Request By:
Honorable John T. McGarvey
Morgan and Pottinger
601 West Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Nathan Goldman, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter to the Attorney General you ask whether a city is required to pay the property valuation administrator for the use of the assessments on motor vehicles.
KRS 132.285(1) requires a city that elects to use the county assessment roll on real property to pay the PVA for the use of the roll. A city, of course, may choose to make its own assessments of real property.
However, as far as motor vehicles are concerned, a city is required to use the assessment made pursuant to KRS 132.487(5). KRS 132.285(3).
KRS 132.487(5) states:
"The property valuation administrator shall, subject to the direction, instruction, and supervision of the [revenue] cabinet, have responsibility for assessing all motor vehicles other than those assessed under KRS Chapter 136 as part of public service companies. The cabinet may provide standard valuation guidelines for use in valuation of motor vehicles. "
Thus, pursuant to statute, the PVA assesses all real property in a county and all motor vehicles. A city within the county may elect to use the PVA's real property assessments for their own bills in lieu of making their own assessments. However, they are mandated to use the PVA's motor vehicle assessments.
KRS 132.285(1) states, in part:
"Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, any city may by ordinance elect to use the annual county assessment for property situated within such city as a basis of ad valorem tax levies ordered or approved by the legislative body of the city. . . . Each city which elects to use the county assessment shall annually appropriate and pay each fiscal year to the office of the property valuation administrator . . . one-half of one cent for each one hundred dollars of assessment; . . . Once any city elects to use the county assessment such action cannot be revoked without notice to the revenue cabinet and the property valuation administrator six months prior to the next date as of which property is assessed for state and county taxes."
As can be seen from the above quoted portion of the statute, a city may elect to use the county assessment on real property and then elect to cease using it. If it elects to use it, it must pay for that use.
A fundamental principle of statutory construction is that the will or intent of the legislature must guide the interpretation of a statute.
Wesley v. Board of Education of Nicholas County, Ky., 403 S.W.2d 28 (1966). Where there is no ambiguity in a statute, it is to be interpreted according to the intent of its authors which intent is gleaned from what was actually said, not what may have been intended but was not said.
Clark v. Clark, Ky. App., 601 S.W.2d 614 (1980).
We believe that KRS 132.285 evidences an intent to require a city to pay for the use of the county real property assessments if it chooses to use them and for as long as it chooses to use them. This element of choice, we believe, is directly related to payment, as gleaned both from the words actually used and the intent derived therefrom.
In the case of the motor vehicle assessments, there is no element of choice. Furthermore, there is nothing in the language of subsection (1) of KRS 132.285 to imply that it applies to subsection (3). The two provisions are related only insofar as they pertain to a city's usage of the PVA's assessments. Subsection (1) allows a choice as to real property assessments and provides for payment. Subsection (3) mandates use of motor vehicle assessments and has no provision for payment.
Thus, it is our opinion that a city is not required to pay the PVA for the use of motor vehicle assessments.