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AN ACT relating to local property tax rate levies. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
ď˘Section 1. KRS 132.017 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) As used in this section: 4
(a) [, ]"Local governmental entity" includes a county fiscal court and legislative 5
body of a city, urban-county government, consolidated local government, 6
charter county government, unified local government, or other taxing district; 7
and 8
(b) "Next regular election" means the regular election that occurs immediately 9
after all statutory requirements for levying a property tax rate have been 10
met, regardless of whether the election occurs in the same or a subsequent 11
calendar year as the levy of the property tax rate. 12
(2) (a) 1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2. of this paragraph, the portion of a 13
tax rate levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a local 14
governmental entity or district board of education subject to recall as 15
provided for in KRS 68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go 16
into effect forty-five (45) days after its passage. 17
2. When a tax rate is levied by a district board of education or other taxing 18
district that is primarily located in a county containing an urban-county 19
government or a consolidated local government, the portion of a tax rate 20
levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a district board of 21
education or other taxing district subject to recall as provided for in KRS 22
68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go into effect fifty (50) 23
days after its passage. 24
(b) During the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by 25
paragraph (a) of this subsection, any five (5) qualified voters, who reside in 26
the area where the tax levy will be imposed, may commence petition 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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proceedings to protest the passage of the ordinance, order, resolution, or 1
motion by filing an affidavit with the county clerk. The affidavit shall state: 2
1. The five (5) qualified voters constitute the members of the petition 3
committee; 4
2. The petition committee will be responsible for circulating the petition; 5
3. The petition committee will file the petition in the proper form within 6
the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by 7
paragraph (a) of this subsection; 8
4. The names and addresses of the petition committee members; 9
5. The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent; and 10
6. For petition committees filing petitions in response to a tax rate levied 11
by a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily 12
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 13
consolidated local government, whether or not the petition committee is 14
willing to incur all of the expenses associated with electronic petition 15
signatures. If the petition committee is not willing to incur all of the 16
expenses, then electronic petition signatures shall not be allowed for the 17
petition. 18
(c) Upon receipt of the affidavit, the county clerk shall immediately: 19
1. Notify the petition committee of all statutory requirements for the filing 20
of a valid petition under this section; 21
2. Notify the petition committee that the clerk will publish a notice 22
identifying the tax levy being challenged and providing the names and 23
addresses of the petition committee in a newspaper of general 24
circulation within the county, if: 25
a. There is a newspaper within the county in which to publish the 26
notice; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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b. The petition committee remits an amount equal to the cost of 1
publishing the notice determined in accordance with the provisions 2
of KRS 424.160 at the time of the filing of the affidavit. 3
If the petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk 4
shall publish the notice within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit; 5
and 6
3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the appropriate local governmental 7
entity or district board of education. 8
(d) The petition shall be filed with the county clerk within the same forty-five 9
(45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by paragraph (a) of this 10
subsection and meet the following requirements: 11
1. All papers of the petition shall be substantially uniform in size and style 12
and shall be assembled in one (1) instrument for filing; 13
2. For a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily 14
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 15
consolidated local government, each sheet of the petition may contain 16
the names of voters from more than one (1) voting precinct, and for a 17
district board of education or other taxing district that is not primarily 18
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 19
consolidated local government, each sheet of the petition shall contain 20
the names of voters from one (1) voting precinct; 21
3. Each nonelectronic petition signature shall be executed in ink or 22
indelible pencil; 23
4. Each electronic petition signature shall comply with the requirements of 24
the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, KRS 369.101 to 369.120; 25
5. Each electronic and nonelectronic petition signature shall be followed 26
by the printed name, street address, Social Security number or birth 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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month, and the name and number of the designated voting precinct of 1
the person signing; and 2
6. a. The petition shall be signed by a number of registered and 3
qualified voters residing in the affected jurisdiction equal to at 4
least ten percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in the last 5
preceding presidential election. 6
b. Electronic petition signatures shall be included in determining 7
whether the required number of petition signatures has been 8
obtained when the expenses associated with the electronic petition 9
signatures have been incurred in accordance with paragraph (b)6. 10
of this subsection, the electronic petition signatures comply with 11
the requirements of this subsection, and the petition was filed in 12
response to a tax rate levied by a district board of education or 13
other taxing district that is primarily located in a county containing 14
an urban-county government or a consolidated local government. 15
The inclusion of an invalid electronic or nonelectronic petition 16
signature on a page shall not invalidate the entire page of the 17
petition, but shall instead result in the invalid petition signature 18
being stricken and not counted. 19
c. Notwithstanding subdivision a. of this subparagraph if a petition is 20
filed in response to a tax rate levied by a district board of 21
education, the petition shall be signed by at least five thousand 22
(5,000) registered and qualified voters residing in the affected 23
jurisdiction, or signed by a number of registered and qualified 24
voters residing in the affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten 25
percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in the last 26
