COVINGTON — As nearly 80,000 Kenton County taxpayers receive payroll tax refunds because a contested increase may be ruled illegal, new fights over the tax continue.

        Kenton County Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd — a Villa Hills Republican seeking a second term this year — is drawing political fire from Democrats for refusing to declare the tax increase permanently dead.

        “That's being premature, and I won't do it,” Mr. Murgatroyd said in an interview this week. “We don't know what will happen in the court system. When something does, we'll address it then.”

        Democrats who want to knock Mr. Murgatroyd out of office are seizing on the comment, saying the judge-executive and the fiscal court are returning money now and will try to take it back if re-elected in November.

        The payroll tax hike took effect Jan. 1, 2001, and was designed to raise money to pay for a new county jail. But Covington and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit contesting the increase, which followed earlier tax hikes on property and utility bills.

        A Kenton County Circuit judge ruled last year in favor of Covington and those against the tax increase. The fiscal court is appealing the ruling in the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

        In December, Mr. Murgatroyd recommended — and county officials agreed — to refund the money while appealing the decision.

        Democratic judge-executive candidate Patrick Hughes, a Fort Wright lawyer, and other Democrats have challenged the county to drop the appeal and kill the tax increase for good.

        Mr. Hughes said the refund checks indicate that the fiscal court has “suspended” collection of the payroll tax, not eliminated it.

        “The county's actions just seem so sneaky,” he said. “I can't understand why Dick Murgatroyd just won't be more upfront on this issue.”

        Edgewood lawyer Mark Guilfoyle, a political adviser to Mr. Hughes, accused the county of “attaching strings” to the refund checks and said the refunds are an “election-year ploy.”

        Mr. Murgatroyd said he intends to wait the court case out before making any final determination on the long-term plans for the tax. And he accused the Democrats of using the issue “to make themselves look good.”

        Democrats have also criticized Mr. Murgatroyd for lobbying in Frankfort for a bill that would have made it easier for counties to raise the tax.

        Mr. Murgatroyd, a former state representative, said he pushed the bill because other counties wanted it and he heads the legislative committee of the statewide judge-executive's association.

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