KRS 132.017 — Recall petition -- Requirements and procedures -- Reconsideration -- Election -- Tax dollars not to be used to advocate for or against public question -- Second billing

(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Local governmental entity" include s a county fiscal court and legislative
body of a city, urban -county government, consolidated local government,
charter county government, unified local government, or other taxing district;
and
(b) "Next regular election" means the regular election that o ccurs immediately
after all statutory requirements for levying a property tax rate have been met,
regardless of whether the election occurs in the same or a subsequent calendar
year as the levy of the property tax rate.
(2) (a) 1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2. of this paragraph, the portion of a
tax rate levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a local
governmental entity or district board of education subject to recall as
provided for in KRS 68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, sha ll go
into effect forty-five (45) days after its passage.
2. When a tax rate is levied by a district board of education or other taxing
district that is primarily located in a county containing an urban -county
government or a consolidated local government, the portion of a tax rate
levied by an ordinance, order, resolution, or motion of a district board of
education or other taxing district subject to recall as provided for in KRS
68.245, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470, shall go into effect fifty (50)
days after its passage.
(b) During the same forty -five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by
paragraph (a) of this subsection, any three (3) qualified voters, who reside in
the area where the tax levy will be imposed, may commence petition
proceedings to protest the passage of the ordinance, order, resolution, or
motion by filing an affidavit with the county clerk. The affidavit shall state:
1. The three (3) qualified voters constitute the members of the petition
committee;
2. The petition committee will be responsible for circulating the petition;
3. The petition committee will file the petition in the proper form within
the same forty -five (45) day or fifty (50) day time period provided by
paragraph (a) of this subsection;
4. The names and addresses of the petition committee members;
5. The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent; and
6. For petition committees filing petitions in response to a tax rate levied
by a district board of education or other taxin g district that is primarily
located in a county containing an urban -county government or a
consolidated local government, whether or not the petition committee is
willing to incur all of the expenses associated with electronic petition
signatures. If the petition committee is not willing to incur all of the
expenses, then electronic petition signatures shall not be allowed for the
petition.
(c) Upon receipt of the affidavit, the county clerk shall immediately:
1. Notify the petition committee of all statut ory requirements for the filing
of a valid petition under this section;
2. Notify the petition committee that the clerk will publish a notice
identifying the tax levy being challenged and providing the names and
addresses of the petition committee in a new spaper of general
circulation within the county, if:
a. There is a newspaper within the county in which to publish the
notice; and
b. The petition committee remits an amount equal to the cost of
publishing the notice determined in accordance with the provisions
of KRS 424.160 at the time of the filing of the affidavit.
If the petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk
shall publish the notice within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit;
and
3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the appropriate local governmental
entity or district board of education.
(d) The petition shall meet the following requirements:
1. All papers of the petition shall be substantially uniform in size and style
and shall be assembled in one (1) instrument for filing;
2. Each sheet of the petition may contain the names of voters from more
than one (1) voting precinct;
3. Each nonelectronic petition signature shall be executed in ink or
indelible pencil;
4. Each electronic petition signature shall comply with t he requirements of
the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, KRS 369.101 to 369.120;
5. Each petition signature shall be followed by the printed name, street
address, birth month, and birth year of the person signing; and
6. a. i. Except for petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by a
district board of education, the petition shall be signed by a
number of registered and qualified voters residing in the
affected jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the
total number of votes cast in t he last preceding presidential
election.
ii. For petitions filed in response to a tax rate levied by a district
board of education, the petition shall be signed by at least
five thousand (5,000) registered and qualified voters residing
in the affected juri sdiction or signed by a number of
registered and qualified voters residing in the affected
jurisdiction equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total
number of votes cast in the last preceding presidential
election, whichever is less.
b. Electronic peti tion signatures shall be included in determining
whether the required number of petition signatures has been
obtained when:
i. The expenses associated with the electronic petition
signatures have been incurred in accordance with paragraph
(b)6. of this subsection;
ii. The electronic petition signatures comply with the
requirements of this subsection; and
iii. The petition was filed in response to a tax rate levied by a
district board of education or other taxing district that is
primarily located in a count y containing an urban -county
government or a consolidated local government.
c. The inclusion of an invalid petition signature on a page shall not
invalidate the entire page of the petition, but shall instead result in
the invalid petition signature being stricken and not counted.
