KRS 132.590: Compensation of administrator -- Salary schedule -- Salary adjustments --

Advancement in grade -- Biennial budget -- Allowances for deputies --

Payments by fiscal court.

(1) (a) The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky hereby finds an d

determines that property valuation administrators in all counties are officers

whose jurisdiction or duties are coextensive with that of the Commonwealth

within the meaning of Section 246 of the Constitution of Kentucky.

(b) The compensation of the prope rty valuation administrator shall be based on

the schedule contained in subsection (2) of this section as modified by

subsection (3) of this section. The compensation of the property valuation

administrator shall be calculated by the department annually. S hould a

property valuation administrator for any reason vacate the office in any year

during his term of office, he shall be paid only for the calendar days actually

served during the year.

(2) The salary schedule for property valuation administrators prov ides for nine (9)

levels of salary based upon the population of the county in the prior year as

determined by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census

annual estimates. To implement the salary schedule, the department shall, by

November 1 of each year, certify for each county the population group applicable to

each county based on the most recent estimates of the United States Department of

Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The salary schedule provides four (4) steps for

yearly increments within each population group. Property valuation administrators

shall be paid according to the first step within their population group for the first

year or portion thereof they serve in office. Thereafter, each property valuation

administrator, on Janu ary 1 of each subsequent year, shall be advanced

automatically to the next step in the salary schedule until the maximum salary

figure for the population group is reached. If the county population as certified by

the department increases to a new group lev el, the property valuation

administrator's salary shall be computed from the new group level at the beginning

of the next year. A change in group level shall have no effect on the annual change

in step. Prior to assuming office, any person who has previous ly served as a

property valuation administrator must certify to the department the total number of

years, not to exceed four (4) years, that the person has previously served in the

office. The department shall place the person in the proper step based upon a

formula of one (1) incremental step per full calendar year of service:

SALARY SCHEDULE

County Population Steps and Salary

by Group for Property Valuation Administrators

Group I Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

0-4,999 $81,460 $83,928 $86,397 $88,865

Group II

5,000-9,999 88,865 91,334 93,802 96,270

Group III

10,000-19,999 96,270 98,739 101,207 103,676

Group IV

20,000-29,999 99,973 103,676 107,379 111,081

Group V

30,000-44,999 107,379 111,081 114,784 118,487

Group VI

45,000-59,999 111,081 116,018 120,955 125,892

Group VII

60,000-89,999 118,487 123,424 128,361 133,298

Group VIII

90,000-499,999 122,189 128,361 134,532 140,703

Group IX

500,000 and up 129,595 135,766 141,937 148,108

(3) (a) For calendar year 2024, the salary schedule in subsection (2) of this section

shall be increased by the amount of increase in the annual consumer price

index as published by the United States Department of Commerce for the year

ended December 31, 2023. This salary adjustment shall take effect on April

17, 2024, and shall not be retroactive to the preceding January 1.

(b) 1. For each calendar year beginning after December 31, 2024, upon

publication of the a nnual consumer price index by the United States

Department of Commerce, the annual rate of salary for the property

valuation administrator shall be determined by applying the increase in

the consumer price index to the salary in effect for the previous yea r.

This salary determination shall be retroactive to the preceding January 1.

A property valuation administrator's salary shall not exceed the

maximum salary set out for officers whose jurisdiction or duties are

coextensive with that of the Commonwealth wi thin the meaning of

Section 246 of the Constitution of Kentucky.

2. a. Each property valuation administrator who is serving in office on

April 17, 2024, who did not receive an eight percent (8%) salary

increase in July 2022 while serving as property valua tion

administrator shall receive a lump -sum payment that is equal to

eight percent (8%) of the sum the property valuation administrator

received between April 17, 2024, and the date the property

valuation administrator took office after July 1, 2022.

b. The department shall calculate the payments due the eligible

property valuation administrators as set out in subdivision a. of

this subparagraph and shall direct that the eligible property

valuation administrators each receive a lump -sum payment on or

before June 30, 2024.

