Request By:
Honorable Pete Worthington
State Representative
70th Legislative District
Rural Route #1, Box 131
Ewing, KY 41039
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By William S. Riley, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter it is stated that a municipality in your legislative district wishes to provide a one time tax relief to its citizens.
The question is whether the city can levy a tax rate higher than that provided for in House Bill 44 passed by the 1979 Special Session and return a portion of such tax rate to the taxpayers in the community in the form of a one-time rebate.
Your attention is directed to KRS 132.027 which provides that a city or urban-county government cannot 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.
In succeeding years no city or urban-county government can levy a tax rate which will produce more revenue, exclusive of revenue from net assessment growth, than would be produced by application of the tax rate that was levied in the preceding year to the preceding year's assessment.
No city or urban-county government can levy a tax rate which exceeds the compensating tax rate in KRS 132.010 until the city or urban-county government has had a public hearing to hear comments from the public regarding the proposed tax rate.
If, after compliance with the above statutes, the city wishes to return a portion of the increased rate to the taxpayers in the city, we are unaware of any statutory prohibition against such procedure.
OAG 79-217 is hereby withdrawn and this opinion is substituted therefor.