Opinion ID: 2275793
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: legislative history: krs 68.197; krs 67.083(2).

Text: KRS 68.197 and KRS 67.083(2) were both enacted pursuant to Section 181 of the Constitution of Kentucky, which authorizes the General Assembly to delegate to cities and counties by general statute the power to impose and collect license fees on trades, occupations and professions. KRS 68.197 and KRS 68.198 both originated in House Bill 553 which was enacted by the 1966 General Assembly [1] and which provided in pertinent part [2] as follows: Section 1. (1) The fiscal court of each county having a population of 50,000 or more, may by order or resolution impose license fees on franchises, provide for licensing any business, trade, occupation or profession, and the using, holding or exhibiting of any animal, article or other thing. License fees on such business, trade, occupation, or profession for revenue purposes, except those of the common schools, shall be imposed at a percentage rate or rates not to exceed one percent of (a) salaries, wages, commissions and other compensation earned by persons within the county for work done and services performed or rendered in the county, and (b) the net profits of businesses, trades, professions or occupations from activities conducted in the county.... (2) No order or resolution of the fiscal court imposing license fees pursuant to subsection (1) of this Act shall be valid until it is approved by a majority of the voters of the county at an election called by the fiscal court. Section 2. The election in any county shall be held not less than fifteen nor more than sixty days from the time a resolution calling the election is adopted by the fiscal court.... Section 3. (1) The fiscal court of said counties may provide for the levy, the assessment and the collection of the license fees authorized by section 1 of this Act, provide for the issuance and enforcement of licenses, and specify the county governmental purposes to which the revenue derived from license fees authorized by section 1 of this Act shall be applied. (2) In making the provisions described in subsection (1), and without limiting them, the fiscal court may, by resolution or order adopt reasonable rules or regulations requiring the preparation and filing of timely, accurate, and truthful returns, accounts, and license applications which will aid in the determination of the amount of the fee. Sections 1 and 2 were compiled in the Kentucky Revised Statutes as KRS 68.197, entitled: License fees in counties of 50,000 or more. Section 3 was compiled as KRS 68.198, entitled: Fiscal court powers as to imposition of license tax (counties of 50,000). Despite the variance in titles, the fact that both statutes originated in House Bill 553 clearly indicates that both were intended to apply only to counties with populations of 50,000 or more. [3] The body of KRS 68.198 reads the same today as it did when enacted. The title has been changed to reflect the current application of both statutes to counties with populations of 30,000 or more. However, KRS 68.197 has been amended in several significant respects. A 1974 amendment [4] of KRS 68.197 added what is now subsection (2), which prohibits the imposition of an occupational license fee on training pay received by members of the Kentucky National Guard. The statute was amended again in 1978 [5] as follows: 1. Subsection (1) was amended to make the statute applicable to counties with populations of 30,000 or more. 2. Subsection (1) was also amended to authorize such counties to levy an occupational license fee against the net profits of self-employed individuals, partnerships, professional associations, business joint ventures, and business corporations. 3. The election requirements of subsections (3) and (4) were combined into subsection (3) and amended to provide that the license fee would be placed on the ballot at the next general election after it was passed, and, if rejected, would be deemed repealed effective December 31 of that year. 4. A new subsection (4) was created as follows: Persons who pay a county license fee pursuant to this section and who also pay a license fee to a city contained in the county may upon agreement between the county and the city, credit their city license fee against their county license fee. Finally, a 1986 amendment [6] deleted the requirement of a ratification election, renumbered subsection (4) as subsection (3), and added a new subsection (4) as follows: The provisions of subsection (3) of this section notwithstanding, effective with license fees imposed under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section on or after the effective date of this Act, persons who pay a county license fee and a license fee to a city contained in the county shall be allowed to credit their city license fee against their county license fee. Of course, it is this new subsection (4) of KRS 68.197 which Appellant seeks to apply to the Johnson County ordinance. However, KRS 68.197 specifically applies only to counties with populations of 30,000 or more and Johnson County has a population of less than 30,000. KRS 67.083(2) was enacted in 1972 as part of the original home rule statute [7] and reads today substantially as it did when enacted: The fiscal court of any county is hereby authorized to levy all taxes not in conflict with the Constitution and statutes of this state now or hereafter enacted.