Request By:
Mr. Walter Dunlevy, President
Northern Kentucky
Chamber of Commerce
1717 Dixie Highway
Suite 200
Covington, Kentucky 41011
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of October 25 in which you seek an opinion with respect to the following statement:
"Please clarify something for me. . . . I seem to recall a court decision or attorney general's opinion which, in essence, said a Kentucky City could not fully tax newly annexed territory if it was not providing that area with the same, full complement of services it provided to older pre-existing areas of the city. Further, that taxes charged must be in direct proportion to the type, and amount of, services rendered."
Our response to the above is simply that when a city annexes territory and such annexation becomes final the territory automatically becomes a part of the city and subject to tax the same as any other portion thereof. Section 171 of the Constitution also requires that all taxes levied be uniform upon all property of the same class that is subject to taxation within the territorial limits of the tax levying authority, and the Legislature has provided under KRS 92.280 that cities of the second to sixth classes shall provide each year, by ordinance, for the assessment of all real and personal property within the corporate limits that is subject to taxation for city purposes.
The Court of Appeals has in a number of cases held that cities are required to levy taxes upon all property within the city unless exempt by the Constitution, regardless of any question of benefits or protection to property from the city government. See Board of Councilmen v. Scott, 101 Ky. 615, 42 S.W. 104 (1897) and L & N R.R. Co. v. City of Barbourville, 105 Ky. 174, 48 S.W. 985 (1898). The city cannot, however, levy on property annexed after the assessment date has passed. See City of St. Matthews v. Trueheart, Ky., 274 S.W.2d 52 (1955).
On the other hand, since the owners of the annexed property are subject to taxation by the city, it would follow that the city should extend its services to the area within a reasonable time consistent with its financial limitations and its obligations to the community as a whole. Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home v. City of Louisville, 309 Ky. 532, 217 S.W.2d 815 (1949); City of Louisville v. Kraft, Ky., 297 S.W.2d 39, 42 (1957); 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations § 70.
We trust the above information answers your question.