LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The property tax increase levied by Jefferson County Public Schools in 2020 may stand, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

Kentucky’s highest court ruled that a petition challenging the property tax increase didn’t contain sufficient signatures as required by state law. The ruling puts an end to the lengthy legal tiff between the Jefferson County Board of Education, county clerk Bobbie Holsclaw and an array of petitioners in the community.

Petitioners, largely sourced from the “No JCPS Tax Hike” Facebook page opposing the tax increase, collected over 38,500 signatures. Supreme Court judges cited the absence of electronic security measures in their “null and void” ruling.

“We hold the total absence of any security measures to ensure an electronic signature was in fact made by the purported signatory negates the petition,” the ruling reads.

The tax increase will see property owners pay an extra $70 per year for every $100,000 in assessed value. JCPS estimates that this will bring in $54 million each year. 

JCPS has said the money raised will go toward new facilities, racial equity initiatives, and “resources in our highest-need schools.”

“We will longer have schools with condemned third floors,” Pollio said in Oct. 2020. “We will no longer have 32 schools that are beyond the end of life. We will no longer have buildings where mold is coming in and principals are lining up trash cans in the hallways to collect rain.”

Pollio said Friday he wants the money JCPS raises to be tracked in an online dashboard, allowing residents to hold the district accountable for how it’s spending the money.

The Supreme Court’s ruling affirms lower court rulings that found insufficient signatures. JCPS and the Jefferson County Teachers Association had challenged thousands of the petition’s signatures in court.