KRS 341.614: Surcharge to be paid by subject contributing employers each year

funds insufficient in unemployment compensation administration fund --

Percentage rate -- Annual adjustment -- Payment and collection.

(1) Effective January 1, 2014, there shall be a surcharge upon all subject

contributing employers for any year there are insufficient funds in the

unemployment compensation administration fund for the payment of interest on

advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act or for the repayment of

money, including any interest thereon, received from any source related to the

payment of interest on such advances.

(2) (a) The surcharge shall be twenty-two hundredths of one percent (0.22%) of

the first nine thousand six hundred dollars ($9,600) in wages paid to each

worker by a subject contributing employer or his predecessor with respect

to covered employment during any calendar year.

(b) Effective January 1, 2015, and each calendar year thereafter, the

secretary shall adjust the surcharge percentage rate based on any

increase to the taxable wage base for that calendar year as provided in

KRS 341.030(7). The purpose of the adjustment shall be to maintain

costs per worker comparable to the original surcharge. Any reduction in

the surcharge percentage rate shall correspond to the increase to the

taxable wage base for that calendar year and shall be rounded up to the

nearest one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%).

(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this subsection, the secretary may

reduce the surcharge percentage rate or suspend the surcharge for any

calendar year based on the balance of the unemployment insurance

interest payment fund and the projected amount due for interest on

advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act and for repayment of

money, including any interest thereon, received from any source related

to the payment of interest on such advances.

(3) The surcharge established in this section shall be due and payable at the same

time and in the same manner as employer contributions. Any surcharge

collected shall be deposited in the unemployment insurance interest payment

fund.

(4) Any surcharge unpaid on the date on which it is due and payable, pursuant to

subsection (3) of this section, shall be subject to interest at the rate of one and

one-half percent (1.5%) per month or fraction thereof, not to exceed ninety

percent (90%) of the amount of such surcharge, from and after such date until

payment is received by the cabinet, regardless of whether such delinquency

has been reduced to a judgment or not as provided in subsection (6) of this

section or is the subject of an administrative appeal or court action. The

interest collected shall be deposited in the unemployment insurance interest

payment fund.

(5) A lien of the same nature and having the same force, effect, and priority as

provided in KRS 341.310 shall commence on all property of a subject

contributing employer delinquent in the payment of any surcharge or interest

thereon.

(6) If, after due notice, any subject contributing employer defaults in payment of

any surcharge or interest thereon, the amount due may be collected by a civil

action instituted in the Franklin Circuit Court or the Franklin District Court

depending on the jurisdictional amount in controversy, including interest and

penalties, in the name of the state, and the subject contributing employer

adjudged in default shall pay the costs of the action. Civil actions brought under

this section shall be heard by the court, without the intervention of a jury, at the

earliest possible date and shall be entitled to preference on the calendar of the

court over all other civil actions, except petitions for judicial review under this

chapter and cases arising under the Kentucky workers' compensation law.

(7) At or after the commencement of an action under subsection (6) of this section,

attachment may be had against the property of the liable subject contributing

employer for such surcharge and interest without execution of a bond, or, after

judgment has been entered, an execution may be issued against the property

of such employer without the execution of a bond.

(8) An action for the recovery of a surcharge or interest thereon under this section

shall be barred, and any lien therefor shall be canceled and extinguished,

unless collected or suit for collection has been filed within ten (10) years from

the due date of such surcharge.

(9) Notwithstanding subsection (6) of this section, any delinquent surcharge or

interest thereon may be collected in accordance with the levy and distraint

provisions of this chapter.

(10) Any delinquent surcharge or interest collected after July 31, 2017, shall not be

subject to the credit provisions contained in KRS 341.612 and shall be

deposited into the penalty and interest account.

(11) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, for the calendar years

2021 and 2022, there shall be no surcharge assessment.