{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-136.660","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 136.660","heading":"Prohibitions -- Local franchise fee or tax defined.","body":"(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, to the extent legally\npermissible, every political subdivision of this state shall be prohibited from the\nfollowing:\n(a) Levying any franchise fee or tax on multichannel video programming service\nor com munications service, or collecting any franchise fee or tax from\nproviders or purchasers of multichannel video programming service or\ncommunications service;\n(b) Requiring any provider to enter into or extend the term of any provision of a\nfranchise or oth er agreement that requires the payment of a franchise fee or\ntax; or\n(c) Enforcing any provision of any ordinance or agreement to the extent that the\nprovision obligates a provider to pay to the political subdivision a franchise\nfee or tax.\n(2) For purposes of this section, \"franchise fee or tax\" means:\n(a) Any tax, charge, or fee, that is required by ordinance or agreement to be paid\nto a political subdivision by or through a provider, in its capacity as a\nprovider, regardless of whether the tax, charge, or fee, is:\n1. Designated as a franchise fee, sales tax, excise tax, user fee, occupancy\nfee, subscriber charge, license fee, or otherwise;\n2. Measured by the amounts charged for services, the type or amount of\nequipment or facilities deployed, or otherwise;\n3. Intended as compensation for the use of public or private rights -of-way,\nthe right to conduct business, or otherwise; or\n4. Permitted or required to be separately stated on the purchaser's bill; or\n(b) Any in-kind payment of property or services that is required to be furnished by\na provider by any ordinance that is enacted or agreement that is entered into\nafter January 1, 2006.\n(3) The prohibitions in this section shall not apply to:\n(a) Ad valorem taxes levied under KRS 132.020;\n(b) Emergency telephone surcharges;\n(c) Surety bonds;\n(d) In-kind payments of property or services provided under contracts or\nagreements in existence prior to January 1, 2006;\n(e) Letters of credit designed to protect against damages to public rights -of-way\nfor violations of regulatory requirements;\n(f) Permit or inspection fees of general applicability that are:\n1. Related to construction in the rights-of-way; and\n2. Levied solely to defray the actual costs of administering the permitting\nprocess or inspection program;\n(g) Pole attachment fees;\n(h) Fees for the placement of antennas, towers, and other similar devices on\npublicly owned property that are imposed by a political subdivision pursuant\nto a written agreement;\n(i) Any charge or fee that is imposed on a provider by a political subdivision for\nthe use of property or facilities owned by the political subdivision, if that\nprovider is imposing similar charges or fees on other providers for the use of\nproperty or facilities owned or controlled by that provider;\n(j) Any requirement by a political subdivision that a provider designate or set\naside channel capacity for public, educational, or governmental use; or\nconstruct institutional networks; or provide similar services or facilities for\npublic use and benefit that political subdivisions are specifically authorized to\nrequire by federal telecommunications laws; and\n(k) Gross revenues utility taxes imposed under KRS 160.613 and 160.614.\n(4) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if a political s ubdivision\nimposes or otherwise attempts to require the payment of a franchise fee or tax, the\npolitical subdivision shall not receive any share of the proceeds of the tax levied by\nKRS 136.604 or 136.616 for the period that the imposition or attempt occurs.\n(5) To the extent that a provider actually pays a franchise fee or tax with respect to\nmultichannel video programming service or communications service that is also\nsubject to the taxes imposed by KRS 136.604 or 136.616, the provider shall be\nentitled t o a credit against the amount payable to the department under KRS\n136.604 and 136.616 in the amount of the franchise fee or tax, up to the amount of\nthe total tax due with respect to the multichannel video programming service and\ncommunications service pro vided in that political subdivision, school district, or\nspecial district.\n(6) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a provider from donating property or services\nto a political subdivision, school district, or special district or prohibit a political\nsubdivision, school district, or special district from receiving donated property or\nservices.\n(7) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a political subdivision from requiring\ncommunications service providers or cable service providers to obtain a franchise as\nrequired by Section 163 of the Constitution of Kentucky and from regulating to the\nfullest extent authorized by state and federal law the use of local rights -of-way by\ncommunications service providers or cable service providers.","path":["KRS Chapter 136"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=28613","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:28Z","sha256":"edda8b854de2977b3f95b3337f367a7d660e47b13d0f88b162ca018a1c14288a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-136.658","next":"us-ky/krs-136.980"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}