Request By:
Mr. Nelson T. Sparks
Assistant County Attorney
P.O. Box 231
Pikeville, Kentucky 41501
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Reference is made to OAG 78-624. In question no. 2 you asked whether an occupational or license tax could be initially levied by the fiscal court without approval by public referendum. The answer is "no".
Pursuant to KRS 68.197(1), as amended in 1978, the fiscal court in any county having a population of 30,000 or more [which applies to Pike County] may by order or resolution impose an occupational or license tax for revenue purposes at a percentage rate not to exceed one percent (1%) of (a) salaries or wages earned by persons within the county, etc; and (b) the net profits of self-employed individuals, etc; and (c) the net profits of corporations, etc. Subsection (3) of the statute provides that the fiscal court imposing license fees pursuant to subsection (1) of the statute must submit the question of the license fee [tax] to the voters of the county at the next general election. If the license tax is rejected by a majority of those voting in the election, the license tax shall be repealed effective December 31 of the same year.
Note that the referendum applies only in counties containing a population of 30,000 or more. It does not apply to counties of less than 30,000 population. It does not apply to Jefferson County. See KRS 68.180.
If the fiscal court of Pike County desires to impose such a tax, and the tax question receives a majority vote of acceptance, then under KRS 68.198 the fiscal court may appropriately specify the county governmental purposes to which the revenue derived from the tax shall be applied. OAG 78-624 is modified accordingly.