KRS § 132.017 — KY Code / Title XI / Chapter 132 / Section 132.017
132.017 Recall petition -- Requirements and procedures -- Reconsideration -- Election -- Tax dollars not to be used to advocate for or against public question -- Second billing
Status: in_force

132.017 Recall petition -- Requirements and procedures -- Reconsideration --

Election -- Tax dollars not to be used to advocate for or against public question

-- Second billing.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Local governmental entity" includes a county fiscal court and legislative

body of a city, urban-county government, consolidated local government,

charter county government, unified local government, or other taxing district;

and

(b) "Next regular election" means the regular election that occurs immediately

after all statutory requirements for levying a property tax rate have been met,

regardless of whether the election occurs in the same or a subsequent calendar

year as the levy of the property tax rate.

(2) (a) 1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2. of this paragraph, the portion of a

tax rate levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a local

governmental entity or district board of education subject to recall as

provided for in KRS 68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go

into effect forty-five (45) days after its passage.

2. When a tax rate is levied by a district board of education or other taxing

district that is primarily located in a county containing an urban-county

government or a consolidated local government, the portion of a tax rate

levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a district board of

education or other taxing district subject to recall as provided for in KRS

68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go into effect fifty (50)

days after its passage.

(b) During the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by

paragraph (a) of this subsection, any three (3) qualified voters, who reside in

the area where the tax levy will be imposed, may commence petition

proceedings to protest the passage of the ordinance, order, resolution, or

motion by filing an affidavit with the county clerk. The affidavit shall state:

1. The three (3) qualified voters constitute the members of the petition

committee;

2. The petition committee will be responsible for circulating the petition;

3. The petition committee will file the petition in the proper form within

the same forty-five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by

paragraph (a) of this subsection;

4. The names and addresses of the petition committee members;

5. The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent; and

6. For petition committees filing petitions in response to a tax rate levied

by a district board of education or other taxing district that is primarily

located in a county containing an urban-county government or a

consolidated local government, whether or not the petition committee is

willing to incur all of the expenses associated with electronic petition

signatures. If the petition committee is not willing to incur all of the

expenses, then electronic petition signatures shall not be allowed for the

petition.

(c) Upon receipt of the affidavit, the county clerk shall immediately:

1. Notify the petition committee of all statutory requirements for the filing

of a valid petition under this section;

2. Notify the petition committee that the clerk will publish a notice

identifying the tax levy being challenged and providing the names and

addresses of the petition committee in a newspaper of general

circulation within the county, if:

a. There is a newspaper within the county in which to publish the

notice; and

b. The petition committee remits an amount equal to the cost of

publishing the notice determined in accordance with the provisions

of KRS 424.160 at the time of the filing of the affidavit.

If the petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk

shall publish the notice within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit;

and

3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the appropriate local governmental

entity or district board of education.

(d) The petition shall meet the following requirements:

1. All papers of the petition shall be substantially uniform in size and style

and shall be assembled in one (1) instrument for filing;

2. Each sheet of the petition may contain the names of voters from more

than one (1) voting precinct;

3. Each nonelectronic petition signature shall be executed in ink or

indelible pencil;

4. Each electronic petition signature shall comply with the requirements of

the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, KRS 369.101 to 369.120;

5. Each petition signature shall be followed by the printed name, street

address, birth month, and birth year of the person signing; and

6. a. i. Except for petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by a

district board of education, the petition shall be signed by a

number of registered and qualified voters residing in the

affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the

total number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential

election.

ii. For petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by a district

board of education, the petition shall be signed by at least

five thousand (5,000) registered and qualified voters residing

in the affected jurisdiction or signed by a number of

registered and qualified voters residing in the affected

jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total

number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential

election, whichever is less.

b. Electronic petition signatures shall be included in determining

whether the required number of petition signatures has been

obtained when:

i. The expenses associated with the electronic petition

signatures have been incurred in accordance with paragraph

(b)6. of this subsection;

ii. The electronic petition signatures comply with the

requirements of this subsection; and

iii. The petition was filed in response to a tax rate levied by a

district board of education or other taxing district that is

primarily located in a county containing an urban-county

government or a consolidated local government.

c. The inclusion of an invalid petition signature on a page shall not

invalidate the entire page of the petition, but shall instead result in

the invalid petition signature being stricken and not counted.

