UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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AN ACT relating to property tax rates. 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, "local governmental entity" includes a county fiscal court 4
and legislative body of a city, urban-county government, consolidated local 5
government, charter county government, unified local government, or other taxing 6
district. 7
(2) (a) 1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2. of this paragraph, the portion of a 8
tax rate levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a local 9
governmental entity or district board of education subject to recall as 10
provided for in KRS 68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go 11
into effect forty-five (45) days after its passage. 12
2. When a tax rate is levied by a district board of education or other taxing 13
district that is primarily located in a county containing an urban-county 14
government or a consolidated local government, the portion of a tax rate 15
levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a district board of 16
education or other taxing district subject to recall as provided for in KRS 17
68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go into effect fifty (50) 18
days after its passage. 19
(b) During the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by 20
paragraph (a) of this subsection, any three (3)[five (5)] qualified voters, who 21
reside in the area where the tax levy will be imposed, may commence petition 22
proceedings to protest the passage of the ordinance, order, resolution, or 23
motion by filing an affidavit with the county clerk. The affidavit shall state: 24
1. The three (3)[five (5)] qualified voters constitute the members of the 25
petition committee; 26
2. The petition committee will be responsible for circulating the petition; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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3. The petition committee will file the petition in the proper form within 1
the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by 2
paragraph (a) of this subsection; 3
4. The names and addresses of the petition committee members; 4
5. The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent; and 5
6. For petition committees filing petitions in response to a tax rate levied 6
by a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily 7
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 8
consolidated local government, whether or not the petition committee is 9
willing to incur all of the expenses associated with electronic petition 10
signatures. If the petition committee is not willing to incur all of the 11
expenses, then electronic petition signatures shall not be allowed for the 12
petition. 13
(c) Upon receipt of the affidavit, the county clerk shall immediately: 14
1. Notify the petition committee of all statutory requirements for the filing 15
of a valid petition under this section; 16
2. Notify the petition committee that the clerk will publish a notice 17
identifying the tax levy being challenged and providing the names and 18
addresses of the petition committee in a newspaper of general 19
circulation within the county, if: 20
a. There is a newspaper within the county in which to publish the 21
notice; and 22
b. The petition committee remits an amount equal to the cost of 23
publishing the notice determined in accordance with the provisions 24
of KRS 424.160 at the time of the filing of the affidavit. 25
If the petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk 26
shall publish the notice within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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and 1
3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the appropriate local governmental 2
entity or district board of education. 3
(d) The petition shall[ be filed with the county clerk within the same forty-five 4
(45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by paragraph (a) of this 5
subsection and] meet the following requirements: 6
1. All papers of the petition shall be substantially uniform in size and style 7
and shall be assembled in one (1) instrument for filing; 8
2. [For a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily 9
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 10
consolidated local government, ]Each sheet of the petition may contain 11
the names of voters from more than one (1) voting precinct[, and for a 12
district board of education or other taxing district that is not primarily 13
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 14
consolidated local government, each sheet of the petition shall contain 15
the names of voters from one (1) voting precinct]; 16
3. Each nonelectronic petition signature shall be executed in ink or 17
indelible pencil; 18
4. Each electronic petition signature shall comply with the requirements of 19
the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, KRS 369.101 to 369.120; 20
5. Each [electronic and nonelectronic ]petition signature shall be followed 21
by the printed name, street address,[ Social Security number or] birth 22
month, and birth year[the name and number of the designated voting 23
precinct] of the person signing; and 24
6. a. i. Except for petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by 25
a district board of education, the petition shall be signed by 26
a number of registered and qualified voters residing in the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the 1
total number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential 2
election. 3
ii. For petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by a 4
district board of education, the petition shall be signed by at 5
least five thousand (5,000) registered and qualified voters 6
residing in the affected jurisdiction or signed by a number 7
of registered and qualified voters residing in the affected 8
jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total 9
number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential 10
election, whichever is less. 11
b. Electronic petition signatures shall be included in determining 12
whether the required number of petition signatures has been 13
obtained when: 14
i. The expenses associated with the electronic petition 15
signatures have been incurred in accordance with paragraph 16
(b)6. of this subsection; 17
ii. [, ]The electronic petition signatures comply with the 18
requirements of this subsection;[,] and 19
iii. The petition was filed in response to a tax rate levied by a 20
district board of education or other taxing district that is 21
primarily located in a county containing an urban-county 22
government or a consolidated local government. 23
c. The inclusion of an invalid[ electronic or nonelectronic] petition 24
signature on a page shall not invalidate the entire page of the 25
petition, but shall instead result in the invalid petition signature 26
being stricken and not counted. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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[c. Notwithstanding subdivision a. of this subparagraph if a petition is 1
filed in response to a tax rate levied by a district board of 2
education, the petition shall be signed by at least five thousand 3
