EKB News

The state has sent tax bills totaling $2.5 million to Kentuckians who own ritzy houseboats and cabin cruisers. About 3,500 people could have to begin paying state and local property taxes on their houseboats and cabin cruisers now that tax collectors from the Kentucky Department of Revenue know who they are. The boats - generally more than 25 feet long and often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and up - have gone untaxed for years because they were registered with the U.S. Coast Guard and not the state. However, the state got approval from the Coast Guard to use its files to identify the boats and their owners. The Department of Revenue began notifying boat owners last summer that they were behind in their tax payments. The average boat tax bill so far is about $700 according to a report by the Associated Press.