Request By:
Mr. Robert M. Kirtley
Daviess County Attorney
Owensboro, Kentucky 42301
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of May 28, 1982, in which you requested an opinion from this office as to whether a public health taxing district created by operation of law as provided in KRS 212.750 could establish a health tax rate for the calendar year 1982 to be included on property tax bills for 1982.
The authority for the members of a county board of health to establish a health tax rate is contained in KRS 212.755(1). That statute provides as follows:
"If, after the establishment of the public health taxing district as provided for in this section and KRS 212.750, the tax levying authorities of the district, in the opinion of the county or city-county board of health, do not appropriate an amount sufficient to meet the public health needs of the county or the city-county health department or do not appropriate an amount sufficient to meet the standards prescribed by the department for human resources for local health departments, the county or city-county board of health, acting as the governing body of the taxing district shall, with the approval of the department for human resources, request the fiscal court to impose by resolution a special ad valorem public health tax in such amount that it deems sufficient, but not in excess of four cents (4 ) per one hundred dollars ($100) of full value assessed valuation. The fiscal court may upon receipt of a duly certified copy of said resolution, include in the next county ad valorem tax levy said special public health tax imposed by the county or city-county board of health which shall be in addition to all other county ad valorem taxes. If levied by the fiscal court, said special public health tax shall be collected in the same manner as are other county ad valorem taxes and turned over to the county or city-county board of health to be used solely for the maintenance and operation of the county, city-county, or district health department and as provided in KRS 212.740." (Emphasis added)
As this statute indicates, the special public health ad valorem tax is levied by the county fiscal court at the request of the governing body of the public health taxing district. Therefore, the health tax rate established by the district is levied upon the county assessments. The statute provides that the county fiscal court may include the special public health tax in its next ad valorem tax levy following the request by the public health taxing district. Consequently, the public health taxing district must establish its rate prior to the county levy.
The General Assembly has placed an additional time limitation on the ability of all taxing districts which levy a tax based upon the county assessments. KRS 133.185 provides as follows:
"No tax rate for any taxing district imposing a levy upon the county assessment shall be determined before the assessment is certified by the department of revenue to the county clerk as provided in KRS 133.180."
In conclusion, a public health taxing district cannot establish its health tax rate for a particular year until the county assessments for that year have been certified by the Revenue Cabinet as provided in KRS 133.180. The district must, however, establish its tax rate prior to the levy of the county ad valorem tax by the county fiscal court.