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AN ACT proposing to amend Section 170 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating 1
to exempting property from taxation. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
Section 1. Are you in favor of providing property tax exemptions for property 4
owned by a senior who is 65 years of age or older and property owned by a former 5
member of the United States Armed Forces, including the National Guard, who is 100% 6
service-connected combat-related disabled and, upon his death, property owned by his or 7
her surviving spouse by amending the Constitution of Kentucky to read as stated below? 8
Section 2. It is proposed that Section 170 of the Constitution of Kentucky be 9
amended to read as follows: 10
There shall be exempt from taxation public property used for public purposes; 11
places of burial not held for private or corporate profit; real property owned and occupied 12
by, and personal property both tangible and intangible owned by, institutions of religion; 13
institutions of purely public charity, and institutions of education not used or employed 14
for gain by any person or corporation, and the income of which is devoted solely to the 15
cause of education, public libr aries, their endowments, and the income of such property 16
as is used exclusively for their maintenance; household goods of a person used in his 17
home; crops grown in the year in which the assessment is made, and in the hands of the 18
producer; property owned b y a senior who is sixty -five years of age or older; property 19
owned by a former member of the United States Armed Forces, including the National 20
Guard, who is one hundred percent service -connected combat -related disabled and 21
upon the death of the former mem ber, property owned by his or her surviving spouse; 22
and real property maintained as the permanent residence of the owner, who is [sixty-five 23
years of age or older, or is ] classified as totally disabled under a program authorized or 24
administered by an agenc y of the United States government or by any retirement system 25
either within or without the Commonwealth of Kentucky, provided the property owner 26
received disability payments pursuant to such disability classification, has maintained 27
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such disability classif ication for the entirety of the particular taxation period, and has 1
filed with the appropriate local assessor by December 31 of the taxation period, on forms 2
provided therefor, a signed statement indicating continuing disability as provided herein 3
made under penalty of perjury, up to the assessed valuation of sixty -five hundred dollars 4
on said residence and contiguous real property, except for assessment for special benefits. 5
The real property may be held by legal or equitable title, by the entireties, join tly, in 6
common, as a condominium, or indirectly by the stock ownership or membership 7
representing the owner's or member's proprietary interest in a corporation owning a fee or 8
a leasehold initially in excess of ninety -eight years. The exemptions shall appl y only to 9
the value of the real property assessable to the owner or, in case of ownership through 10
stock or membership in a corporation, the value of the proportion which his interest in the 11
corporation bears to the assessed value of the property. The Gener al Assembly may 12
authorize any incorporated city or town to exempt manufacturing establishments from 13
municipal taxation, for a period not exceeding five years, as an inducement to their 14
location. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 3, 172, and 174 of this Constitution 15
to the contrary, the General Assembly may provide by law an exemption for all or any 16
portion of the property tax for any class of personal property. 17
Section 3. This amendment shall be submitted to the voters of the 18
Commonwealth for their ratification or rejection at the time and in the manner provided 19
for under Sections 256 and 257 of the Constitution, KRS 118.415, and Sections 4 and 5 20
of this Act. 21
Section 4. Notwiths tanding any provision of KRS 118.415 to the contrary, the 22
Secretary of State shall cause the entirety of the question in Section 1 of this Act and the 23
entirety of the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Kentucky contained in Section 24
2 of this Act to be published at least one time in a newspaper of general circulation 25
published in this state, and shall also cause to be published at the same time and in the 26
same manner the fact that the amendment will be submitted to the voters for their 27
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acceptance or r ejection at the next regular election at which members of the General 1
Assembly are to be voted for. The publication required by this section and KRS 118.415 2
shall be made no later than the first Tuesday in August preceding the election at which 3
the amendment is to be voted on. 4
Section 5. Notwithstanding any provision of KRS 118.415 to the contrary, the 5
Secretary of State, not later than the second Monday after the second Tuesday in August 6
preceding the next regular election at which members of the General Assembly are to be 7
chosen in a year in which there is not an election for President and Vice President of the 8
United States, or not later than the Thursday after the first Tuesday in September 9
preceding a regular election in a year in which there is an election for President and Vice 10
President of the United States, shall certify the entirety of the question in Section 1 of this 11
Act and the entirety of the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Kentucky 12
contained in Section 2 of this Act to the county clerk of each county, and the county clerk 13
shall have the entirety of the question and the amendment, as so certified, indicated on 14
the ballots provided to the voters in paper or electronic form as applicable to the voting 15
machines in use in each county or precinct. 16
Section 6. If the exemptions created by the proposed amendment to the 17
Constitution of Kentucky in Section 2 of this Act are ratified by the voters of the 18
Commonwealth, the exemptions shall only apply to property assessed on or after January 19
1, 2027. 20