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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
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 registered voter, who resides[ five (5) 21
qualified voters, who reside] in the area where the tax levy will be imposed, 22
may file a petition with the county clerk[commence petition proceedings] to 23
protest the passage of the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion. [by filing an 24
affidavit with the county clerk. The affidavit shall state: 25
1. The five (5) qualified voters constitute the members of the petition 26
committee; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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2. The petition committee will be responsible for circulating the petition; 1
3. The petition committee will file the petition in the proper form within 2
the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by 3
paragraph (a) of this subsection; 4
4. The names and addresses of the petition committee members; 5
5. The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent; and 6
6. For petition committees filing petitions in response to a tax rate levied 7
by a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily 8
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 9
consolidated local government, whether or not the petition committee is 10
willing to incur all of the expenses associated with electronic petition 11
signatures. If the petition committee is not willing to incur all of the 12
expenses, then electronic petition signatures shall not be allowed for the 13
petition. 14
(c) Upon receipt of the affidavit, the county clerk shall immediately: 15
1. Notify the petition committee of all statutory requirements for the filing 16
of a valid petition under this section; 17
2. Notify the petition committee that the clerk will publish a notice 18
identifying the tax levy being challenged and providing the names and 19
addresses of the petition committee in a newspaper of general 20
circulation within the county, if: 21
a. There is a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notice; 22
and 23
b. The petition committee remits an amount equal to the cost of publishing 24
the notice determined in accordance with the provisions of KRS 424.160 25
at the time of the filing of the affidavit. 26
If the petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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shall publish the notice within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit; 1
and 2
3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the appropriate local governmental 3
entity or district board of education. 4
(d) ]The petition shall[ be filed with the county clerk within the same forty-five 5
(45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by paragraph (a) of this 6
subsection and] meet the following requirements: 7
1. All papers of the petition shall be substantially uniform in size and style 8
and shall be assembled in one (1) instrument for filing; 9
2. [For a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily 10
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 11
consolidated local government, ]Each sheet of the petition may contain 12
the names of voters from more than one (1) voting precinct[, and for a 13
district board of education or other taxing district that is not primarily 14
located in a county containing an urban-county government or a 15
consolidated local government, each sheet of the petition shall contain 16
the names of voters from one (1) voting precinct]; 17
3. Each nonelectronic petition signature shall be executed in ink or 18
indelible pencil; 19
4. Each electronic petition signature shall comply with the requirements of 20
the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, KRS 369.101 to 369.120; 21
5. Each [electronic and nonelectronic ]petition signature shall be followed 22
by the printed name, street address, and[ Social Security number or] 23
birth month[, and the name and number of the designated voting 24
precinct] of the person signing; and 25
6. a. i. Except for petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by 26
a district board of education, the petition shall be signed by 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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a number of registered and qualified voters residing in the 1
affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the 2
total number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential 3
election. 4
ii. For petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by a 5
district board of education, the petition shall be signed by at 6
least five thousand (5,000) registered and qualified voters 7
residing in the affected jurisdiction or signed by a number 8
of registered and qualified voters residing in the affected 9
jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total 10
number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential 11
election, whichever is less. 12
b. Electronic petition signatures shall be included in determining 13
whether the required number of petition signatures has been 14
obtained when: 15
i. The expenses associated with the electronic petition 16
signatures have been incurred by the registered voter who 17
filed the petition; 18
ii. [in accordance with paragraph (b)6. of this subsection, ]The 19
electronic petition signatures comply with the requirements 20
of this subsection;[,] and 21
iii. The petition was filed in response to a tax rate levied by a 22
district board of education or other taxing district that is 23
primarily located in a county containing an urban-county 24
government or a consolidated local government. 25
c. The inclusion of an invalid[ electronic or nonelectronic] petition 26
signature on a page shall not invalidate the entire page of the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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petition, but shall instead result in the invalid petition signature 1
being stricken and not counted. 2
[c. Notwithstanding subdivision a. of this subparagraph if a petition is 3
filed in response to a tax rate levied by a district board of 4
education, the petition shall be signed by at least five thousand 5
(5,000) registered and qualified voters residing in the affected 6
jurisdiction, or signed by a number of registered and qualified 7
voters residing in the affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten 8
percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in the last 9
preceding presidential election, whichever is less.] 10
(c)[(e)] Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk, the ordinance, 11
order, resolution, or motion shall be suspended from going into effect until 12
after the election referred to in subsection (3) of this section is held, or until 13
the petition is finally determined to be insufficient and no further action may 14
be taken pursuant to paragraph (g)[(i)] of this subsection. 15
(d)[(f)] The county clerk shall immediately notify the presiding officer of the 16
appropriate local governmental entity or district board of education that the 17
petition has been received and shall, within thirty (30) days of the receipt of 18
the petition, make a determination of whether the petition contains enough 19
signatures of qualified voters to place the ordinance, order, resolution, or 20
motion before the voters. 21
(e)[(g)] If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall 22
certify to the registered voter who filed the petition[petition committee] and 23
the local governmental entity or district board of education within the thirty 24
(30) day period provided for in paragraph (d)[(f)] of this subsection that the 25
petition is properly presented and in compliance with the provisions of this 26
