While inflation remains at its highest since the early 1980s, Governor Andy Beshear noted Thursday that there are some signs of financial reprieve on the horizon.
Among them, falling gas prices. The national average has tumbled a month consecutively due to waning petroleum demand, and that’s bringing some help at the pump.
Prices on beef, pork and citrus fruits are also falling in local and regional groceries, but that’s being offset with other rises. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has tied up nearly 40% of the world’s wheat industry. The avian flu has caused a spike in egg prices. High, persistent heat brings about major corn and row-crop implications. A global pandemic continues to rear its head in supply chains. And the globalization of certain goods has been poorly timed.
It’s these, and many other reasons, that Beshear said inflation continues to be a critical concern.
For a second-straight year, Beshear said his office is prepared to drop the state’s real estate property tax rate from 11.9 cents per $100 of assessed values to 11.5 cents per $100 of assessed values.
It’s the first time since 2008 that the state government has seen back-to-back decreasing years.
Inflation may also be high, but the American dollar is strong. As of Friday, it was trading equally with the Euro for the first time in two decades.
