Request By:
Mr. Charles J. Baker
Superintendent
Carlisle County Board of Education
P.O. Box 367
Bardwell, Kentucky 42023
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You raise questions about the sheriff's fee for collecting school taxes. KRS 160.500 provides that the tax collector of school districts shall be entitled to a fee equal to his expense, but not to exceed the rate of four per cent (4%) for the collection of school taxes. The court has interpreted this as providing that the fee can be as high as four per cent (4%), except that it cannot exceed the reasonable costs of collection of the tax. Grayson County Board of Education v. Boone, Ky., 452 S.W.2d 371 (1970). In the past three years you say the sheriff's fee has gone from $5,670.00 to $9,696.00.
Question No. 1:
"May the tax collector (sheriff) base his fee on 75% or 9 months of his entire salary for this period, when he has to be performing other duties, in collecting taxes? (I realize that the percentage of all taxes represented by school taxes (64.2 in 1975 and 64 in 1976-77) should be used in figuring the cost to the school board. )"
In arriving at the sheriff's costs in collecting the school taxes, he should chart his costs first in terms of the cost of collection of all taxes. Then he should determine the percentage of all taxes collected represented by school taxes. That percentage then should be applied [multiplied times] against the cost of collection of all taxes to determine the allocable cost of collection of school taxes. See the chart shown in OAG 62-335, copy enclosed. Thus where the sheriff, in basing his cost, shows 75% of 9 months of his salary as a part of such cost, that is improper, since he is not first arriving at what the cost of collection of all taxes amounts to. Of course his salary computations should also be based upon salary or compensation actually received for a 9 months' period. While an exact computation is difficult, the sheriff's method is wrong. See Davie v. Board of Education of Hickman City Schools, Ky., 249 S.W.2d 954 (1952); and Grayson County Board of Education v. Boone, above.
Question No. 2:
"Must the tax collector (sheriff) justify in detail the reasons for the large increase in the cost to the school board in a period of three to four years for his fee?"
The mere increase is, alone, not too significant. The main thing is that a correct method be used to show the approximate computation of collection costs. If the correct method is used, as mentioned above and as is shown in the chart accompanying OAG 62-335, the school board will be able to see any progession of cost increase. The chart of costs should reflect actual salaries and expenses.
Question No. 3:
"Must the tax collector (sheriff) provide the board with an itemized expense sheet including his salary as received and/or earned and not what is possible for him to earn (15,600), and base his fee on the percentage of time spent by him and his staff in collecting the taxes for the period required -- nine months if tax collection involves this length of time."
We have answered this above.