The cities of Taylor Mill and Edgewood, Kentucky.
AGO OAG 19-19
No. OAG 19-019
Kentucky Attorney General Opinion
Commonwealth of Kentucky Office of the Attorney General
September 20, 2019
Subject:
Whether a city electing to have city ad valorem taxes
collected by the county sheriff under KRS 91 A.070 may have
its certificates of delinquency auctioned or sold in the same
manner as county certificates of delinquency.
Requested
by: The cities of Taylor Mill and Edgewood, Kentucky.
Written
by: Laura C. Tipton
Syllabus:
Pursuant to the plain language of KRS 91A.070(1)(b), a city
that elects to have all city ad valorem taxes collected by
the county sheriff may have its delinquent taxes sold to
third parties in the same manner as counties under KRS
Chapter 134.
Statutes
construed: KRS 91A.070(1); KRS 91A.070(1)(b); KRS
134.128
OAGs
cited: OAG 83-159, OAG 83-397
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The
cities of Taylor Mill and Edgewood, Kentucky, request an
opinion of this office regarding the manner in which cities
may collect delinquent city ad valorem taxes. Specifically,
they ask whether a city that elects to have its ad valorem
taxes, including delinquent taxes, collected by the county
sheriff may have certificates of delinquency auctioned and
sold to third parties in the same way as county certificates
of delinquency. Based on the plain language of KRS
91A.070(1)(b), we advise that it may.
A
statute is interpreted first and foremost according to its
plain meaning. "In interpreting a statute, we have a
duty to accord to words of a statute their literal meaning
unless to do so would lead to an absurd or wholly
unreasonable conclusion. As such, we must look first to the
plain language of a statute and, if the language is clear,
our inquiry ends." Commonwealth v. Moore, 545
S.W.3d 848, 851 (Ky. 2018) (quoting University of
Louisville v. Rothstein, 532 S.W.3d 644, 648 (Ky.
2017)).
Here,
KRS 91A.070(1) provides, "Any city may by ordinance
elect to have all city ad valorem taxes including delinquent...
