OAG 84-82 | KOGC

Request By:

Mr. Elmer C. Schaefer
Executive Board Member
Kentucky Municipal Finance
Officers Association
2332 Royal Drive
Fort Mitchell, Kentucky 41017

Opinion

Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By Susan G. Leavenworth, Assistant Attorney General

You have asked us to review OAG 82-456 as it relates to the maximum tax rate permitted by KRS 132.027(1)(b) and a situation of positive net assessment growth.

OAG 82-456 concluded that the maximum tax rate, in such a situation, is the rate that was levied in the preceding year. However, upon reconsideration, we have concluded that this is incorrect. To make such a holding, the words "exclusive of revenue from net assessment growth" in KRS 132.027(1)(b) would have no meaning. A statute should be construed so that no part of it is rendered meaningless. Brooks v. Meyers, Ky., 279 S.W.2d 764 (1955). The calculations for the maximum tax rate must take into account this exclusion. Such a calculation would derive a rate that may or may not be the same rate as was applied in the preceding year.

To the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion, OAG 82-456 is modified.

LLM Summary

In OAG 84-82, the Attorney General revisits and modifies the interpretation previously given in OAG 82-456 regarding the calculation of the maximum tax rate under KRS 132.027(1)(b) in the context of positive net assessment growth. The decision clarifies that the calculation must exclude revenue from net assessment growth, which may result in a different tax rate than that of the preceding year.

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