.

The second part of the bill would help school districts in two ways. Schools in the disaster area counties would be given 10 emergency disaster days that would not be counted against their average daily attendance figures. It would also give districts the option of using last year’s ADA figures instead of this year’s if attendance is lower so that their funding would not decrease.

The other way it would help schools is that school personnel would keep their salaries and benefits, as well as their jobs, for the period that school was not in session following the tornadoes. Staff members would still have to perform work for those days, but it could be in other areas than they would regularly be assigned.

Adkins said he expects the legislation to make it through a House committee on Wednesday and to the floor of the House on Thursday, where it could be voted on and then sent to the Senate.

Stivers said the timing in the Senate would not be as critical, and that he expected quick action.

Stivers and Stacy said they and other members of both parties had been working together for the past two and a half weeks on the legislation.

The Senate Republican floor leader said there are also other ways the legislature may be able to help owners.

“We’re going to continue to look for ways that we can rebuild these communities,” Stivers said