By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - By mid-summer, Covington will have a new weapon in its fight against run-down properties.

A law that will let all Kentucky cities charge owners of blighted and abandoned properties at a higher rate than others passed the Senate Thursday by a vote of 26-2.

The measure, which the House approved by a vote of 84-5 last week, now goes to Gov. Ernie Fletcher for his signature. It will take effect July 15.

Originally, Covington had lobbied to extend the protection now only available to Louisville - Kentucky's largest city - to smaller urban areas such as Covington and Newport, both second-class cities. But when State Rep. Arnold Simpson learned that less-populated towns also worried about unsightly properties, the Covington Democrat decided to include them in the legislation too.

"Now second- through sixth-class cities will be able to levy a higher tax for abandoned properties just like Louisville does,'' Covington Mayor Butch Callery said. "When some of the smaller cities heard we were proposing the blight legislation, they asked to be included too.''

By hitting offenders in the wallets and pocketbooks, the theory is they'll either fix up unsightly properties or sell them.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Covington had 654 vacant properties. Housing officials have said run-down, abandoned buildings serve as havens for criminals, lower property values and prompt neighbors to move elsewhere.

Covington's vacant properties commission now sends letters to owners of run-down properties giving them 90 days to fix the problems. If the owner fails to act, the properties are sent to the city commission for certification and added to a vacant properties list. At that point, a run-down property could be taxed at a higher rate, once the blight law takes effect.

Callery said the city of Covington acquires about 10 properties a year after the vacant properties commission declares them blighted, but city officials felt the blight tax would get quicker results.

"We want to improve all the neighborhoods in the city, and this gives us an excellent tool to move forward,'' Callery said.

Covington City Solicitor Jay Fossett plans to check with Louisville before Covington officials decide how high a rate to levy on blighted and abandoned properties.

The higher tax on blighted properties is the latest in a series of actions that Covington officials have taken against criminal activity and blighted property.

In September, 2001, Covington formed a code enforcement department and appointed a code enforcement board to hear cases involving blighted properties and fine offenders. Other changes include putting a full-time housing inspector in the police department, changing traffic patterns on some city streets to stop drug trafficking, sending "Dear John'' letters to homes of men who solicit prostitutes and adopting strict new licensing regulations for massage parlors to deter prostitution and other illegal activities.

City officials also are revising a "one strike and you're out'' policy for residents of public housing that would still penalize offenders, but would prevent innocent parties from being evicted if they can prove they didn't know about a crime committed on their premises.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com