(e) Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk, the ordinance, order,
resolution, or motion shall be suspended from going into effect until after the
election referred to in subsection (3) of this section is held, or until the
petition is finally de termined to be insufficient and no further action may be
taken pursuant to paragraph (i) of this subsection.
(f) The county clerk shall immediately notify the presiding officer of the
appropriate local governmental entity or district board of education tha t the
petition has been received and shall, within thirty (30) days of the receipt of
the petition, make a determination of whether the petition contains enough
signatures of qualified voters to place the ordinance, order, resolution, or
motion before the voters.
(g) If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify to
the petition committee and the local governmental entity or district board of
education within the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of
this subsection that the petition is properly presented and in compliance with
the provisions of this section, and that the ordinance, order, resolution, or
motion levying the tax will be placed before the voters for approval.
(h) If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, within
the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (f) of this subsection,
notify, in writing, the petition committee and the local governmental entity or
district board of education of the specific de ficiencies found. Notification
shall be sent by certified mail and shall be published at least one (1) time in a
newspaper of general circulation within the county containing the local
governmental entity or district board of education levying the tax. If there is
not a newspaper within the county in which to publish the notification, then
the notification shall be posted at the courthouse door.
(i) A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to final
review by the Circuit Court of the county in which the local governmental
entity or district board of education is located, and shall be limited to the
validity of the county clerk's determination. Any petition challenging the
county clerk's final determination shall be filed within ten (10) days of the
issuance of the clerk's final determination.
(j) The local governmental entity or district board of education may cause the
cancellation of the election by reconsidering and amending the ordinance,
order, resolution, or motion to levy a tax rate which will produce no more
revenue from real property, exclusive of revenue from new property as
defined in KRS 132.010, than four percent (4%) over the amount of revenue
produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS 132.010 from real
property. The action by the local governmental entity or district board of
education shall be valid only if taken within fifteen (15) days following the
date the clerk finds the petition to be sufficient.
(3) (a) If an election is necessary under the provisio ns of subsection (2) of this
section:
1. The local governmental entity shall cause to be submitted to the voters
of the district at the next regular election, the question as to whether the
property tax rate shall be levied; or
2. The district board of edu cation shall cause to be submitted to the voters
of the district in a called common school election not less than thirty -
five (35) days nor more than forty -five (45) days from the date the
signatures on the petition are validated by the county clerk, or at the next
regular election, at the option of the district board of education, the
question as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied. The cost of a
called common school election shall be borne by the school district
holding the election. Any call ed common school election shall comply
with the provisions of KRS 118.025.
(b) If an election under paragraph (a) of this subsection is held in conjunction
with a regular election, the question as to whether the property tax rate shall
be levied shall be s ubmitted to the county clerk no later than the second
Tuesday in August preceding the regular election.
(c) In an election held under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the question shall
be framed to ask whether the voter is for the levy of the property ta x rate. If a
majority of the votes cast upon the question oppose its passage, the ordinance,
order, resolution, or motion shall not go into effect. If a majority of the votes
cast upon the question favor its passage, the ordinance, order, resolution, or
motion shall become effective.
(d) If the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion fails to pass pursuant to an
election held under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the property tax rate
which will produce four percent (4%) more revenues from real property,
exclusive of revenue from new property as defined in KRS 132.010, than the
amount of revenue produced by the compensating tax rate defined in KRS
132.010, shall be levied without further approval by the local governmental
entity or district board of education.
(e) Local, state, and federal tax dollars shall not be used to advocate, in partial
terms, for or against any public question that appears on the ballot in this
subsection. For purposes of this section, "local" means and includes any city,
county, urb an-county government, consolidated local government, unified
local government, charter county, or special district.
(4) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, if a local governmental
entity or district board of education has not establish ed a final tax rate as of
September 15, due to the recall provisions of this section, KRS 68.245, 132.027, or
160.470, regular tax bills shall be prepared as required in KRS 133.220 for all
districts having a tax rate established by that date; and a second set of bills shall be
prepared and collected in the regular manner, according to the provisions of KRS
Chapter 132, upon establishment of final tax rates by the remaining districts.
(5) If a second billing is necessary, the collection period shall be exte nded to conform
with the second billing date.
(6) All costs associated with the second billing shall be paid by the taxing district or
districts requiring the second billing.