By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - An executive order Kenton County Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd signed late last year directs the county's treasurer to begin collecting a payroll tax increase that has been held up in a legal dispute.

But Mr. Murgatroyd, a Republican locked in a contentious re-election campaign where tax increases are a key issue, said Tuesday he will not move to begin collecting the tax, which was raised three years ago by a Kenton County Fiscal Court majority to pay for a new county jail.

"I have no plans to raise taxes," Mr. Murgatroyd, a Republican, said in a prepared statement released late Tuesday afternoon. "I have no plans to make additional plans."

Fort Wright Democrat Patrick Hughes, who is challenging Mr. Murgatroyd, said the judge-executive is using election-year rhetoric and called on Mr. Murgatroyd to clearly state whether he plans to abandon any plans to begin collecting the higher payroll tax.

"At worst, this is a ploy to keep voters in the dark until after the election," Mr. Hughes said. "At best, it is the same kind of indecision we've seen from Mr. Murgatroyd on the jail issue. If the answer is no, then the taxpayers involved in the suit can save time, energy and money by not appealing further."

Last summer, Kenton County Circuit Judge Patricia Summe ruled that the county fiscal court, which Mr. Murgatroyd heads, illegally increased the county's payroll tax. More than $80 million collected was returned to taxpayers as the fiscal court appealed the ruling.

Late last week, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the county acted properly when raising the tax. Mr. Murgatroyd said then that he would wait to see if that ruling is appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court before deciding if the increased tax should again be collected.

"When the day comes when we are ready to move forward on building a jail," Mr. Murgatroyd said Tuesday in his statement, "I will exhaust every option and squeeze every last penny out of existing revenue to get the job done."

Mr. Hughes, who has said he can build a jail without raising taxes, distributed copies of an executive order Tuesday that Mr. Murgatroyd signed Dec. 5, 2001. The order suspended collection of tax pending a ruling by the Court of Appeals.

But it also contained a provision that once the Court of Appeals ruled on the case, "the (county) treasurer shall begin collecting" the payroll tax at the higher rate the fiscal court had approved.

"The fact of the matter is that Dick Murgatroyd has already said he will raise taxes if he is successful in court," Mr. Hughes said. "Now, because he's trying to get re-elected, Dick Murgatroyd is dodging the issue."

Deputy Judge-executive Scott Kimmich said Mr. Murgatroyd was not available to elaborate on his statement.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com