HB608: AN ACT relating to property fees.

Legislative Summary

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 75 to define "premises"; allow a fire protection district or subdistrict, or a volunteer fire department district, to assess a fee against a premises for the costs of maintaining necessary fire protection measures; establish billing and appeals process; set reporting requirements; create a new section of KRS Chapter 75A to define "premises"; allow a consolidated emergency services district board to assess a fee against a premises for the costs of maintaining necessary fire protection measures; establish billing and appeals process; set reporting requirements; create a new section of KRS Chapter 244 to define terms; establish a process for distilled spirits aging facilities to reimburse nearby property owners for cleaning expenses relating to whiskey fungus; require the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the program; include any affected property within a three mile radius of aging facilities; determine cleaning expenses based on costs incurred by the property owner and verify through an independent entity; direct the department to determine the cleaning expenses in the absence of an agreement; impose fines on distilled spirits licensees who disregard the reimbursement process; pay all cleaning expense reimbursements from moneys in the distilled spirits environmental fund; create a new section of KRS Chapter 138 to define terms; require distilled spirits barrel aging facilities to pay to the Department of Revenue a $0.25 environmental fee on each barrel stored on January 1 of each year; apply all provisions of KRS Chapter 131 to the fee; create a new section of KRS Chapter 244 to establish the distilled spirits environmental fund; authorize the fund to consist of moneys received from the barrel environmental fee and cleaning expense fines; direct the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to administer the fund; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2026.