preceding presidential election, whichever is less. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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(e) Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk, the ordinance, order, 1
resolution, or motion shall be suspended from going into effect until after the 2
election referred to in subsection (3) of this section is held, or until the 3
petition is finally determined to be insufficient and no further action may be 4
taken pursuant to paragraph (i) of this subsection. 5
(f) The county clerk shall immediately notify the presiding officer of the 6
appropriate local governmental entity or district board of education that the 7
petition has been received and shall, within thirty (30) days of the receipt of 8
the petition, make a determination of whether the petition contains enough 9
signatures of qualified voters to place the ordinance, order, resolution, or 10
motion before the voters. 11
(g) If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify to 12
the petition committee and the local governmental entity or district board of 13
education within the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of 14
this subsection that the petition is properly presented and in compliance with 15
the provisions of this section, and that the ordinance, order, resolution, or 16
motion levying the tax will be placed before the voters for approval. 17
(h) If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, within 18
the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of this subsection, 19
notify, in writing, the petition committee and the local governmental entity or 20
district board of education of the specific deficiencies found. Notification 21
shall be sent by certified mail and shall be published at least one (1) time in a 22
newspaper of general circulation within the county containing the local 23
governmental entity or district board of education levying the tax. If there is 24
not a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notification, then 25
the notification shall be posted at the courthouse door. 26
(i) A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to final 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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review by the Circuit Court of the county in which the local governmental 1
entity or district board of education is located, and shall be limited to the 2
validity of the county clerk's determination. Any petition challenging the 3
county clerk's final determination shall be filed within ten (10) days of the 4
issuance of the clerk's final determination. 5
(j) The local governmental entity or district board of education may cause the 6
cancellation of the election by reconsidering and amending the ordinance, 7
order, resolution, or motion to levy a tax rate which will produce no more 8
revenue from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as 9
defined in KRS 132.010, than four percent (4%) over the amount of revenue 10
produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010 from real 11
property. The action by the local governmental entity or district board of 12
education shall be valid only if taken within fifteen (15) days following the 13
date the clerk finds the petition to be sufficient. 14
(3) (a) If an election is necessary under the provisions of subsection (2) of this 15
section: 16
1. [, ]The local governmental entity shall cause to be submitted to the 17
voters of the district at the next regular election, the question as to 18
whether the property tax rate shall be levied; or.[ The question shall be 19
submitted to the county clerk not later than the second Tuesday in 20
August preceding the regular election.] 21
2. [(b) If an election is necessary for a school district under the provisions 22
of subsection (2) of this section, ]The district board of education 23
shall[may] cause to be submitted to the voters of the district in a called 24
common school election not less than thirty-five (35) days nor more 25
than forty-five (45) days from the date the signatures on the petition are 26
validated by the county clerk, or at the next regular election, at the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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option of the district board of education, the question as to whether the 1
property tax rate shall be levied.[ If the election is held in conjunction 2
with a regular election, the question shall be submitted to the county 3
clerk not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the regular 4
election.] The cost of a called common school election shall be borne by 5
the school district holding the election. Any called common school 6
election shall comply with the provisions of KRS 118.025. 7
(b) If an election under paragraph (a) of this subsection is held in conjunction 8
with a regular election, the question as to whether the property tax rate 9
shall be levied shall be submitted to the county clerk no later than the 10
second Tuesday in August preceding the regular election. 11
(c) In an election held under paragraph (a)[ or (b)] of this subsection, the question 12
shall be framed to ask whether the voter is for the levy of the property tax 13
rate.[so framed that the voter may by his or her vote answer "for" or 14
"against."] If a majority of the votes cast upon the question oppose its 15
passage, the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion shall not go into effect. If 16
a majority of the votes cast upon the question favor its passage, the ordinance, 17
order, resolution, or motion shall become effective. 18
(d) If the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion fails to pass pursuant to an 19
election held under paragraph (a)[ or (b)] of this subsection, the property tax 20
rate which will produce four percent (4%) more revenues from real property, 21
exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in KRS 132.010, than the 22
amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 23
132.010, shall be levied without further approval by the local governmental 24
entity or district board of education. 25
(e) Local, state, and federal tax dollars shall not be used to advocate, in partial 26
terms, for or against any public question that appears on the ballot in this 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 14
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subsection. For purposes of this section, "local" means and includes any city, 1
county, urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified 2
local government, charter county, or special district. 3
(4) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, if a local governmental 4
entity or district board of education has not established a final tax rate as of 5
September 15, due to the recall provisions of this section, KRS 68.245, 132.027, or 6
160.470, regular tax bills shall be prepared as required in KRS 133.220 for all 7
districts having a tax rate established by that date; and a second set of bills shall be 8
prepared and collected in the regular manner, according to the provisions of KRS 9
Chapter 132, upon establishment of final tax rates by the remaining districts. 10
(5) If a second billing is necessary, the collection period shall be extended to conform 11
with the second billing date. 12
(6) All costs associated with the second billing shall be paid by the taxing district or 13
districts requiring the second billing. 14