Effort to recall Fayette school board tax fails after group falls short of 5,000 signatures

An effort by a citizens group to recall a Fayette school board tax levy has failed due to lack of signatures.

The committee trying to recall a property tax rate increase approved by the Fayette school board did not get the needed 5,000 names on a petition by Friday’s deadline, group leaders said. The tax rate increase is expected to be used to complete projects in the district’s facilities plan.

“We fell short of our goal,” said committee member Rock Daniels, one of five in the group.

As a result, the group is not going to give the names they gathered for the recall to Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins for counting. Both digital and paper petitions were used. Daniels said he did not have an exact number of signatures gathered by Friday afternoon, but he thought they might have been 1,000 signatures short.

Daniels, a realtor and general contractor, is a candidate for the 11th District Urban County Council seat. Others on the committee include attorneys and business owners.

In 2018, when nearly 14,000 names were required at that time under the law, an effort to gather enough signatures to put Fayette County’s schools safety tax to a public vote failed.

“Sadly, the FCPS Board appears to be continuing their spending spree on the backs of hard working Fayette County taxpayers without any accountability for their gluttonous behavior,” group leader Jim Burton told the Herald-Leader Friday.

Because of the concerns over “mismanagement” on the school board, Daniels said the group is looking for candidates to run for school board seats in elections two years from now.

School district officials did not immediately comment.

People had to be registered Fayette County voters to sign the petition and be counted. Had enough signatures been gathered, the issue could have gone to a public vote.

For the 2021-22 fiscal year, homeowners in Fayette County paid property taxes of 80.8 cents per $100 of assessed value. School board members approved a rate in September that will go from 80.8 cents to 83.3 cents per $100 of assessed value. That would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $25 more this year compared with 2021.

Blevins has said in reality that the increase is “huge” due to higher real property assessments the last two years.

“I’m surprised they didn’t get enough signatures. I really thought they would,” he said. The citizens group had 50 days from the board’s vote to get the 5,000 signatures.

School district officials have said the property tax rates would generate enough funding to complete more than half the projects on its current facilities plan.

Blevins said the next step is to issue a second round of tax bills that will reflect the property tax rate increase approved by the school board in September.

This is a developing story and may be updated.