After AG opinion, Fayette fiscal court won’t vote on school tax increase

The Fayette Fiscal Court will not vote on the occupational license tax increase for schools Thursday as planned, Fayette County Clerk Susan Lamb said.

This comes after Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Wednesday morning that the Fayette County Public School Board’s vote to ask the fiscal court to increase occupational taxes was unlawful, canceling the scheduled vote, Lamb said.

“The vote and resolution passed at the May 27 meeting is void and of no effect,” Coleman’s opinion said.

Coleman’s opinion said the board failed to provide the legally required notice to the public before its May 27 meeting. A fiscal court vote on the increase would be void without proper certification from the Fayette school board, the opinion said.

The fiscal court will still meet at 1:30 p.m. Thursday because other, unrelated items are on the agenda for the meeting, Lamb said.

The school board’s 3-2 vote to ask the Fayette Fiscal Court to increase school tax rates on residents and businesses’ net income from 0.5% to 0.75% was improper because, under state law, school boards must notify the public and hold a formal hearing before voting on new or increased taxes, according to the attorney general’s opinion.

“Tax and spend government is a danger to Kentucky’s future, especially when officials who should be accountable to Fayette County voters try to ignore the rules to raise taxes,” Coleman said in a statement. “If the Fayette County School Board members believe they need more of Kentuckians’ hard-earned dollars, they should clearly and publicly make their case before their own constituents.”

Fayette school district officials have argued the vote was legal and the tax increase was needed to cover a $16 million budget shortfall.

“We respectfully but strongly disagree with the conclusions,” but will abide by the “spirit of the opinion,” Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said Wednesday. A period for public comment has been added to the school board’s June 23 meeting.

The current occupational license tax is expected to bring in $57 million to the district for the next fiscal year. Initially, the proposed increase in January 2026 would be $13 million to $16 million, with an estimated $27 million to $32 million annually when fully implemented, Fayette Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber said.

The average Fayette County worker is paying $26 per month under the current Occupational License Tax Rate for schools. Under the increase, the average worker would be paying $39 per month, or $13 more.

On an annual basis, the average Fayette County worker is paying $312. Under the increase, they would be paying $468 per year.

At the May 27 meeting, Murphy, vice chair Amy Green and board member Penny Christian voted in favor of the tax increase. Board members Amanda Ferguson and Monica Mundy voted against it.

Fayette County Attorney Angela Evans said Wednesday she concurs with the Attorney General’s opinion and advised the fiscal court to follow Coleman’s guidance that the fiscal court should not vote on the tax increase.

“Very recently, my office, as representative of the Fayette County Fiscal Court, had conversations with the Attorney General’s Office regarding this very important issue,” Evans said in a statement Wednesday.

“I greatly appreciate the Attorney General providing the community with an opinion on this issue that is fundamental to our democracy. I am also pleased that our independent research and analysis of the law led us to the same legal conclusion. However, it was not my, or the Fayette County Fiscal Court’s, place to publicly opine on the legality of the Fayette County Public School Board’s actions,” Evans said.

“Although opinions of the Attorney General are not law, it is the expectation they be followed, and I will advise the Fayette County Fiscal Court to do so,” Evans said.

The issue has been controversial and complex.

On Monday, in one of the latest developments before Coleman issued an opinion, Fayette County District 1 County Commissioner Brian Miller, a fiscal court member, confirmed that he was also a Fayette County Public Schools employee.

Miller said he would recuse himself from voting on the occupational license tax for schools increase.

Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington, first asked for an Attorney General’s opinion after hearing from her constituents, Coleman said.

“The FCPS board voted to increase the occupational tax without proper notification or advertisement that the school board was entertaining a discussion of a new levy, not to mention the time/date when it was going to be voted on by the board,” Bledsoe wrote in her request to the attorney general. There was no time for the public to properly engage the topic, nor plan to attend the meeting,“ she said.

“This validates what so many in our community, including myself, felt: Taxpayers were shut out of a huge decision about their own tax dollars,” Bledsoe said after Coleman’s announcement. “I’m calling on the Fiscal Court to take no action ... and for the school board to remedy this misuse of its authority. The board should table any further discussion of a tax increase until trust can be restored.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 2:56 PM.