243.075 Eligible city or county may impose regulatory license fee up to five percent
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/ky/243-075A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
on gross receipts of each establishment's sale of alcoholic beverages and
cannabis-infused beverages -- Annual levies -- Credits -- Applicability of
county regulatory license fee if city levies license fee -- Enactment of fee within
two years following election -- Administrative regulations -- Use of revenue
received from regulatory license fee -- Penalties for violation -- Party suing city
or county for violation responsible for attorney fees if city or county found not
to be in violation -- Regulatory fee imposed before 2019 permitted to continue
at existing rate -- Applicability to direct shipper licensee -- Report to
department.
(a)A city with a population of less than twenty thousand (20,000) based upon the
most recent federal decennial census, a county that does not contain a city
with a population equal to or greater than twenty thousand (20,000) based
upon the most recent federal decennial census, or a county that contains a city
authorized to impose a fee under subsection
(9)of this section, that is wet
through a local option election held under KRS Chapter 242 is authorized to
impose a regulatory license fee not to exceed five percent (5%) upon the gross
receipts of the sale of alcoholic beverages and cannabis-infused beverages of
each establishment located in the city or county licensed to sell alcoholic
beverages or cannabis-infused beverages.
(b)The regulatory license fee may be levied at the beginning of each budget
period at a percentage rate that is reasonably estimated to fully reimburse the
local government for the estimated costs of any additional policing,
regulatory, or administrative expenses related to the sale of alcoholic
beverages or cannabis-infused beverages in the city and county.
(c)The regulatory license fee shall be in addition to any other taxes, fees, or
licenses permitted by law, except:
1. A credit against a regulatory license fee shall be allowed in an amount
equal to any licenses or fees imposed by the city or county pursuant to
KRS 243.060 or 243.070; and
2. In a county in which the city and county both levy a regulatory license
fee, the county license fee shall only be applicable outside the
jurisdictional boundaries of those cities which levy a license fee.
(a)A city or county that is moist through a local option election held under KRS
242.1244 may by ordinance impose a regulatory license fee upon the gross
receipts of the sale of alcoholic beverages of each establishment located in the
city or county and licensed to sell alcoholic beverages by the drink for
consumption on the premises.
(b)The regulatory license fee may be levied annually at a rate that is reasonably
estimated to fully reimburse the city or county for the estimated costs for any
additional policing, regulatory, or administrative related expenses.
(c)The regulatory license fee shall be in addition to any other taxes, fees, or
licenses permitted by law, but a credit against the fee shall be allowed in an
amount equal to any licenses or fees imposed by the city or county pursuant to
KRS 243.060 or 243.070.
(d)In a county in which the city and county both levy a regulatory license fee, the
county license fee shall only be applicable outside the jurisdictional
boundaries of those cities which levy a license fee.
(a)For any election held after July 15, 2014, any new fee authorized under
subsection
(1)or
(2)of this section shall be enacted by the city or county no
later than two
(2)years from the date of the local option election held under
KRS Chapter 242.
(b)Notwithstanding paragraph
(a)of this subsection, any city or county that held
a local option election between July 15, 2014, and July 15, 2018, may enact a
regulatory licensing fee in accordance with subsection
(1)of this section
within two
(2)years of June 29, 2021.
(4)After July 15, 2014, any fee authorized under subsections
(1)and
(2)of this section
shall be established at a rate that will generate revenue that does not exceed the total
of the reasonable expenses actually incurred by the city or county in the
immediately previous fiscal year for the additional cost, as demonstrated by
reasonable evidence, of:
(a)Policing;
(b)Regulation; and
(c)Administration;
as a result of the sale of alcoholic beverages or cannabis-infused beverages within
the city or county.
(a)The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board shall promulgate administrative
regulations which set forth the process by which a city or county, in the first
year following the discontinuance of prohibition, may estimate any additional
policing, regulation, and administrative expenses by a city or county directly
and solely related to the discontinuance of prohibition. This subsection shall
apply to any discontinuance of prohibition occurring after the promulgation of
administrative regulations required by this subsection.
(b)After the first year, the regulatory license fee for each subsequent year shall
conform to the requirements of subsection
(4)of this section.
(6)The revenue received from the imposition of the regulatory license fee authorized
under subsections
(1)and
(2)of this section shall be:
(a)Deposited into a segregated fund of the city or county;
(b)Spent only in accordance with the requirements of subsections
(1)and
(2)of
this section; and
(c)Audited under an annual audit performed pursuant to KRS 43.070, 64.810,
and 91A.040.
(7)Any city or county found by a court to have violated the provisions of this section
shall:
(a)Provide a refund as determined by the court to any licensee that has been
harmed in an amount equal to its prorated portion of the excess revenues
collected by the city or county that are directly attributable to a violation
occurring after July 15, 2014;
(b)Be responsible for the payment of the reasonable attorney fees directly
incurred by a party to a litigation in an amount ordered by the court upon its
finding of an intentional and willful violation of this section by a city or
county occurring after July 15, 2014; and
(c)Upon the finding by a court of a second intentional and willful violation of the
provisions of this section, lose the ability to impose the regulatory fee
provided by this section for a period of five
(5)years and, upon the finding by
a court of a third intentional and willful violation, forfeit the right to impose
the regulatory license fee authorized by this section.
(8)Any party bringing suit against a city or county for an alleged violation of this
section occurring after July 15, 2014, shall be responsible for the payment of the
reasonable attorney fees of the city or county in an amount determined by the court
upon a finding by the court that the city or county did not violate this section.
(a)Any city that does not meet the population requirements of subsection
(1)of
this section, and any county that has a city exceeding the population
requirements of subsection
(1)of this section, that imposed a regulatory
license fee pursuant to this section as of January 1, 2019, shall be deemed to
meet the requirements for doing so set out in this section and may continue to
impose the regulatory license fee previously established pursuant to this
section.
(b)Any city or county that is authorized to impose the regulatory license fee
under subsection
(1)of this section, or under paragraph
(a)of this subsection,
that imposed the regulatory license fee at a rate higher than five percent (5%)
prior to June 27, 2019, may continue to impose the regulatory license fee at a
rate that exceeds five percent (5%). The rate shall continue to be calculated
annually pursuant to the requirements of this section and shall not exceed the
rate that was imposed by the city or county on January 1, 2019.
(10)A direct shipper licensee shall be subject to and remit the regulatory license fee
imposed by this section as though it were an establishment located in a city or
county licensed to sell alcoholic beverages or cannabis-infused beverages. This fee
shall be considered a tax as defined in KRS 243.029.
(11)Any city or county imposing a regulatory license fee under this section shall file
with the department a report showing the applicable fee amount and remittance
address for each affected license type in its jurisdiction on or before August 1,
2020. Any adoption of this fee after July 15, 2020, or modification of the applicable
fee amount or remittance address for each affected licensee shall be reported to the
department within thirty
(30)days of adoption by the city or county imposing the
fee. Within twenty
(20)days after receipt of the information, the department shall
compile and publish the information so that it is readily available to the public.