Now in the hands of local officials, County Clerk Carmen Finley and her staff are well underway counting and verifying the 1,000-plus signatures of the petition from the “Citizens Right To Vote On Tax Increase” directed at the proposed Trigg Schools nickel efforts.
It’s a tedious process — one that requires the confirmation of names, addresses, birthdays, signatures and precincts.
The very next step, Finley said, will be her reported findings — something she believes could come as early as next week.
What’s interesting, however, continues to be the timeline of when this could potentially be on local ballots.
Finley noted that if everything squares away, the school board nods in approval and, say, the Trigg County Circuit Court isn’t asked for involvement, then it could appear as a local option for the May Primary.
However, if litigation or verification falls into a quagmire, Finley added the school board could opt to rescind its motion, or it could get pushed to the November General Election — where representation from both political parties are expected to file out in droves for the state’s governor race.
The deadline for it to appear on the Primary, she said, means everything is completed by the final day of January.
While the petition did call for voters “for, or against” to sign and ask for a local option on the tax, it also arbitrarily noted school property tax would increase from 52.8 cents to 58.9 cents per $100 on real property and personal property valuation — a jump of 11.55%.
However, according to the Kentucky Department of Education, Trigg County’s tax rates are the following: 48.9 cents on general fund real, 6 cents on the Facilities Support Program of Kentucky Building Fund, 54.9 cents on total real estate, 46 cents on a motor vehicle tax levy, 3 cents on utility, 59.9 cents on levied equivalent rate, 43.6 cents on the maximum tier 1 rate — as well as aircraft, watercraft and cable service rates.
This arithmetic continues to be questioned by multiple sources, but not by Finley’s office — because it is only their job to verify the validity of signatures calling for a public vote, and nothing more.
Trigg County Schools Financing Officer Holly Greene further explained the mathematics behind this move, and the actual cost of the nickel.
Whatever ends up being the destination for this tax levy, Finley said her office will be accountable.
As of 2022-23, a good handful of districts in west Kentucky employ the recallable nickel tax: Caldwell County, Ballard County, Paducah Independent, Carlisle County, Logan County, Russellville Independent, Henderson County and McCracken County.
