(A) Except as provided in division (B) below, every person or business entity engaged in any business for profit and any person or business entity that is required to make a filing with the Internal Revenue Service or the state’s Revenue Cabinet shall be required to file and pay to the city an occupational license fee for the privilege of engaging in such activities within the city. The occupational license fee shall be measured by 1.5% of:
(1) All wages and compensation paid or payable in the city for work done or services performed or rendered in the city by every resident and nonresident who is an employee;
(2) The net profits from business conducted in the city by a resident or nonresident business entity;
(3) Each person, association, corporation, or other business engaged in any occupation, trade, profession, or other business activity in the city shall pay a minimum license fee of $50, payable in advance, to the city for each tax year. The minimum fee shall be a credit on the net profit license fee as otherwise provided in this chapter only or the tax year which the minimum fee covers and shall not be a credit for any subsequent year; and
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person, association, corporation, or other business to engage in any occupation, trade, profession, or other activity in the city without first having applied for and paid the minimum license fee herein required. If the minimum license fee is not paid prior to engaging in any business activity, a penalty of $20 per month or fraction thereof, shall be imposed for the period during which any unlawful business or activity occurred.
(B) The occupational license fee imposed in this section shall not apply to the following persons or business entities:
(1) Any bank, trust company, combined bank and trust company, combined trust, banking, and title insurance company, organized and doing business in this state, any savings and loan associations whether state or federally chartered;
(2) Any compensation received by members of the Kentucky National Guard for active duty training, unit training assemblies, and annual field training;
(3) Any compensation received by precinct workers for election training or work at election booths in state, county, and local primary, regular, or special elections;
(4) Public service corporations that pay an ad valorem tax on property valued and assessed by the state’s Department of Revenue pursuant to the provisions of KRS 136.120. Licensees whose businesses are predominantly non-public service who are also engaged in public service activity are required to pay a license fee on their net profits derived from the non-public service activities apportioned to the city;
(5) Persons or business entities that have been issued a license under KRS Chapter 243 to engage in manufacturing or trafficking in alcoholic beverages. Persons engaged in the business of manufacturing or trafficking in alcoholic beverages are required to file a return, but may exclude the portion of their gross receipts derived from the manufacturing or trafficking in alcoholic beverages;
(6) Life insurance companies incorporated under the laws of and doing business in the Commonwealth;
(7) Any profits, earnings, or distributions of an investment fund which would qualify under KRS 154.20-250 to 154.20-284 to the extent any profits, earnings, or distributions would not be taxable to an individual investor; and
(8) Any company providing multichannel video programming services or communications services as defined in KRS 136.602. If only a portion of an entity’s business is providing multichannel video programming services or communications services including products or services that are related to and provided in support of the multichannel video programming services or communications services, this exclusion applies only to that portion of the business that provides multichannel video programming services or communications services including products or services that are related to and provided in support of the multichannel video programming services or communications services.
(C) (1) The Mayor and Council hereby find that the following occupations are of such a nature as to require special regulation and supervision, and therefore the following minimum license fees are imposed on every person engaged in the business, occupation, calling, or profession, or using, holding, or exhibiting articles named in this section who shall pay in advance to the city for each calendar year or fiscal year, or fraction thereof, in accordance with the yearly basis the licensee uses in making a return under the terms of this chapter, the license fee as otherwise provided in this chapter; however, where minimum fees are set forth in the following table for periods less than one year, the same shall be considered the minimum fee due for the period as set forth in such table and shall be paid in advance of engaging in such activity.
(2) In the event that a licensee engages in more than one type of activity in one business entity, the highest minimum license fee shall apply. Under column head “Date Due” in the following table the words “Before showing” mean that the license fee per showing is due prior to the date of each showing.
Subject Fee | Minimum Fee | Date Due |
Subject Fee | Minimum Fee | Date Due |
Auction houses | $100 | July 1 |
Dance halls (any place of business held open to the general public where patrons are permitted to dance) | $100 per year | July 1 |
Entertainment exhibitions, ride concessions, carnivals, or circuses regardless of sponsorship, per day | $25 | Before showing or operation |
Fortune telling | $500 per year | July 1 |
Parades, commercial (this section shall not include Christmas parades and the like, charitable or patriotic demonstrations, or school demonstrations) | $100 | July 1 |
Pawnbrokers | $100 | July 1 |
Residential rental units - one or more units | $50 per year | July 1 |
(D) Regulations for transient-itinerant merchants or businesses are as follows.
(1) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
TEMPORARILY. Not of a permanent nature or stay or involving regular or routine visits to the city.
TRANSIENT-ITINERANT MERCHANT OR BUSINESS. Includes any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity not specifically provided for in this chapter which passes through the city temporarily for the purpose of conducting a trade, occupation, profession in general for gain or profit which involves buying, selling, or exchanging of goods or services.
(2) Scope.
(a) Those subject to this chapter include, but are not limited to:
1. Photographers;
2. Appliance salespersons;
3. Household furnishings salespersons;
4. Magazine salespersons;
5. Novelties and confections salespersons;
6. Home improvements salespersons including:
a. Storm windows;
b. Insulation;
c. Painters;
d. Roofers; and
e. Awnings.
7. Vendors of service or merchandise;
8. Hawkers; and
9. Solicitors.
(b) All of the above persons are included unless specifically employed by local wholesale or retail merchants.
(3) Application. Any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity who regularly services, delivers, buys, or sells goods and services to retail, wholesale, or other permanent businesses in the city shall not constitute a transient-itinerant business, but rather shall be subject to the provisions and requirements of this chapter.
(4) Permit required. It shall be unlawful for any transient-itinerant business or representative thereof to engage in any activity in the city without the representatives thereof having first obtained a permit to do so as provided herein and having otherwise complied with the terms and provisions of this section.
(5) Issuance of permit, duration, and identification.
(a) Each and every representative of a transient-itinerant business desiring to engage in business within the city shall first make an application in writing to the Director of Finance through the Finance Office provided by the city, before the applicant shall be authorized to do business. Such application shall state the name, permanent address, and telephone number of the business, entity type, and federal identification number of the business, the name, address, telephone number, Social Security number, and other personal data of the business representative to be engaging in activity in the city and the type or nature of the goods or services to be provided.
(b) The Director of Finance, upon a receipt of a completed application and payment of the license fee, shall issue a permit to the representative of the business. The permittee shall have his or her permit in his or her immediate possession at all times when engaging in business in the city, and shall display it upon demand to an official of the city.
(6) Fees. Those subject to this division (D) relating to transient-itinerant businesses shall pay to the city a fee of $100 prior to the issuance of a permit and prior to engaging in business in the city. The fee shall be payable in advance and valid for the remainder of the tax year (or fraction thereof), which tax year is to be for the period commencing on July 1 and ending on the last day in June of each year.
(Prior Code, § 110.03) (Ord. 2011-01, passed 1-10-2011; Ord. 2019-04, passed 3-18-2019) Penalty, see § 110.99