{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-154.30-050","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 154.30-050","heading":"Signature Project Program -- Purpose -- Two initiatives -- Criteria for","body":"state participation -- Qualifying expenditures -- Authority review -- Required\ndeterminations by the authority -- Pledge limitations -- Tax incentive\nagreement required.\n(1) The Signature Project Program is hereby established. The purpose of this program\nis to encourage private investment in the development of major projects that will\nhave a significant impact on the Commonwealth of Kentucky and are judged to be\nof su ch a magnitude that the effect upon the location of the project warrants\nextraordinary public support.\n(2) (a) There shall be two (2) separate initiatives under this program. The first\ninitiative, the criteria and details of which are set forth in subsecti on (3)(a) of\nthis section, shall apply to:\n1. Qualifying projects that are not the subject of a contract under KRS\n65.495 in effect on or before the March 23, 2007, but that have a project\ngrant agreement executed pursuant to KRS 154.30 -070 prior to Januar y\n1, 2008; or\n2. Revised projects if the original project was not the subject of a contract\nunder KRS 65.495 on or before March 23, 2007, and had a project grant\nagreement executed pursuant to KRS 154.30 -070 prior to January 1,\n2008, but the agreement was withdrawn voluntarily before the project\nwas completed.\n(b) The second initiative, the criteria and details of which are set forth in\nsubsection (3)(b) of this section, shall apply to projects that meet the specified\nrequirements on or after January 1, 2008.\n(3) (a) 1. The criteria for qualification shall be as follows:\na. The project shall represent new economic activity in the\nCommonwealth; and\nb. The project shall result in a minimu m capital investment of two\nhundred million dollars ($200,000,000).\n2. The following provisions shall apply to projects that meet the criteria\nestablished in subparagraph 1. of this paragraph:\na. KRS 65.7051 shall not apply to the establishment of a\ndevelopment area;\nb. The city or county in which the project is located shall adopt an\nordinance establishing the development area. The ordinance shall\nbe adopted in accordance with KRS 65.7053(1)(a), (b), (c), (d),\n(e), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), and (m);\nc. KRS 65.7049, 65.7053(2) and (3), 65.7057, 65.7059, 65.7061,\n65.7063, 65.7065, and 65.7067, relating to local development\nareas, shall apply;\nd. An application for state participation shall have been submitted as\nprovided in KRS 154.30 -030. The application shal l include the\ninformation required by KRS 154.30-030(2)(a)1.a. and b.;\ne. The report provided for in KRS 154.30 -030(2)(a)3.b. shall not be\nrequired, and the certification required by KRS 154.30 -030(6)(b)\nshall not be required;\nf. A project grant agreement shall be executed in accordance with\nKRS 154.30-070; and\ng. KRS 154.30-080 and 154.30-090 shall apply.\n3. Projects that meet the criteria established in subparagraph 1. of this\nparagraph shall be eligible for the following:\na. Up to one hundred percent (10 0%) of approved public\ninfrastructure costs, excluding any sales and use tax paid, may be\nrecovered;\nb. Up to one hundred percent (100%) of the financing costs\nassociated with approved public infrastructure costs may be\nrecovered;\nc. In a county containing  a city of the first class, the local\nparticipation agreement may provide for the release of up to eighty\npercent (80%) of the increment from the tax levied under KRS\n91A.390 derived by the governing body within the project\ndevelopment area. The amount rel eased shall not exceed a base\namount of four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) in the first\nyear of the local participation agreement, which base amount shall\nbe increased in each subsequent year of the grant agreement by\nfour percent (4%); and\nd. Up to one hundred percent (100%) of approved signature project\ncosts, excluding any sales and use taxes paid, subject to the\nfollowing:\ni. The authority shall review proposed expenditures for\ninclusion in the tax incentive agreement. The authority may\napprove the type of expenditures it determines are necessary\nfor completion of the private development; and\nii. Approved signature project costs shall be detailed in the  tax\nincentive agreement.