Request By:
Mr. James S. Secrest
Allen County Attorney
Box 35
210 West Main Street
Scottsville, Kentucky 42164
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney
In your recent letter you state that both the outgoing and incoming sheriffs have refused to accept payments of ad valorem taxes pursuant to KRS 134.215(4). This statute allows the sheriff to refuse to accept payments of ad valorem taxes from January 1 through January 15 for the purpose of accounting for unpaid and partially paid tax bills. You ask whether, under the provisions of KRS 134.020, a taxpayer will be entitled to pay a penalty of only two percent (2%) for a period of thirty (30) days after the sheriff begins to accept payments rather than the ten percent (10%) penalty which normally attaches on February 1.
KRS 134.020 states that all taxes, unless otherwise provided by law, are due and payable on September 15. Any taxpayer who pays his taxes by November 1 after they become due is entitled to a two percent (2%) discount. All taxes, unless otherwise provided by law, shall become delinquent on January 1 following their due date. All taxes that are not paid by the date they become delinquent shall be subject to a ten percent (10%) penalty. However, taxes that become delinquent on January 1 shall be subject to only a two percent (2%) penalty if they are paid before the last day of January.
In OAG 79-544 (copy attached), a similar situation was addressed. Through no fault of the taxpayers, the tax bills were distributed late and tax collections were delayed. That opinion stated that the sheriff should allow the two percent (2%) discount for a period of thirty (30) days from the date the tax bills are mailed.
In your situation the bills have been timely mailed to the taxpayers and the discount period has expired. When the newly elected sheriff took office in January, the two percent (2%) penalty for delinquent bills paid during January was in effect. Collection of those delinquent bills has been delayed solely by the sheriffs' invoking the provisions of KRS 134.215(4). In KRS 134.215 there is no reference to KRS 134.020, although both statutes concern the same subject matter. It is a principle of statutory construction that statutes in pari materia "should be construed together for the purpose of learning and giving effect to the legislative intention." Ballentine's Law Dictionary, Third Edition, p. 632. See, also,
Economy Optical Company v. Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners, Ky., 310 S.W.2d 783 (1958).
As stated in OAG 79-544, the intent of the two percent (2%) discount is to encourage prompt and timely payment of taxes. The reduction of the ten percent (10%) penalty to two percent (2%) for prompt payment of delinquent tax bills serves a similar purpose as the two percent (2%) discount for prompt payment of tax bills that are not delinquent. Therefore, it is our opinion that the taxpayers should be charged only the two percent (2%) penalty for a period of thirty (30) days following the date the sheriff begins accepting payments.