Request By:
Mr. Joseph H. Conley
Nicholas County Attorney
Carlisle, Kentucky 40311
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Issuance of Nicholas County's 1977 property tax bills has been delayed by a taxpayer's suit, and the bills will not be issued by the end of 1977. Numerous taxpayers have contacted you and the sheriff requesting that they be allowed to pre-pay their 1977 taxes before the end of 1977 for income tax deduction purposes, the pre-payment to be based upon their 1976 property taxes.
You ask whether it would be legal for the sheriff to accommodate the taxpayers by accepting and escrowing such pre-payments on their 1977 tax bills and making the appropriate adjustments later on in 1978 when the 1977 tax bills will probably be issued. The answer is "no".
KRS 133.220(3) and (4) deals with the tax bill compilation and collection program. The tax bills, prepared in accordance with the certification of the Department of Revenue, shall be delivered to the sheriff by the county clerk before September 15 of each year. The sheriff, as collector, must give a receipt to the county clerk for such bills. Upon delivery to him of the tax bills, the sheriff must mail a notice to each taxpayer, showing the total amount of taxes due the state, county, school fund, and other levies, the date on which the taxes are due, and any discount to which the taxpayer may be entitled upon payment of the taxes prior to a designated date. Further, under KRS 134.170, when the tax bill is paid to the sheriff by the taxpayer, the sheriff shall immediately enter the payment upon his record books and give to the person paying it a receipt specifying the precise amount paid. The statute contemplates a payment of the tax bill amount in full, in which case the sheriff must deliver the original tax bill to the taxpayer.
The simple answer to your question is that the tax statutes make no provisions for paying tax bills when the tax bills have not been made up and delivered to the sheriff. The law is settled that taxes must be paid to the proper officer (collector) at the proper time and when he has the taxes in hand (this means tax bills) for collection. Heath v. Hazelip, 159 Ky. 555, 167 S.W. 905 (1914) 907.