section, and that the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion levying the tax 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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will be placed before the voters for approval. 1
(f)[(h)] If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, 2
within the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (d)[(f)] of this 3
subsection, notify, in writing, the registered voter who filed the 4
petition[petition committee] and the local governmental entity or district 5
board of education of the specific deficiencies found. Notification shall be 6
sent by certified mail and shall be published at least one (1) time in a 7
newspaper of general circulation within the county containing the local 8
governmental entity or district board of education levying the tax. If there is 9
not a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notification, then 10
the notification shall be posted at the courthouse door. 11
(g)[(i)] A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to 12
final review by the Circuit Court of the county in which the local 13
governmental entity or district board of education is located, and shall be 14
limited to the validity of the county clerk's determination. Any petition 15
challenging the county clerk's final determination shall be filed within ten (10) 16
days of the issuance of the clerk's final determination. 17
(h)[(j)] The local governmental entity or district board of education may cause 18
the cancellation of the election by reconsidering and amending the ordinance, 19
order, resolution, or motion to levy a tax rate which will produce no more 20
revenue from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as 21
defined in KRS 132.010, than four percent (4%) over the amount of revenue 22
produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010 from real 23
property. The action by the local governmental entity or district board of 24
education shall be valid only if taken within fifteen (15) days following the 25
date the clerk finds the petition to be sufficient. 26
(3) (a) If an election is necessary under the provisions of subsection (2) of this 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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section, the local governmental entity shall cause to be submitted to the voters 1
of the district at the next regular election, the question as to whether the 2
property tax rate shall be levied. The question shall be submitted to the county 3
clerk not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the regular 4
election. 5
(b) If an election is necessary for a school district under the provisions of 6
subsection (2) of this section, the district board of education may cause to be 7
submitted to the voters of the district in a called common school election not 8
less than thirty-five (35) days nor more than forty-five (45) days from the date 9
the signatures on the petition are validated by the county clerk, or at the next 10
regular election, at the option of the district board of education, the question 11
as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied. If the election is held in 12
conjunction with a regular election, the question shall be submitted to the 13
county clerk not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the 14
regular election. The cost of a called common school election shall be borne 15
by the school district holding the election. Any called common school election 16
shall comply with the provisions of KRS 118.025. 17
(c) In an election held under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, the question 18
shall be so framed that the voter may by his or her vote answer "for" or 19
"against." If a majority of the votes cast upon the question oppose its passage, 20
the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion shall not go into effect. If a 21
majority of the votes cast upon the question favor its passage, the ordinance, 22
order, resolution, or motion shall become effective. 23
(d) If the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion fails to pass pursuant to an 24
election held under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, the property tax 25
rate which will produce four percent (4%) more revenues from real property, 26
exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in KRS 132.010, than the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 1
132.010, shall be levied without further approval by the local governmental 2
entity or district board of education. 3
(e) Local, state, and federal tax dollars shall not be used to advocate, in partial 4
terms, for or against any public question that appears on the ballot in this 5
subsection. For purposes of this section, "local" means and includes any city, 6
county, urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified 7
local government, charter county, or special district. 8
(4) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, if a local governmental 9
entity or district board of education has not established a final tax rate as of 10
September 15, due to the recall provisions of this section, KRS 68.245, 132.027, or 11
160.470, regular tax bills shall be prepared as required in KRS 133.220 for all 12
districts having a tax rate established by that date; and a second set of bills shall be 13
prepared and collected in the regular manner, according to the provisions of KRS 14
Chapter 132, upon establishment of final tax rates by the remaining districts. 15
(5) If a second billing is necessary, the collection period shall be extended to conform 16
with the second billing date. 17
(6) All costs associated with the second billing shall be paid by the taxing district or 18
districts requiring the second billing. 19
Section 2. KRS 132.018 is amended to read as follows: 20
(1) If the tax rate applicable to real property levied by a county fiscal court, district 21
board of education, or legislative body of a city, consolidated local government, 22
urban-county government, or other taxing district is reduced as a result of 23
reconsideration by the county fiscal court, district board of education, or legislative 24
body of a city, consolidated local government, urban-county government, or other 25
taxing district under the provisions of KRS 132.017(2)(h)[(j)], the tax rate 26
applicable to personal property levied under the provisions of KRS 68.248(1), 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 7
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132.024(1), 132.029(1), and 160.473(1) shall be reduced by the respective county 1
fiscal court, district board of education, or legislative body of a city, consolidated 2
local government, urban-county government, or other taxing district to an amount 3
which will produce the same percentage increase in revenue from personal property 4
as the percentage increase in revenue from real property resulting from the reduced 5
tax rate applicable to real property. 6
(2) If the tax rate applicable to real property levied by a county fiscal court, district 7
board of education, or legislative body of a city, consolidated local government, 8
urban-county government, or other taxing district is reduced, under the provisions 9
of KRS 132.017(3), as a result of a majority of votes cast in an election being 10
opposed to such a rate, the tax rate applicable to personal property levied by the 11
respective county fiscal court, district board of education, or legislative body of a 12
city, consolidated local government, urban-county government, or other taxing 13
district shall be reduced, without further action by the levying body, to an amount 14
which will produce the same percentage increase in revenue from personal property 15
as the percentage increase in revenue from real property resulting from the reduced 16
tax rate applicable to real property. 17