Request By:
Mr. Melvin D. Hicklin
Hopkins County Property
Valuation Administrator
Hopkins County Courthouse
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
You have asked: "If the 1983 state tax rate on real estate for Hopkins County is not adjusted to the point which would produce 4% more revenue than 1982, would the Revenue Cabinet be in violation of KRS 132.020?"
Our answer is no. The state tax rate computed by the Revenue Cabinet pursuant to KRS 132.020(8) is a single tax rate applicable to all counties. The limitation on the increase of real property tax revenues to 4% in any single year provided for by KRS 132.020(7) and (9) is a limitation in the aggregate. In other words, in determining whether the 4% limit has been violated, one must look at the real property tax revenues of the state as a whole. Thus, the percentage increase or decrease in real property tax revenues in any particular county as a result of the application of the state tax rate is irrelevant in determining whether the 4% rule has been violated.