Bowling Green City Hall.

The City of Bowling Green’s real estate tax rate will be slightly lowered from $0.205 to $0.204 per $100 of assessed value, and the rate for personal property will remain steady after unanimous approval on a first reading from city commissioners Tuesday night.

This adjustment means on real estate valued at $100,000, the owner would owe $204 in city taxes. The personal property tax rate in Bowling Green is $0.260 per $100, a rate that was set two decades ago and has not changed since.

“It’s always good news when it goes down incrementally,” Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott said in the meeting.

Katie Schaller-Ward, chief financial officer for the City of Bowling Green, told the Daily News, when the rates were proposed earlier this month, that the slight decrease is mandated by state law.

She said by law, a municipality cannot exceed 4% growth in existing property value without lowering the tax rates for real estate. Schaller-Ward said real estate is the property you own, such as houses, farms or businesses, and personal property refers to “tangible property” owned by businesses, such as equipment.

“We could keep it at .205, but it’s a complicated process for us to do that, and it’s not really worth it for $1,” Schaller-Ward said.

Schaller-Ward told commissioners on Tuesday that before invoices can be mailed to taxpayers, the Bowling Green Independent Schools Board must approve its tax rate. According to an email from BGISD, the district will hold a public hearing on tax rates at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 3.

Currently, the deadline for tax payment still sits at Dec. 31.

The Jennings Creek area saw continued attention on Tuesday, as commissioners accepted a proposal from Nashville-based Lose Design to complete planning and design work on the boardwalk that will track along the existing Jennings Creek Greenway.

City Manager Jeff Meisel described the Jennings Creek area during the meeting as “pretty much ground zero” after the Dec. 11, 2021 tornadoes, which hit the area particularly hard.

“It’s going to be a great project,” Meisel said. “This is one of the good things that’s come out of a really bad time in our city’s history.”

The city in March accepted $386,488 of Kentucky Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus funding for the project, $59,000 of which will cover planning and design work.

The park will sit between the Creekwood and Whispering Hills neighborhoods once completed, featuring play areas and recreational space, according to a city memo. A boardwalk going across a natural wetlands area will also be included, allowing for “watershed and environmental education” in the area.

“I could see us finishing up design in the fall (or) winter, going to bid in the winter, and construction starting sometime in the spring or summer next year,” said Brent Childers, director of Neighborhood and Community Services for the City of Bowling Green.

Commissioners also approved Tuesday:

• The purchase of solar panels totaling $134,775 that will be installed at Fire Station 8 in the Kentucky Transpark;
• A second reading of the annexation of 3.041 acres of land on Lovers Lane presently owned by Kevin and Lynn Kirby;
• A $130,000 extension of a contract with Scott & Ritter, Inc. to provide demolition and sinkhole repair services to the city, with the renewal running from Sept. 1 to June 30, 2025.

Commissioners will meet again on Sept. 3.