(5,000) registered and qualified voters residing in the affected 4
jurisdiction, or signed by a number of registered and qualified 5
voters residing in the affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten 6
percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in the last 7
preceding presidential election, whichever is less.] 8
(e) Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk, the ordinance, order, 9
resolution, or motion shall be suspended from going into effect until after the 10
election referred to in subsection (3) of this section is held, or until the 11
petition is finally determined to be insufficient and no further action may be 12
taken pursuant to paragraph (i) of this subsection. 13
(f) The county clerk shall immediately notify the presiding officer of the 14
appropriate local governmental entity or district board of education that the 15
petition has been received and shall, within thirty (30) days of the receipt of 16
the petition, make a determination of whether the petition contains enough 17
signatures of qualified voters to place the ordinance, order, resolution, or 18
motion before the voters. 19
(g) If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify to 20
the petition committee and the local governmental entity or district board of 21
education within the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of 22
this subsection that the petition is properly presented and in compliance with 23
the provisions of this section, and that the ordinance, order, resolution, or 24
motion levying the tax will be placed before the voters for approval. 25
(h) If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, within 26
the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of this subsection, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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notify, in writing, the petition committee and the local governmental entity or 1
district board of education of the specific deficiencies found. Notification 2
shall be sent by certified mail and shall be published at least one (1) time in a 3
newspaper of general circulation within the county containing the local 4
governmental entity or district board of education levying the tax. If there is 5
not a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notification, then 6
the notification shall be posted at the courthouse door. 7
(i) A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to final 8
review by the Circuit Court of the county in which the local governmental 9
entity or district board of education is located, and shall be limited to the 10
validity of the county clerk's determination. Any petition challenging the 11
county clerk's final determination shall be filed within ten (10) days of the 12
issuance of the clerk's final determination. 13
(j) The local governmental entity or district board of education may cause the 14
cancellation of the election by reconsidering and amending the ordinance, 15
order, resolution, or motion to levy a tax rate which will produce no more 16
revenue from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as 17
defined in KRS 132.010, than four percent (4%) over the amount of revenue 18
produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010 from real 19
property. The action by the local governmental entity or district board of 20
education shall be valid only if taken within fifteen (15) days following the 21
date the clerk finds the petition to be sufficient. 22
(3) (a) If an election is necessary under the provisions of subsection (2) of this 23
section, the local governmental entity shall cause to be submitted to the voters 24
of the district at the next regular election, the question as to whether the 25
property tax rate shall be levied. The question shall be submitted to the county 26
clerk not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the regular 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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election. 1
(b) If an election is necessary for a school district under the provisions of 2
subsection (2) of this section, the district board of education may cause to be 3
submitted to the voters of the district in a called common school election not 4
less than thirty-five (35) days nor more than forty-five (45) days from the date 5
the signatures on the petition are validated by the county clerk, or at the next 6
regular election, at the option of the district board of education, the question 7
as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied. If the election is held in 8
conjunction with a regular election, the question shall be submitted to the 9
county clerk not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the 10
regular election. The cost of a called common school election shall be borne 11
by the school district holding the election. Any called common school election 12
shall comply with the provisions of KRS 118.025. 13
(c) In an election held under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, the question 14
shall be so framed that the voter may by his or her vote answer "for" or 15
"against." If a majority of the votes cast upon the question oppose its passage, 16
the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion shall not go into effect. If a 17
majority of the votes cast upon the question favor its passage, the ordinance, 18
order, resolution, or motion shall become effective. 19
(d) If the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion fails to pass pursuant to an 20
election held under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, the property tax 21
rate which will produce four percent (4%) more revenues from real property, 22
exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in KRS 132.010, than the 23
amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 24
132.010, shall be levied without further approval by the local governmental 25
entity or district board of education. 26
(e) Local, state, and federal tax dollars shall not be used to advocate, in partial 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 58/GA
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terms, for or against any public question that appears on the ballot in this 1
subsection. For purposes of this section, "local" means and includes any city, 2
county, urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified 3
local government, charter county, or special district. 4
(4) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, if a local governmental 5
entity or district board of education has not established a final tax rate as of 6
September 15, due to the recall provisions of this section, KRS 68.245, 132.027, or 7
160.470, regular tax bills shall be prepared as required in KRS 133.220 for all 8
districts having a tax rate established by that date; and a second set of bills shall be 9
prepared and collected in the regular manner, according to the provisions of KRS 10
Chapter 132, upon establishment of final tax rates by the remaining districts. 11
(5) If a second billing is necessary, the collection period shall be extended to conform 12
with the second billing date. 13
(6) All costs associated with the second billing shall be paid by the taxing district or 14
districts requiring the second billing. 15