A tax hike vote by a local school board has prompted backlash from more than just citizens.

The state's top cop has accused the Fayette County School Board of skirting the rules when it voted last week to raise the occupational tax to deal with a budget deficit.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman says the board failed to provide proper public notice before the tax vote.

A former Lexington Urban County councilwoman who now sits in the Kentucky General Assembly, raised the issue to Coleman.

I talked with State Senator Amanda mayes Bledsoe of Lexington about this in our studio yesterday.

Walk us through this.

And why are you dismayed by the Fayette County Board's action on this?

Well, the first I saw about it, honestly, was on social media.

Monica Monday, who's my school board rep, posted on it on social media on the weekend.

I happened to see it.

So I reposted it and I was like, what are what are we doing?

And so I followed the meeting on Tuesday night, which is right after Memorial Day, huge holiday.

Most people aren't paying attention to social media or the news.

That vote was on Tuesday night, and they voted 3 to 2 to have an occupational tax increase.

And as you know, that's like that tax in Fayette County hasn't been touched in over 40 years.

There's a reason it's complicated.

It's intense.

It's not your property tax.

It's a different kind of tax on employers.

And I'm working and on people who are working.

So I had a number of people reach out to me after that vote and said, I didn't know about it.

I didn't did have notification about the public hearing, and they're asking if the vote was legal.

And so, you know, based on city council work for a long time, I'm pretty aware of public notices and how important they are.

So I did my own research, and then once I thought there was enough to question whether or not they followed procedure, reached out to attorney general, and I had no idea what he was going to say.

You know, if he had, where he would rule in his favor.

But when he put out his he basically said it was non void.

Yeah.

And that they needed to go back to the drawing board.

And so I'm really pleased with that.

I think it gives the public an opportunity to reengage on the topic.

Yeah.

And it's interesting what you said about how usually the board you know, they have at their disposal property taxes.

Why, why how did they get to occupational taxes that you said, like you said, had not been increased in 40 years.

Why was this throughout this time?

I have no idea.

I mean, we already have some occupational tax for schools in Fayette County.

There's only about 6 or 7 counties, actually in the state that use an occupational tax is not something that's a traditional form of raising funds for education.

So they decided to increase that.

I think because they didn't have to go through anybody else's approval, it wasn't subject to recall.

It's not subject to public, outside of the fiscal court.

And I believe they only have consent powers.

They don't have the ability to vote no.

They have to approve and consent based on what the school board has the authority to put into place at the tax rate.

I think all that raises a lot of questions for people who say, one, most county, we have a fiscal court.

And two, didn't haven't seen someone raise occupational tax a long time without a lot of public support.

Well, Superintendent Demetrius Liggins responded in a statement, quote, he respectfully but strongly disagrees with the opinion, but will honor the spirit of it by offering an additional opportunity for public comment at its June 23rd board meeting.

And then I'll have you respond after he I say that, he added.

While others may be focused on political maneuvering, our focus remains squarely on student achievement and fulfilling our community's expectation that we provide a world class education.

Your response to the superintendents response?

I was pretty disappointed.

I mean, there's nothing political about it.

I did my job when people were at the meeting and felt like they had been shut out of the process and reached out and asked for help.

You know, in the interim, we don't have legislative power to go into session or change law.

And so I did what I could, which is reached out to those who I thought could give an opinion and provide clarity, especially given the number of people who felt like there's at least some discrepancy in their interpretation of a law.

And for him to call it political maneuvering, I think, is a cheap shot.

When they had the opportunity to do it the right way, even if I said it was in the letter of the law, the spirit would have been to get public buy in to do it.

That notification on Memorial Day weekend that fills a hole.

I like political political shena We asked State Auditor Allison Ball if she's considering an audit of Fayette County Public Schools regarding the tax hike vote, and this is her response.

Quote, I have heard from parents and other constituents concerned about the state of FcPS and light of our ongoing audits of the Kentucky Department of Education and the Jefferson County Public School System.

My office is reviewing these concerns to determine our next steps.

And quote, now I'll have more of my interview with Senator Amanda mace Bledsoe Monday night when she talks about whether she has her sights set on a congressional run.

That interview Monday night on Kentucky Edition.