Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Ross T. Carter, Manager of the Opinions Branch
Subject: Soil and water conservation tax
Syllabus: The millage tax authorized by KRS 262.200(4) is subject to the rate rollback provisions of KRS 68.245.
Statutes construed: KRS 262.200(4)
OAGs cited: OAG 92-113 (overruled)
Opinion of the Attorney General
KRS 68.245 contains a rate rollback provision applicable to taxes levied by fiscal courts. This rollback provision establishes a formula for determining whether certain tax increases are subject to a referendum.
KRS 262.200(4) authorizes fiscal courts to levy a millage tax to fund soil and water conservation districts. In OAG 92-113, we said that the rollback provision of KRS 68.245 did not apply to the millage tax because KRS 262.200(4) contained its own rate limiting mechanism which was in conflict with the mechanism in KRS 68.245.
In 1992 the General Assembly removed the rate-limiting provision in KRS 262.200(4). There is now no conflict between that statute and KRS 68.245. We therefore conclude that OAG 92-113 is no longer correct. The millage tax authorized by KRS 262.200(4) is subject to the rate rollback provision of KRS 68.245. OAG 92-113 is overruled.