Shelbyville, KY · Updated Oct 2026

What a Shelbyville home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Shelbyville house

$8,223a year · $685 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $257,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

A Shelbyville house at the typical market value ($257,100) costs about $8,200 a year: $3,250 property tax and charges, $790 water and sewer, $240 trash, $2,590 electricity and gas, $1,360 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 22, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Seniors 65+: homestead exemption$49,100 off assessed value
Kentucky homeowners who are at least 65 years of age can take $49,100 off the assessed value of their home for the 2025-2026 assessment years; taxes are figured on the rest.
How: File the Application for Exemption Under the Homestead/Disability Amendment with the Shelby County PVA, with proof of age such as a birth certificate, driver's license or passport.
Totally disabled owners: disability exemption$49,100 off assessed value
Homeowners classified as totally disabled under a federal program or a retirement system, who received disability payments for the entire assessment period, get the same $49,100 exemption for 2025-2026.
How: File the Application for Exemption Under the Homestead/Disability Amendment with the Shelby County PVA.
If tax bills are mailed by October 1, pay by November 1 for 2% off2% off if bills were mailed by October 1
Under Kentucky's tax calendar, if tax bills are mailed by October 1, taxpayers have until November 1 to pay with a 2% discount; the face amount is due November 2 to December 31.
How: Ask the Shelby County Sheriff's office, which collects taxes in the county: (502) 633-4324.
Seniors 60+: 20% off Republic trash service20% off trash
City residents age 60 or older qualify for a 20 percent senior citizen discount on Republic Services trash collection.
How: Call Republic Services at 800-262-6565.
Get the sewer part of a leak bill adjustedUp to 3 months of sewer
After a non-visual leak in the service line between the meter and the house is repaired, SMWSC adjusts the sewer portion of the bill using your average water use for the past 3 months, for up to 3 months. One adjustment a year; faucet and toilet leaks do not count.
How: Fill in SMWSC's Residential Leak Adjustment Application and provide a plumber's statement and/or a description of the repairs showing the leak was fixed.
Bulk pickup: last Friday of the month
Republic Services' bulk collection in the city is the last Friday of the month.
How: Call Republic Services at 800-262-6565 with questions.

Money dates

Nov 1in 8 daysLast day to pay the county tax bill with the 2% discount, when bills are mailed by October 1 (Kentucky's tax calendar).
Nov 2 – Dec 31in 9 daysThe county tax bill is due at the face amount.
Nov 30, 2026in 37 daysCity of Shelbyville property tax bills (mailed September 30, 2026) are due.
Dec 1, 2026in 38 daysUnpaid City of Shelbyville tax bills get a 10% penalty plus 6% interest a year until paid.

Who serves this house

Water: Shelbyville Municipal Water & Sewer Commission; Shelbyville Municipal Water & Sewer Commission monthly rates for customers within the city limits and the city water service area, from the July 1, 2026 billing; the first 1,000 gallons cost $12.37 for a 5/8-inch meter
Property tax: 1.26% of value; 2026 tax year, Shelby County
Garbage: Republic Services; Effective 1/1/2025: $19.86 a month ($59.58 a quarter); billing questions go to Republic
Sewer: Shelbyville Municipal Water & Sewer Commission (SMWSC); $11.75 for the first 1,000 gallons a month, then $3.96 per 1,000 gallons
Electricity: Kentucky Utilities (KU); Rate RS: $0.58 a day plus $0.11234 per kWh, plus monthly adjustments
Gas: Atmos Energy; Rate G-1: $25.00 a month plus $7.1856 per Mcf for the first 300 Mcf
Schools: Shelby County Public Schools; 71.4 cents per $100 of assessed value (2025 tax year)

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: SMWSC uses surface water from Guist Creek Lake, about 2.5 miles east of Shelbyville, for the Shelbyville area; its other customers are served with water bought from Louisville Water Company.
Lead: In August 2025 tap testing, 0 sites exceeded the 15 ppb lead action level; the 90th percentile was 3 ppb and results ranged from 0 to 8 ppb.

