Request By:
Mr. William A. Thielen
General Counsel
Kentucky Municipal League
P.O. Box 22736
Lexington, Kentucky 40522
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter to the Attorney General, you ask the following question:
"May a city within this Commonwealth bring a personal action against a taxpayer in the small claims division of district court to enforce the collection of delinquent municipal property taxes?"
KRS 24A.230 sets out the jurisdiction of the small claims division of the district court. An action to collect delinquent municipal property taxes is a civil action within the jurisdiction of the small claims court, provided the amount sought does not exceed $1,000. KRS 24A.240 sets out actions which are prohibited in the small claims court. Specifically, "[n]o person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation engaged, either primarily or secondarily, in the business of lending money at interest, nor any collection agency or collection agent, may bring an action in the division in furtherance of their business." A city is neither engaged in the business of lending money at interest nor is it a collection agency or collection agent. Consequently, no prohibition exists to a city bringing an action in the small claims court to collect delinquent municipal property taxes. Note, however, that the limitation on the number of actions that may be brought by one party per year (25) would apply to cities.