KRS § 75.450 — KY Code / Title IX / Chapter 75 / Section 75.450
75.450 Fees for services -- Exemptions -- Response to all fires in jurisdiction required -- Mission statement -- Inclusion of fees on property tax bills -- Collection and distribution -- Collection fee for sheriff
Status: in_force

75.450 Fees for services -- Exemptions -- Response to all fires in jurisdiction

required -- Mission statement -- Inclusion of fees on property tax bills --

Collection and distribution -- Collection fee for sheriff.

(1) A fire department which collects membership charges or subscriber fees for

combatting fires or serving in other emergencies shall base its annual fee or charge

on the level of protection offered.

(2) A fire department that responds to a fire or other emergency on the property of a

nonmember or nonsubscriber may charge the following fees for services rendered:

(a) Up to five hundred dollars ($500) for single family residential units; utility

occupancies of two thousand (2,000) or fewer square feet; assembly and

business occupancies having a capacity which does not exceed one hundred

(100) persons; equipment; vehicles; and grass or woods fires; and

(b) Up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for multifamily residential units;

assembly and business occupancies having a capacity exceeding one hundred

(100) persons; storage occupancies; utility occupancies of more than two

thousand (2,000) square feet; and all industrial, educational, or institutional

occupancies; and

(c) Up to five hundred dollars ($500) for responding to emergencies not covered

in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, including response to high hazard

occupancies as defined in KRS 198B.010. The department may be entitled to

recover necessary and reasonable costs in excess of the five hundred dollar

($500) limit based upon submission of a written itemized claim for the total

costs incurred. Disputes involving fees in excess of the five hundred dollar

($500) limit shall be submitted to arbitration by the commission.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) and (b) of this section, the meaning of

assembly, business, industrial, educational, and institutional occupancies shall be as

defined in KRS 198B.010. The meaning of storage and utility occupancies shall be

as defined in the Kentucky Building Code, Sections 311.1 and 312.1 respectively,

promulgated pursuant to KRS 198B.050.

(4) Property owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the federal government

shall be exempt from charges.

(5) If more than one (1) department responds to a fire or other emergency, the fee shall

be paid only to the department which is authorized to protect the property pursuant

to KRS 75.440(2)(a).

(6) A fire department shall respond within its jurisdiction to all fires and to other

emergencies for which it is responsible as set forth in its mission statement. A copy

of each fire department mission statement shall be filed with the commission. A

new department shall file its statement when it is incorporated. A department in

existence on July 15, 1994, shall file its mission statement by July 1, 1995. A copy

of the mission statement shall be posted in a conspicuous location in each station of

the department, and shall be filed with the county clerk of each county in which the

department has jurisdiction pursuant to KRS 75.440(2)(a). The mission statement

shall remain in effect until amended, and filed and posted by the fire department in

the locations as required by this subsection.

(7) If a fire department collects membership charges or subscriber fees, the fiscal court

may adopt an ordinance to require the annual membership charges or subscriber

fees to be added to property tax bills. In any county where the fiscal court has

adopted such an ordinance, the county clerk shall add the annual membership

charges or subscriber fees to the tax bills of the affected property owners in a place

separate from the bill of the fire district tax or fire subdistrict tax so that ratepayers

can ascertain the amount of the membership charges or subscriber fees apart from

the fire district tax.

(8) The membership charges or subscriber fees shall be collected and distributed by the

sheriff to the appropriate fire departments in the same manner as the other taxes on

the bill and unpaid fees or charges shall bear the same penalty as general state and

county taxes. This shall be a lien on the property against which it is levied from the

time of the levy. The fiscal court shall, in the ordinance set forth in subsection (7) of

this section and in consultation with the sheriff and the fire department, set a

collection fee for the sheriff to retain an amount not to exceed four and one-fourth

percent (4.25%) of the membership charges or subscriber fees collected.