\n(b) Beginning on April 27, 2026:\n1. A project shall meet all of the fo llowing criteria to be considered for\nstate participation under this program:\na. The project shall represent new economic activity in the\nCommonwealth;\nb. The project shall result in a minimum capital investment of five\nhundred million dollars ($500,000,000);\nc. The project shall be owned by a resident or nonresident, nonprofit\neducational, charitable, or religious institution which has qualified\nfor an exemption from income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the\nInternal Revenue Code;\nd. The project shall resu lt in a net positive economic impact to the\nCommonwealth, taking into consideration any substantial adverse\nimpact on existing Commonwealth businesses. The net positive\nimpact shall be certified to the commission as required by KRS\n154.30-030(6)(b); and\ne. Not more than twenty percent (20%) of the capital investment or\ntwenty percent (20%) of the finished square footage shall be\ndevoted to the support or development of assets that will be\nutilized for the retail sale of tangible personal property;\n2. Projects that meet the criteria established by subparagraph 1. of this\nparagraph shall comply with all relevant provisions of this subchapter;\n3. Projects that meet the criteria established by subparagraphs 1. and 2. of\nthis paragraph shall be eligible to recover:\na. Up to one hundred percent (100%) of approved public\ninfrastructure costs, excluding any sales and use taxes paid;\nb. Up to one hundred  percent (100%) of the financing costs\nassociated with approved public infrastructure costs; and\nc. Up to one hundred percent (100%) of approved signature project\ncosts, excluding sales and use taxes paid subject to the following:\ni. The authority shall r eview proposed expenditures for\ninclusion in the tax incentive agreement. The authority may\napprove the type of expenditures it determines are necessary\nfor completion of the private development; and\nii. Approved signature project costs shall be detail ed in the tax\nincentive agreement; and\n4. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if a project\nhas a residential use that comprises at least fifty percent (50%) of the\ntotal finished square footage of the proposed project:\na. The re port required in KRS 154.30 -030(2)(a)3.b. shall not be\nrequired; and\nb. The certification required in KRS 154.30 -030(6)(b) and\nsubparagraph 1.c. of this paragraph shall not be required.\n(4) The authority shall review the application, the certification req uired by KRS\n154.30-030, if applicable, and supporting information as provided in KRS 154.30 -\n030.\n(5) The authority shall specifically identify the state taxes from which incremental\nrevenues will be pledged. The authority may pledge up to eighty percent ( 80%) of\nthe incremental revenues from the identified state tax revenues from the footprint,\nprovided that the maximum amount of incremental revenues that may be pledged\nfor a project during the term of the tax incentive agreement from all approved state\ntaxes shall not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of approved public\ninfrastructure costs, approved signature project costs, and financing costs.\n(6) As part of the approval process, the authority shall determine the following:\n(a) The footprint of the project;\n(b) The maximum amount of approved public infrastructure costs, approved\nsignature project costs, and financing costs;\n(c) That the local revenues pledged to support the public infrastructure of the\nproject, and local revenues pledged to support the ov erall project are of a\nsufficient amount to warrant participation of the Commonwealth in the\nproject;\n(d) The termination date of the tax incentive agreement, not to exceed thirty (30)\nyears from the activation date;\n(e) Any adjustments to be made to old r evenues, in determining incremental\nrevenues during each year of the term of the project grant agreement; and\n(f) Any approved signature project costs.\n(7) For the purpose of making the determination required by KRS 139.515(2), the\nauthority shall review t he projected expenditures for tangible personal property\nused in the construction of a signature project, as defined in KRS 139.515(1), and\nshall establish an approximate percentage of the total anticipated expenditures that\nare not included in the tax inc entive agreement as approved public infrastructure\ncosts or approved signature project costs. This percentage shall be communicated\nby the authority to the Department of Revenue, which shall use the information in\nadministering the sales tax refund permitted by KRS 139.515.\n(8) If state income taxes or local occupational license taxes are included for a project\nthat includes office space, the authority shall consider the impact of pledging theses\ntaxes on the ability to utilize other economic development projects at a later date.\n(9) The pledge of state incremental tax revenues of the Commonwealth by the authority\nshall be implemented through the execution of a tax incentive agreement between\nthe Commonwealth and the agency, city, or county in accordance wit h KRS\n154.30-070.","path":[],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57144","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:55Z","sha256":"97d1c3a5e43a025e7638522373c9a7ce1df06485161eb6be667faaae756c019a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-154.30-040","next":"us-ky/krs-154.30-052"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}