Request By:
Mr. Marvin R. O'Koon
General Counsel
Office of the Counsel
Department for Human Resources
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: William S. Riley, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter to the Attorney General a question has arisen concerning the application of the compensating tax rate to public health taxing districts as a result of the passage of House Bill 44 by the Extraordinary Session of the 1979 General Assembly.
House Bill 44 amended by KRS 132.010(6) as follows:
"'Compensating tax rate' means that rate which, rounded to the next higher one-tenth of one cent per one hundred dollars of assessed value and applied to the current year's [1972] assessment of the property subject to taxation by a taxing district, excluding new property and personal property [net assessment growth, as defined in KRS 132.425], produces an amount of revenue approximately equal to that produced in the preceding year from real property [1971]. However, in no event shall the compensating tax rate which, when applied to the total current year assessment of all classes of taxable property, produces an amount of revenue less than was produced in the preceding year from all classes of taxable property. "
KRS 212.760 relates to public health taxing districts. It reads as follows:
"Public health taxing districts organized pursuant to KRS 212.720 to 212.755 shall not be subject to the provisions of the compensating tax rate as defined by KRS 132.010; provided, however, that no public health taxing district shall impose a rate higher than four cents per one hundred dollars of full value assessed valuation as provided by KRS 212.755(2)." (History: 1972 H 162, § 6. eff. 3/27/72)
KRS 212.760 exempting public health taxes from compensating tax rates was enacted by the 1972 General Assembly and was not amended by House Bill 44 of the 1979 Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly.
The question is what effect, if any, does the amendment to KRS 132.010(6) have on House Bill 44 and on KRS 212.760?
Your attention is directed to KRS 132.023 specifically (1)(a) and (2) which read as follows:
(1)(a) "Notwithstanding any statutory provisions to the contrary, no taxing district, other than the state, counties, school districts, cities and urban-county governments, shall levy a tax rate for 1979-80 which will produce more revenue, exclusive of revenue from net assessment growth, than would be produced by application of the maximum tax rate that could have been levied in 1978-79 to the 1978-79 assessment."
* * *
(2) " No taxing district, other than the state, counties, school districts, cities and urban-county governments, shall levy a tax rate within the limits imposed in subsection (1) of this section which exceeds the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010, until the taxing district has complied with the provisions of subsection (3) of this section." (emphasis ours)
It is our opinion the above statute makes the compensating tax rate provisions of KRS 132.010(6) apply specifically to public health taxing districts.