(c) In addition to the step increases based on service in office, each property

valuation administrator shall be paid an annual incentive of six hundred

eighty-seven dollars and sixty -seven cents ($687.67) per calendar year for

each forty (40) hour training unit successfully completed based on continuing

service in that office and, except as provided in this subsection, completion of

at least forty (40) hours of approved training in each subsequent calendar

year. If a property valuation admi nistrator fails without good cause, as

determined by the commissioner of the department, to obtain the minimum

amount of approved training in any year, the officer shall lose all training

incentives previously accumulated. No property valuation administrat or shall

receive more than one (1) training unit per calendar year nor more than four

(4) incentive payments per calendar year. Each property valuation

administrator shall be allowed to carry forward up to forty (40) hours of

training credit into the follo wing calendar year for the purpose of satisfying

the minimum amount of training for that year. This amount shall be increased

by the consumer price index adjustments prescribed in paragraphs (a) and (b)

of this subsection. Each training unit shall be appro ved and certified by the

department. Each unit shall be available to property valuation administrators

in each office based on continuing service in that office. The department shall

promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A

to establish guidelines for the approval and certification of training units.

(4) Notwithstanding any provision contained in this section, no property valuation

administrator holding office on April 17, 2024, shall receive any reduction in salary

or reduction in adjustment to salary otherwise allowable by the statutes in force on

April 17, 2024.

(5) Deputy property valuation administrators and other authorized personnel may be

advanced one (1) step in grade upon completion of twelve (12) months' continuous

service. The department may make grade classification changes corresponding to

any approved for department employees in comparable positions, so long as the

changes do not violate the integrity of the classification system. Subject to

availability of funds , the department may extend cost -of-living increases approved

for department employees to deputy property valuation administrators and other

authorized personnel, by advancement in grade.

(6) Beginning with the 1990 -1992 biennium, the department shall prep are a biennial

budget request for the staffing of property valuation administrators' offices. An

equitable allocation of employee positions to each property valuation

administrator's office in the state shall be made on the basis of comparative

assessment work units. Assessment work units shall be determined from the most

current objective information available from the United States Bureau of the Census

and other similar sources of unbiased information. Beginning with the 1996 -1998

biennium, assessment work units shall be based on parcel count per employee. The

total sum allowed by the state to any property valuation administrator's office as

compensation for deputies, other authorized personnel, and for other authorized

expenditures shall not exceed the am ount fixed by the department. However, each

property valuation administrator's office shall be allowed as a minimum such funds

that are required to meet the federal minimum wage requirements for two (2) full -

time deputies.

(7) Beginning with the 1990-1992 biennium each property valuation administrator shall

submit by June 1 of each year for the following fiscal year to the department a

budget request for his office which shall be based upon the number of employee

positions allocated to his office under subsection (6) of this section and upon the

county and city funds available to his office and show the amount to be expended

for deputy and other authorized personnel including employer's share of FICA and

state retirement, and oth er authorized expenses of the office. The department shall

return to each property valuation administrator, no later than July 1, an approved

budget for the fiscal year.

(8) Each property valuation administrator may appoint any persons approved by the

department to assist him in the discharge of his duties. Each deputy shall be more

than twenty -one (21) years of age and may be removed at the pleasure of the

property valuation administrator. The salaries of deputies and other authorized

personnel shall be fi xed by the property valuation administrator in accordance with

the grade classification system established by the department and shall be subject to

the approval of the department. The Personnel Cabinet shall provide advice and

technical assistance to the department in the revision and updating of the personnel

classification system, which shall be equitable in all respects to the personnel

classification systems maintained for other state employees. Any deputy property

valuation administrator employed or p romoted to a higher position may be

examined by the department in accordance with standards of the Personnel Cabinet,

for the position to which he is being appointed or promoted. No state funds

available to any property valuation administrator's office as compensation for

deputies and other authorized personnel or for other authorized expenditures shall

be paid without authorization of the department prior to the employment by the

property valuation administrator of deputies or other authorized personnel or the

incurring of other authorized expenditures.

