Request By:
Mr. Lawrence Stiffey
Box 17
Smiths Grove, Kentucky 42171
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter to the Attorney General, you ask whether the appropriation for library services pursuant to KRS 173.360 is a special levy in addition to the existing property tax or whether the funds must be reserved out of the general tax revenues.
The applicable statute for the establishment of the library service in this case is KRS 173.310. Under this statute, the legislative body may establish a library on its own initiative (Section 1) or a petition may be offered by a number of taxpayers and the question is placed on the ballot (Section 2). Sections 3 and 4 of the statute provide other methods for the creation of a library or the provision of library services.
After the library is established, the legislative body must make "the necessary appropriation or levy ". KRS 173.310 (4). We read this section to mean that the legislative body may appropriate monies from the general tax revenues or the question of a tax rate may be submitted to the voters as a special levy in addition to the existing property tax. In either case, the minimum and maximum rates apply pursuant to KRS 173.360, as well as the maximum rate provision in § 157 of the Constitution in the case of the special levy. We find support for this determination in previous Attorney General Opinions. See OAG 64-250, 68-320, 70-706 and 73-291 (copies attached).
In the situation you present, it appears that the city has made an appropriation. Therefore, this appropriation must come from the general tax revenues of the city.