Request By:
Mr. J. U. Grow, Clerk
Simpson County Court
Franklin, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter of September 15, 1982 you asked how a tax could be levied on the 1982 Simpson county property tax bills to support an emergency ambulance service district, assuming that the residents of the county vote to create the district in the November 2, 1982 election.
As has already been noted, an emergency ambulance service district is not established until the majority of those voting favor the establishment of such a district. And, until the district has been established, no special ad valorem tax may be levied and collected. Once the results of the election have been certified and are final the tax can be imposed for the duration of the taxing year.
As required by KRS 68.060 a county's fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. Consequently the 1982 Simpson county ad valorem tax bill imposes taxes for a period beginning July 1, 1982 and ending June 30, 1983. Should Simpson county voters agree to establish an emergency ambulance service district in November, 1982, the tax to finance this district should be prorated following the certification of the election results. For example, if the election results are certified by the end of November, the tax may be levied and collected for the period from December through June of the following year. Since the tax rate is proposed to be four cents on each one hundred dollars of property, the prorated tax is computed by multiplying the proposed rate by a fraction represented by the number of months left in the fiscal year divided by the total number of months in the fiscal year, viz., 7/12. This results in a rate of 2 and 1/3 cents per one hundred dollars of assessed property. Beginning on July 1, 1983 the rate would revert to the four cents per one hundred dollar rate.
The tax rate of four cents per one hundred dollars could only be imposed for the full 1982 tax year (July 1, 1982 through June 30, 1983) if the resolution on the ballot clearly indicated that the tax to support the special district was to be levied retroactive to July 1, 1982. Since the wording on the certified petition and the wording on the resolution passed by the Simpson County Fiscal Court did not address the issue of a retroactive tax, the tax must be prorated for the 1982-1983 county fiscal year.