Kuhnhein v. Kenton County Public Library Board of Trustees

Filing 14

RESPONSE in Opposition re MOTION for Order by Garth Kuhnhein filed by Kenton County Public Library Board of Trustees. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1-Resolution dated 7/5/67, # 2 Exhibit 2-Letter 5/8/95 to Banks from Carter)(Hawkins, Michael) Modified text to describe exhibits on 2/24/2012 (TED).

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SIGNATION ASSlGNED
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COMMONWEALTH

FT

OF KENTUCKY

OFFlCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
P.O. Box 2000
KY 40602-2000

CHRIS GORMAN

FRANHFoRT,

ATTORNEY GENERAL

May 8, 1995

Jan J. Banks
Library Director
Casey County Public Library
Route 1, Box A
Middleburg Street
Liberty, Kentucky 42539

Dear Ms. Banks:
This letter responds to your recent inquiry regarding the applicability of House
Bill 44 to the property tax rates of library districts. The question arises because of an
apparent conflict between two statutes, The first, KRS 173.790,says that library tax rates
cannot be raised or lowered without the filing of a petition signed by 51% of the voters
in the district. The second, KRS 132.023 (enacted as part of House Bill 44) provides for
the automatic lowering of property tax rates to counteract the effect of higher assessments.

N e do not believe that the General Assembly intended library districts to be
exempt from the provisions of House Bill 44, The relevant provision in KRS 173,790 has
existed since the statute's creation in 1964, House Bill 44 was enacted in 1979, In its
original form, KRS 132.023 included the phrase "notwithstanding any statutory
provisions to the contrary." These observations compel us to conclude that the legislature Lwas av'rare of the libra~ tax provlslon when it enacted House BiH 44 and it did not
intend that the oMer library tax provision override the newly enacted House Bill 44.
Indeed, this has been the construction acquiesced in during the sixteen years since.
House Bill 44 was enacted.

Jan j. Hanks
Page 2

Because we cannot discern any reason why library districts should be exempt
from House Bill 44, we believe that the Department of Local Government has correctly
applied the statutes in calculating a lowered tax rate for your library district.
Sincerely,
Chris Gorman
Att
ey Gen

arte
oss
Director
Division of Civil and hnvironmental
Capitol Building
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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