CHAPTER 225
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CHAPTER 225
( HB 147 )
AN ACT relating to local property tax rate levies.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
ď˘Section 1. KRS 132.017 is amended to read as follows:
(1) As used in this section:
(a) [, ]"Local governmental entity" includes a county fiscal court and legislative body of a city, urban-
county government, consolidated local government, charter county government, unified local
government, or other taxing district; and
(b) "Next regular election" means the regular election that occurs immediately after all statutory
requirements for levying a property tax rate have been met, regardless of whether the election occurs
in the same or a subsequent calendar year as the levy of the property tax rate.
(2) (a) 1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2. of this paragraph, the portion of a tax rate levied by an
ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a local governmental entity or district board of
education subject to recall as provided for in KRS 68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall
go into effect forty-five (45) days after its passage.
2. When a tax rate is levied by a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a consolidated local government,
the portion of a tax rate levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a district board of
education or other taxing district subject to recall as provided for in KRS 68.245, 132.023,
132.027, and 160.470, shall go into effect fifty (50) days after its passage.
(b) During the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by paragraph (a) of this
subsection, any five (5) qualified voters, who reside in the area where the tax levy will be imposed, may
commence petition proceedings to protest the passage of the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion by
filing an affidavit with the county clerk. The affidavit shall state:
1. The five (5) qualified voters constitute the members of the petition committee;
2. The petition committee will be responsible for circulating the petition;
3. The petition committee will file the petition in the proper form within the same forty-five (45)
day or fifty (50) day time period provided by paragraph (a) of this subsection;
4. The names and addresses of the petition committee members;
5. The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent; and
6. For petition committees filing petitions in response to a tax rate levied by a district board of
education or other taxing district that is primarily located in a county containing an urban-county
government or a consolidated local government, whether or not the petition committee is willing
to incur all of the expenses associated with electronic petition signatures. If the petition
committee is not willing to incur all of the expenses, then electronic petition signatures shall not
be allowed for the petition.
(c) Upon receipt of the affidavit, the county clerk shall immediately:
1. Notify the petition committee of all statutory requirements for the filing of a valid petition under
this section;
2. Notify the petition committee that the clerk will publish a notice identifying the tax levy being
challenged and providing the names and addresses of the petition committee in a newspaper of
general circulation within the county, if:
a. There is a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notice; and ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2
b. The petition committee remits an amount equal to the cost of publishing the notice
determined in accordance with the provisions of KRS 424.160 at the time of the filing of
the affidavit.
If the petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk shall publish the notice
within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit; and
3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the appropriate local governmental entity or district board of
education.
(d) The petition shall be filed with the county clerk within the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day
time period provided by paragraph (a) of this subsection and meet the following requirements:
1. All papers of the petition shall be substantially uniform in size and style and shall be assembled
in one (1) instrument for filing;
2. For a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily located in a county
containing an urban-county government or a consolidated local government, each sheet of the
petition may contain the names of voters from more than one (1) voting precinct, and for a
district board of education or other taxing district that is not primarily located in a county
containing an urban-county government or a consolidated local government, each sheet of the
petition shall contain the names of voters from one (1) voting precinct;
3. Each nonelectronic petition signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil;
4. Each electronic petition signature shall comply with the requirements of the Uniform Electronic
Transactions Act, KRS 369.101 to 369.120;
5. Each electronic and nonelectronic petition signature shall be followed by the printed name, street
address, Social Security number or birth month, and the name and number of the designated
voting precinct of the person signing; and
6. a. The petition shall be signed by a number of registered and qualified voters residing in the
affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in
the last preceding presidential election.
b. Electronic petition signatures shall be included in determining whether the required
number of petition signatures has been obtained when the expenses associated with the
electronic petition signatures have been incurred in accordance with paragraph (b)6. of
this subsection, the electronic petition signatures comply with the requirements of this
subsection, and the petition was filed in response to a tax rate levied by a district board of
education or other taxing district that is primarily located in a county containing an urban-
county government or a consolidated local government. The inclusion of an invalid
electronic or nonelectronic petition signature on a page shall not invalidate the entire page
of the petition, but shall instead result in the invalid petition signature being stricken and
not counted.
c. Notwithstanding subdivision a. of this subparagraph if a petition is filed in response to a
tax rate levied by a district board of education, the petition shall be signed by at least five
thousand (5,000) registered and qualified voters residing in the affected jurisdiction, or
signed by a number of registered and qualified voters residing in the affected jurisdiction
equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in the last preceding
presidential election, whichever is less.