How these numbers are made

Property tax: the 2026 state rate (10.3 cents per $100), Shelby County Fiscal Court's 2026-2027 rate (8.8 cents) and the City of Shelbyville's rate on the 2026 city bills (24.6 cents), Shelby County Public Schools' 2025 rate (71.4 cents; the board proposed keeping it for 2026-27 and we did not find the final vote), plus the 2025 county-wide rates for cooperative extension (1.8), health (3.25), landfill (2.4), library (2.8) and soil conservation (1.0), 126.35 cents per $100 in all, on the value you enter. The starting value is the Census median value of owner-occupied homes in Shelbyville, $257,100; your PVA assessment may differ. Fire protection districts (7.5 to 10 cents elsewhere in the county) and the Plum Creek watershed levy (1.5 cents) are not included, because the city has its own fire department and the watershed covers only part of the county; if your bill shows one, add it. Kentucky's $49,100 homestead exemption is only for owners 65 and older or totally disabled, so it is listed as a tip, not taken off the typical bill. The county bill comes from the Shelby County Sheriff and the city bill from the City of Shelbyville.
Trash: Republic Services' city rate posted by the City of Shelbyville, $19.86 a month ($59.58 a quarter) effective January 1, 2025. The city page also says a 5% rate adjustment applies on each anniversary date, so the 2026 rate may be about 5% higher; we did not find the adjusted figure.
Water and sewer: SMWSC's inside-city rates from the July 1, 2026 billing (the 2.5% yearly adjustment under City Ordinance 2021-03-18). Water is $12.37 for the first 1,000 gallons (5/8-inch meter, shown here as the monthly base charge), $3.32 per 1,000 gallons for the next 9,000, $3.18 for the next 15,000 and $2.98 above 25,000. Sewer is $11.75 for the first 1,000 gallons and $3.96 per 1,000 gallons after that; the $3.88 rate above 10,000 gallons is not modeled (it is 8 cents lower). SMWSC publishes no typical household use, so the page starts at 9 CCF (about 6,700 gallons) a month. Homes outside the city limits or in the Finchville rate area pay higher rates.
Electricity: KU Rate RS, $0.58 a day (about $17.64 a month) and $0.11234 per kWh, plus the August 2026 billing adjustments (fuel adjustment -$0.00188 and DSM $0.00154 per kWh; environmental cost recovery -0.11% of the bill) and the $0.30 Home Energy Assistance charge, all increased by the City of Shelbyville's 2.1% franchise fee (2017 franchise, ten-year term). The adjustments change every month; retired asset and pilot generation recovery factors are not included. Starting use is KU's 2024 Kentucky residential average from EIA (about 1,097 kWh a month). Shelby Energy Cooperative serves some homes on the edges of the city and in the county instead.
Gas: Atmos Energy Rate G-1 from August 1, 2026, the $25.00 monthly base charge and $7.1856 per Mcf (distribution $1.6261 plus gas cost adjustment $5.5595) plus the Pipe Replacement Program rider ($0.6796), R&D charge ($0.0174) and DSM credit (-$0.0011) per Mcf, converted to therms at 10.37 therms per Mcf. The gas cost adjustment changes during the year and a weather normalization adjustment can apply; neither is modeled. LG&E also serves gas in parts of Shelby County. Starting use is Kentucky's 2025 residential average from EIA (about 54 therms a month).
Utility tax: Shelby County Public Schools levies a 3% utility gross receipts license tax (2025-26, the latest year in the state's table), added here to electricity and gas. Kentucky law also counts water as a taxed utility service, so the SMWSC water bill may carry it too (about $1 a month at the starting use); that is not added. Insurance is the 2022 Kentucky statewide average HO-3 premium (NAIC data via Triple-I), about four years old; replace it with your own premium.
PRP rider rate $0.6796 is the tariff's G-1 PRP rate; its stated billing period starts Oct 2025, modelled as still in effect.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Shelbyville compares

A typical Shelbyville house against the 23 Kentucky cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Shelbyville	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.26%	1.26%	lower than 12 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover
Water	$377	$535	lower than 18 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$413	$745	lower than 20 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover
Trash	$238	$230	higher than 8 of the other 12 Kentucky cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,587	$2,652	lower than 13 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,359	$1,359	in the middle of 21 other Kentucky cities we cover
Total	$8,223	$8,268	lower than 12 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $377 a year at typical use, lower than 18 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $377 a year at typical use, lower than 18 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

2. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $413 a year, lower than 20 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover. Some cities bill sewer on the property tax bill instead, which is not counted here.

Ask: "Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here cost about $413 a year, lower than 20 of the other 22 Kentucky cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Shelbyville house costs

What is the property tax rate in Shelbyville?

About 1.26% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 tax year, Shelby County), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Shelbyville?

About $6,318 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Shelbyville?

About $66 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on Shelbyville Municipal Water & Sewer Commission.

How much does trash pickup cost in Shelbyville?

$20 a month for a house.

When is property tax due in Shelbyville?

Nov 30, 2026: City of Shelbyville property tax bills (mailed September 30, 2026) are due.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Shelbyville?

Yes. Seniors 65+: homestead exemption: Kentucky homeowners who are at least 65 years of age can take $49,100 off the assessed value of their home for the 2025-2026 assessment years; taxes are figured on the rest.

How much does a house in Shelbyville cost to run each year?

All Kentucky cities All cities