(e) Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk, the ordinance, order,

resolution, or motion shall be suspended from going into effect until after the

election referred to in subsection (3) of this section is held, or until the

petition is finally determined to be insufficient and no further action may be

taken pursuant to paragraph (i) of this subsection.

(f) The county clerk shall immediately notify the presiding officer of the

appropriate local governmental entity or district board of education that the

petition has been received and shall, within thirty (30) days of the receipt of

the petition, make a determination of whether the petition contains enough

signatures of qualified voters to place the ordinance, order, resolution, or

motion before the voters.

(g) If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify to

the petition committee and the local governmental entity or district board of

education within the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of

this subsection that the petition is properly presented and in compliance with

the provisions of this section, and that the ordinance, order, resolution, or

motion levying the tax will be placed before the voters for approval.

(h) If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, within

the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of this subsection,

notify, in writing, the petition committee and the local governmental entity or

district board of education of the specific deficiencies found. Notification

shall be sent by certified mail and shall be published at least one (1) time in a

newspaper of general circulation within the county containing the local

governmental entity or district board of education levying the tax. If there is

not a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notification, then

the notification shall be posted at the courthouse door.

(i) A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to final

review by the Circuit Court of the county in which the local governmental

entity or district board of education is located, and shall be limited to the

validity of the county clerk's determination. Any petition challenging the

county clerk's final determination shall be filed within ten (10) days of the

issuance of the clerk's final determination.

(j) The local governmental entity or district board of education may cause the

cancellation of the election by reconsidering and amending the ordinance,

order, resolution, or motion to levy a tax rate which will produce no more

revenue from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as

defined in KRS 132.010, than four percent (4%) over the amount of revenue

produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010 from real

property. The action by the local governmental entity or district board of

education shall be valid only if taken within fifteen (15) days following the

date the clerk finds the petition to be sufficient.

(3) (a) If an election is necessary under the provisions of subsection (2) of this

section:

1. The local governmental entity shall cause to be submitted to the voters

of the district at the next regular election, the question as to whether the

property tax rate shall be levied; or

2. The district board of education shall cause to be submitted to the voters

of the district in a called common school election not less than thirty-

five (35) days nor more than forty-five (45) days from the date the

signatures on the petition are validated by the county clerk, or at the next

regular election, at the option of the district board of education, the

question as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied. The cost of a

called common school election shall be borne by the school district

holding the election. Any called common school election shall comply

with the provisions of KRS 118.025.

(b) If an election under paragraph (a) of this subsection is held in conjunction

with a regular election, the question as to whether the property tax rate shall

be levied shall be submitted to the county clerk no later than the second

Tuesday in August preceding the regular election.

(c) In an election held under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the question shall

be framed to ask whether the voter is for the levy of the property tax rate. If a

majority of the votes cast upon the question oppose its passage, the ordinance,

order, resolution, or motion shall not go into effect. If a majority of the votes

cast upon the question favor its passage, the ordinance, order, resolution, or

motion shall become effective.

(d) If the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion fails to pass pursuant to an

election held under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the property tax rate

which will produce four percent (4%) more revenues from real property,

exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in KRS 132.010, than the

amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS

132.010, shall be levied without further approval by the local governmental

entity or district board of education.

(e) Local, state, and federal tax dollars shall not be used to advocate, in partial

terms, for or against any public question that appears on the ballot in this

subsection. For purposes of this section, "local" means and includes any city,

county, urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified

local government, charter county, or special district.

(4) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, if a local governmental

entity or district board of education has not established a final tax rate as of

September 15, due to the recall provisions of this section, KRS 68.245, 132.027, or

160.470, regular tax bills shall be prepared as required in KRS 133.220 for all

districts having a tax rate established by that date; and a second set of bills shall be

prepared and collected in the regular manner, according to the provisions of KRS

Chapter 132, upon establishment of final tax rates by the remaining districts.

(5) If a second billing is necessary, the collection period shall be extended to conform

with the second billing date.

(6) All costs associated with the second billing shall be paid by the taxing district or

districts requiring the second billing.