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Poll taxes are imposed.

6. POLL TAXES

C. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS (COUNTIES)

The legislature may give powers of local legislation to county tribunals:

The legislature may confer upon tribunals transacting the county business of the several counties such powers of local legislation and administration as it shall deem expedient (art. 2, sec. 21).

D. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS (MUNICIPALITIES) ·

Organization of cities, towns, and villages shall be by general law and their power of taxation and assessment restricted:

Provision shall be made by general law for the organization of cities, towns, and villages; and their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit shall be so restricted as to prevent the abuse of such power (art. 12, sec. 5).

KENTUCKY

Constitutional Provisions Relating to Taxation as of June 30, 1937 (Constitution of 1891, as amended)

A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. LEGISLATIVE POWERS

The legislative power is vested in the general assembly (sec. 29).

2. LEGISLATIVE LIMITATIONS

(a) The general assembly shall not pass certain laws:

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The General Assembly shall not pass local or special acts * To authorize or to regulate the levy, the assessment or the collection of taxes, change the laws of descent distribution or succession

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* ** * to license companies or persons to own or operate ferries, bridges, roads, or turnpikes ; (sec. 59).

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(b) Grants of exclusive, separate public emoluments or privileges shall not be made, nor property exempted from taxation except as provided in the constitution:

All men, when they form a social compact, are equal; and no grant of exclusive, separate public emoluments or privileges shall be made to any man or set of men, except in consideration of public services; but no property shall be exempt from taxation except as provided in this Constitution, and every grant of a franchise, privilege, or exemption shall remain subject to revocation, alteration, or amendment (sec. 3).

(c) No special or local act shall repeal any part of certain general

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the repeal in part of a general act, or by exempting from the operation of a general act any city, town, district, or county

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No law * * * (with certain exceptions) shall be enacted to take effect upon the approval of any other authority than the general assembly (sec. 60).

B. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS (STATE)

1. PROPERTY TAXES

(a) Uniformity and valuation.-(1) An annual tax shall be levied for State expenses, and taxes shall be uniform upon all property of the same class within the limits of the taxing authority:

The General Assembly shall provide by law an annual tax, which, with other resources, shall be sufficient to defray the estimated expenses of the Commonwealth for each fiscal year. Taxes shall be levied and collected for public purposes only and shall be uniform upon all property of the same class subject to taxation within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax; and all taxes shall be levied and collected by general laws.

The General Assembly shall have power to divide property into classes and to determine what class or classes of property shall be subject to local taxation. Bonds of the state and of counties, municipalities, taxing and school districts shall not be subject to taxation.

Any law passed or enacted by the General Assembly pursuant to the provisions of or under this amendment, or amended section of the Constitution, classifying property and providing a lower rate of taxation on personal property, tangible or intangible, than upon real estate shall be subject to the referendum power of the people, which is hereby declared to exist to apply only to this section, or amended section (sec. 171, amended 1915).

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(2) All property shall be taxed in proportion to its value and shall pay the same rate. Income, franchise, and license taxes are authorized:

All property, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, unless exempted by this Constitution; and all corporate property shall pay the same rate of taxation paid by individual property. Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to prevent the General Assembly from providing for taxation based on income, licenses, or franchises (sec. 174).

(3) All taxable property shall be assessed at its fair cash value: All property, not exempted from taxation by this constitution, shall be assessed for taxation at its fair cash value, estimated at the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale

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(sec. 172).

(b) The general assembly shall provide for an efficient system of common schools (sec. 183).

(c) Exemptions.-(1) No property shall be exempt from taxation except as provided in the constitution (sec. 3; see par. A-1-b).

(2) Public property, places of religious worship, cemeteries not held for profit, charitable and educational institutions not used for profit, public libraries, parsonages occupied by the minister of any religion, and personal property of the head of a family not exceeding $250 in value are exempted from taxation (sec. 170).

(3) Bonds of the State, counties, municipalities, and taxing and school districts shall not be subject to taxation (sec. 171; see par. B-1-a).

(4) Manufacturing establishments may be exempted from taxation by incorporated cities and towns for a period not to exceed 5 years (sec. 170; see par. D-1-a).

2. INCOME TAX

An income tax is imposed and authorized by section 174. (See par. B-1-a-(2).)

3. DEATH TAXES

An inheritance tax is imposed.

4. FRANCHISE TAXES

The constitution authorizes franchise taxes (sec. 3, see par. A-1-b; sec. 174, see par. B-1-a-(2)).

5. LICENSE TAXES

The constitution authorizes license taxes (sec. 174; see par. B-1-a-(2)).

6. POLL TAX

Counties, cities, or towns may levy a poll tax not exceeding $1.50: The General Assembly may authorize the counties, cities, or towns to levy a poll tax not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents per head. 180).

C. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS (COUNTIES)

1. PROPERTY TAXES

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(a) Power of taxation.-The general assembly may authorize counties, cities, and towns to levy and collect taxes and in some instances to impose certain taxes in lieu of ad valorem taxes:

The General Assembly shall not impose taxes for the purpose of any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, but may by general laws confer on the proper authorities thereof, respectively, the power to assess and collect such taxes. The General Assembly may, by general laws only, provide for the payment of license fees on franchises, stock used for breeding purposes, the various trades, occupations, and professions, or a special or excise tax; and may, by general laws, delegate the power to counties, towns, cities, and other municipal corporations to impose and collect license fees on stock used for breeding purposes, on franchises, trades, occupations, and professions. And the General Assembly may, by general laws only, authorize cities or towns of any class to provide for taxation for municipal purposes on personal property, tangible and intangible, based on the income, licenses, or franchises, in lieu of an ad valorem tax thereon: Provided, Cities of the first class shall not be authorized to omit the imposition of an ad valorem tax on such property or any steam railroad, street railway, ferry, bridge, gas, water, heating, telephone, telegraph, electric light, or electric power company (sec. 181 (a); amended 1903).

