Commonwealth v. Saint Joseph Health System, Inc.

OPINION

LAMBERT, Senior Judge:

In this appeal and two cross-appeals, we are asked to interpret and apply Kentucky’s utility gross receipts license tax (“utility tax”), a mechanism for funding schools authorized by KRS 160.593 and KRS 160.613 et seq., and the exemption for institutions of purely public charity found in Section 1702 of the Kentucky Constitution. Specifically, we are asked to determine whether: (1) the legal incidence of the utility tax levied by the Board of Education of Fayette County (“Board”) falls upon Saint Joseph Health System, Inc. (“Saint Joseph”), a nonprofit hospital…