(e) Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk, the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion shall be
suspended from going into effect until after the election referred to in subsection (3) of this section is
held, or until the petition is finally determined to be insufficient and no further action may be taken
pursuant to paragraph (i) of this subsection.
(f) The county clerk shall immediately notify the presiding officer of the appropriate local governmental
entity or district board of education that the petition has been received and shall, within thirty (30) days
of the receipt of the petition, make a determination of whether the petition contains enough signatures
of qualified voters to place the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion before the voters.
(g) If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify to the petition committee and
the local governmental entity or district board of education within the thirty (30) day period provided CHAPTER 225
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for in paragraph (f) of this subsection that the petition is properly presented and in compliance with the
provisions of this section, and that the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion levying the tax will be
placed before the voters for approval.
(h) If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, within the thirty (30) day period
provided for in paragraph (f) of this subsection, notify, in writing, the petition committee and the local
governmental entity or district board of education of the specific deficiencies found. Notification shall
be sent by certified mail and shall be published at least one (1) time in a newspaper of general
circulation within the county containing the local governmental entity or district board of education
levying the tax. If there is not a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notification, then
the notification shall be posted at the courthouse door.
(i) A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to final review by the Circuit Court
of the county in which the local governmental entity or district board of education is located, and shall
be limited to the validity of the county clerk's determination. Any petition challenging the county clerk's
final determination shall be filed within ten (10) days of the issuance of the clerk's final determination.
(j) The local governmental entity or district board of education may cause the cancellation of the election
by reconsidering and amending the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion to levy a tax rate which will
produce no more revenue from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in
KRS 132.010, than four percent (4%) over the amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax
rate defined in KRS 132.010 from real property. The action by the local governmental entity or district
board of education shall be valid only if taken within fifteen (15) days following the date the clerk finds
the petition to be sufficient.
(3) (a) If an election is necessary under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section:
1. [, ]The local governmental entity shall cause to be submitted to the voters of the district at the
next regular election, the question as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied; or[. The
question shall be submitted to the county clerk not later than the second Tuesday in August
preceding the regular election.]
2. [(b) If an election is necessary for a school district under the provisions of subsection (2) of
this section, ]The district board of education shall[may] cause to be submitted to the voters of the
district in a called common school election not less than thirty-five (35) days nor more than
forty-five (45) days from the date the signatures on the petition are validated by the county clerk,
or at the next regular election, at the option of the district board of education, the question as to
whether the property tax rate shall be levied.[ If the election is held in conjunction with a regular
election, the question shall be submitted to the county clerk not later than the second Tuesday in
August preceding the regular election.] The cost of a called common school election shall be
borne by the school district holding the election. Any called common school election shall
comply with the provisions of KRS 118.025.
(b) If an election under paragraph (a) of this subsection is held in conjunction with a regular election,
the question as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied shall be submitted to the county clerk
no later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the regular election.
(c) In an election held under paragraph (a)[ or (b)] of this subsection, the question shall be framed to ask
whether the voter is for the levy of the property tax rate.[so framed that the voter may by his or her
vote answer "for" or "against."] If a majority of the votes cast upon the question oppose its passage, the
ordinance, order, resolution, or motion shall not go into effect. If a majority of the votes cast upon the
question favor its passage, the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion shall become effective.
(d) If the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion fails to pass pursuant to an election held under paragraph
(a)[ or (b)] of this subsection, the property tax rate which will produce four percent (4%) more revenues
from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in KRS 132.010, than the
amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010, shall be levied
without further approval by the local governmental entity or district board of education.
(e) Local, state, and federal tax dollars shall not be used to advocate, in partial terms, for or against any
public question that appears on the ballot in this subsection. For purposes of this section, "local" means
and includes any city, county, urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified local
government, charter county, or special district. ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 4
(4) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, if a local governmental entity or district board of
education has not established a final tax rate as of September 15, due to the recall provisions of this section,
KRS 68.245, 132.027, or 160.470, regular tax bills shall be prepared as required in KRS 133.220 for all
districts having a tax rate established by that date; and a second set of bills shall be prepared and collected in
the regular manner, according to the provisions of KRS Chapter 132, upon establishment of final tax rates by
the remaining districts.
(5) If a second billing is necessary, the collection period shall be extended to conform with the second billing date.
(6) All costs associated with the second billing shall be paid by the taxing district or districts requiring the second
billing.
Became law without Govenor's signature April 27, 2024.