(b) Rate limitation.-Tax rates and debts of counties and other political subdivisions are limited:

The tax rate of cities, towns, counties, taxing districts, and other municipalities, for other than school purposes, shall not, at any time, exceed the following rates upon the value of taxable property therein, viz.: For all towns or cities having a population of fifteen thousand or more, one dollar and fifty cents on the hundred dollars; for all towns or cities having less than fifteen thousand and not less than ten thousand, one dollar on the hundred dollars; for all towns or cities having less than ten thousand, seventy-five cents on the

hundred dollars; and for counties and taxing districts, fifty cents on the hundred dollars; unless it should be necessary to enable such city, town, county, or taxing district to pay the interest on, and provide a sinking fund for extinction of, indebtedness contracted before the adoption of this Constitution. No county, city, town, taxing district, or other municipality shall be authorized or permitted to become indebted, in any manner or for any purpose, to an amount exceeding, in any year, the income and revenue provided for such year, without the assent of two-thirds of the voters thereof, voting at an election to be held for that purpose; and any indebtedness contracted in violation of this section shall be void. * * * (sec. 157).

(c) Road taxes.-Counties may be authorized to incur an indebtedness not to exceed 5 percent of the value of the taxable property therein for road purposes, upon the assent of the voters, and to levy an additional tax rate not exceeding 20 cents on the $100 of the assessed valuation of the taxable property, for the payment of such indebtedness (sec. 157a; amended 1909).

(d) Taxes for sinking fund.-Whenever any county or taxing district is authorized to contract an indebtedness, it shall be required to provide an annual tax sufficient to create a sinking fund for the payment of such debt:

Whenever any county, city, town, taxing district, or other municipality is authorized to contract an indebtedness, it shall be required, at the same time, to provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on said indebtedness, and to create a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof, within not more than forty years from the time of contracting the same (sec. 159)..

2. FRANCHISE AND PRIVILEGE TAXES

No county or taxing district can grant any franchise or privilege for a term longer than 20 years:

No county, city, town, taxing district, or other municipality shall be authorized or permitted to grant any franchise or privilege, or make any contract in reference thereto, for a term exceeding twenty years. * * * This section shall not apply to a trunk railway (sec. 164; see par. C-1-a).

D. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS (MUNICIPALITIES AND OTHER TAXING

DISTRICTS)

1. PROPERTY TAXES

(a) The provisions with respect to counties is set forth in section C likewise apply to municipalities and other taxing districts, except as to particulars mentioned in the several subsections.

(b) Exemptions.--The general assembly may authorize any incorporated city or town to exempt manufacturing establishments from municipal taxation for a period not exceeding 5 years:

** * The General Assembly may authorize any incorporated city or town to exempt manufacturing establishments from municipal taxation, for a period not exceeding five years, as an inducement to their location (sec. 170).

2. ORGANIZATION OF MUNICIPALITIES

The cities and towns of the Commonwealth are divided into six classes according to population. The general assembly shall provide how they shall be organized. Municipalities of the same class shall have the same powers and restrictions (sec. 156).

LOUISIANA

Constitutional Provisions Relating to Taxation as of June 30, 1937

(Constitution of 1921, as amended)

A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. LEGISLATIVE POWERS

The legislative power of the State is vested in the legislature (art. III, sec. 1).

2. LEGISLATIVE LIMITATIONS

(a) The legislature shall not pass local or special laws on the following subjects:

* * * Changing the law of descent or succession.

Creating corporations, or amending, renewing, extending, or explaining the charters thereof; provided, this shall not apply to municipal corporations having a population of not less than twenty-five hundred inhabitants, or to the organization of levee districts and parishes, river improvement districts, harbor improvement districts, and navigation districts.

Granting to any corporation, association, or individual any special or exclusive right, privilege, or immunity. Exempting property from taxation. (art. IV, sec. 4).

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(b) Perpetual franchises or privileges are prohibited:

Perpetual franchises or privileges shall not be granted to any person or corporation by the State or by any political subdivision thereof (art. XIII, sec. 7).

(c) The power of taxation shall never be surrendered, suspended or contracted away (art. X, sec. 1).

(d) Forced heirships are protected, but certain trust estates are authorized:

No law shall be passed abolishing forced heirship or authorizing the creation of substitutions, fidei commissa or trust estates; except that the Legislature may authorize the creation of trust estates for a period not exceeding ten years after the death of the donor; provided that where a natural person is the direct beneficiary said period may be made to extend until ten years after his majority; and provided further, that this prohibition as to trust estates or fidei commissa shall not apply to donations strictly for educational, charitable, or religious purposes (art. IV, sec. 16).

3. ALIEN PROPERTY RIGHTS

No alien, who is ineligible to citizenship of the United States shall be permitted or allowed or shall have any right whatsoever to acquire by purchase, devise, inheritance, lease, assignment, gift or otherwise, or shall own or control, directly or indirectly, in his or her name, or through another interposed or by means of any corporation or association, or through ownership in his or her own name or through another of any stock or other form of security, any land or real property or any real rights or interests therein, including mortgage rights, of any kind or character whatsoever within the State of Louisiana. The Legislature may pass any additional legislation to carry the purpose of this section into effect (art. XIX, sec. 21).

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