LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A little more than two weeks after trying to pass a tax increase onto Fayette County residents and workers, the county school district will now have to open its books to the state’s auditor. Allison Ball made her intentions to conduct a “special examination” known on Tuesday.
“They were calling for an audit or investigation well before the May and she's been getting emails and requests from the public to do so,” said State Senator, Amanda Mays Bledsoe (R-12th District). “I think it's most appropriate that Auditor Ball play that role. That's why she's elected, to look at public funds and accountability."
Calls for transparency began coming from both sides of the aisle in Frankfort once Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman released his opinion on the matter, saying the district's board member vote to increase the occupational and licensing tax was unlawful.
“I think they thought they were doing it legally, but nobody else did. I think they got bad legal advice,” Anne Gay Donworth, a democratic State Representative from the 76th District, added.
Donworth said it’s possible that this roughly $13 dollar per county worker tax is warranted to cover what the district claims will be a $16,000,000 budget shortfall.
“Maybe they are completely justified in spending the money the way they are, but they haven’t communicated that well enough with the public for us to know and understand that” Donworth said. “It really comes down to communication and making sure we're doing it right."
Both Bledsoe and Donworth are hoping the pause placed on this vote, coupled with the auditor’s findings will generate the answers everyone is seeking, while providing constituents with a level of transparency.
“That's what the people have asked for,” Bledsoe said of the residents she’s spoken with in her district.
LEX 18 has reached out to the FCPS board chairperson seeking comment for this story but has not heard back.
