The "No JCPS Tax Hike" petition committee filed the appeal Monday, days after one of the group's leaders asked supporters for donations after their original law firm, Stoll Keenan Ogden, said it would no longer provide representation pro bono.
JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said both former gridiron stars contacted him to lend their support for the district’s tax increase, which is expected to generate $54 million in new annual revenue.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Brian Edwards heard no testimony on the initial claim raised by the school board and the Jefferson County Teachers Association that questioned the validity of many signatures on the electronic petition, enough to potentially nullify its certification by Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw’s office.
Theresa Camoriano, a patent attorney who heads the Louisville Tea Party, also speculated that JCPS added the names of dead voters on the “No JCPS Tax Hike” petition, which is the subject of a lawsuit challenging its validity.
The lawsuit argues that some of those signatures were computer generated, were counted more than once, or contained fraudulent information.
The Jefferson County Board of Education voted Tuesday allowing Superintendent Marty Pollio to challenge the determination that a petition filed by opponents of its property tax rate increase had enough valid signatures for ballot placement.
Jefferson County Clerk Bobby Holsclaw's office verified 38,507 signatures of the 40,320 submitted by the group No JCPS Tax Hike on July 10. The committee needed 35,517 signatures to place the proposed tax rate increase on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The group, No JCPS Tax Hike, said in a news released that it submitted the 40,320-signature petition to the Jefferson County Clerk on Friday.
Theresa Camoriano, president of the Louisville Tea Party, said the committee formed in opposition to the 7-cent property tax rate passed by the school board on May 21 hoped to turn in about 43,000 signatures to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office on Friday.