(9) Each county fiscal court shall annually appropriate and pay each fiscal year to the

office of the property valuation administrator as its cost for use of the assessment,

as required by KRS 132.280, an amount determined as follows:

Assessment Subject to

County Tax of:

At Least But Less Than Amount

---- $100,000,000 $0.005 for each $100 of the first

$50,000,000 and $0.002 for

each $100 over $50,000,000.

$100,000,000 150,000,000 $0.004 for each $100 of the first

$100,000,000 and $0.002 for

each $100 over $100,000,000.

150,000,000 300,000,000 $0.004 for each $100 of the first

$150,000,000 and $0.003 for

each $100 over $150,000,000.

300,000,000 ---- $0.004 for each $100.

(10) The total sum to be paid by the fiscal court to any property valuation administrator's

office under the provisions of subsection (9) of this section shall not exceed the

limits set forth in the following table:

Assessed Value of Property Subject to

County Tax of:

At Least But Less Than Limit

---- $700,000,000 $25,000

$700,000,000 1,000,000,000 35,000

1,000,000,000 2,000,000,000 50,000

2,000,000,000 2,500,000,000 75,000

2,500,000,000 5,000,000,000 100,000

5,000,000,000 7,500,000,000 175,000

7,500,000,000 30,000,000,000 250,000

30,000,000,000 ----- 400,000

This allowance shall be based on the assessment as of the previous January 1 and

shall be used for deputy and other personnel allowance, supplies, maps and

equipment, travel allowance for the property valuation administrator and his

deputies and other authorized personnel, an d other authorized expenses of the

office.

(11) Annually, after appropriation by the county of funds required of it by subsection (9)

of this section, and no later than August 1, the property valuation administrator

shall file a claim with the county for that amount of the appropriation specified in

his approved budget for compensation of deputies and assistants, including

employer's shares of FICA and state retirement, for the fiscal year. The amount so

requested shall be paid by the county into the State Treasury by September 1, or

paid to the property valuation administrator and be submitted to the State Treasury

by September 1. These funds shall be e xpended by the department only for

compensation of approved deputies and assistants and the employer's share of FICA

and state retirement in the appropriating county. Any funds paid into the State

Treasury in accordance with this provision but unexpended by the close of the fiscal

year for which they were appropriated shall be returned to the county from which

they were received.

(12) After submission to the State Treasury or to the property valuation administrator of

the county funds budgeted for personnel compensation under subsection (11) of this

section, the fiscal court shall pay the remainder of the county appropriation to the

office of the property valuation administrator on a quarterly basis. Four (4) equal

payments shall be made on or before Septemb er 1, December 1, March 1, and June

1 respectively. Any unexpended county funds at the close of each fiscal year shall

be retained by the property valuation administrator, except as provided in KRS

132.601(2). During county election years the property valu ation administrator shall

not expend in excess of forty percent (40%) of the allowances available to his office

from county funds during the first five (5) months of the fiscal year in which the

general election is held.

(13) The provisions of this section shall apply to urban -county governments and

consolidated local governments. In an urban -county government and a consolidated

local government, all the rights and obligations conferred on fiscal courts or

consolidated local governments by the provisions of this section shall be exercised

by the urban-county government or consolidated local government.

(14) When an urban -county form of government is established through merger of

existing city and county governments as provided in KRS Chapter 67A or when a

consolidated local government is established through merger of existing city and

county governments as provided by KRS Chapter 67C, the annual county

assessment shall be presumed to have been adopted as if the city had exercised the

option to adopt as provid ed in KRS 132.285. For purposes of this subsection, the

amount to be considered as the assessment for purposes of KRS 132.285 shall be

the amount subject to taxation for full urban services.

(15) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (9) of this sec tion, the amount

appropriated and paid by each county fiscal court to the office of the property

valuation administrator for 1996 and subsequent years shall be equal to the amount

paid to the office of the property valuation administrator for 1995, or the amount

required by the provisions of subsections (9) and (10) of this section, whichever is

greater.