Request By:
Mr. Ron L. Johnson
Executive Director
Kentucky Coal County Coalition, Inc.
205 Capital Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Susan G. Leavenworth, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter you ask whether penalty and interest on delinquent coal severance taxes must be included in the calculations of the Local Government Economic Assistance Fund. We assume you are referring to KRS 42.450(3).
KRS 42.450(3) states:
"Effective July 1, 1981, an amount equal to one-half (1/2) of the severance and processing taxes on coal collected annually, in excess of $177.6 million, shall be transferred from the general fund into this fund. Such transfers shall be made quarterly, based upon the revenue estimates prevailing at the time each quarterly transfer is due, except that the last quarterly transfer shall be made after the use of the fiscal year accounting records, and shall be adjusted to provide the balance of the annual transfer required by this subsection." (Emphasis added)
KRS Chapter 143 sets forth the severance and processing tax on coal. KRS 143.020 levies the tax. KRS 143.080 sets out the interest on the tax that will be charged. KRS 143.070 sets out the penalties applicable in certain situations.
It is our opinion that interest and penalty should not be included in the calculations for the Local Government Economic Assistance Fund. The statute specifically states that the fund shall contain an amount equal to 1/2 the taxes. Taxes are distinct from interest and penalties. A tax may be due, but the interest and penalty waived. Genex/London v. KBTA, Ky., 622 S.W.2d 499 (1981); Meyers v. Arcadia Realty Foundation, Inc., Ky., 367 S.W.2d 836 (1963). Furthermore, absent an indication that a special meaning must be ascribed to a word, it will be assumed that word is used in its common acceptation. Litterman v. Celebrezze, 215 F.Supp. 865 (D.C. Ky., 1963). In the statute in question there is no reason to imply anything other than the common meaning of the word tax.