Daviess County, KY Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Combined occupancy tax rate
- 6% of room rent
- Convention/Events Center share
- 1%, sent to City of Owensboro Treasurer
- Bond-secured share
- 2%, tied to Series 2012B bonds
- Visitors Bureau share
- 3%, funds the CVB
- Filing deadline
- Within 30 days after month collected
- Exempt stays
- 30 continuous days or more
Summary
Hotels, motels, and inns operating in Daviess County collect a combined 6% transient room tax under Code § 30.15, split across a 1% Convention/Events Center levy, a 2% bond-secured levy, and a 3% Convention and Visitors Bureau levy. Operators remit monthly to the County Fiscal Court and file a duplicate return on the county's prescribed form.
(A)(2) These collecting parties shall collect and pay the transient room tax to the County Fiscal Court... (5) The County Fiscal Court shall disburse to the Treasurer of the City of Owensboro all monies received from the collection of the 1% special transient room tax within 30 days after receiving them. ... (C)(1) ... there is imposed a transient room tax of 3% on the rent of every occupancy of a suite, room, rooms, cabins, lodgings, campsites, or other accommodations charged by any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks... (4) For the failure to pay said taxes within the required time as set out above, a penalty of 6% shall be added to those accounts.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-20: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. KOC 520.3 (2025), passed 12-18-2025; and State legislation current through KRS Pamphlet 2025).
Full Breakdown
15 levies three stacked transient room taxes on "any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, or any other place in which accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for consideration," totaling a combined 6% of the room rent. Division (A) sets a 1% tax funding the Convention/Events Center, division (B) a 2% tax pledged to the county's Series 2012B bonds until they are retired, and division (C) a 3% tax funding the Daviess County Convention and Visitors Bureau. None of the three taxes applies to a room, cabin, campsite, or other accommodation supplied for a continuous period of 30 days or more.
Each collecting hotel or motel must pay the tax to the County Fiscal Court no later than 30 days after the month in which it was collected, filing a duplicate return on the form attached to the ordinance. Proceeds of the 3% Convention and Visitors Bureau tax cannot subsidize any hotel, motel, or restaurant, per division (C)(5), and unspent Commission funds roll into the next fiscal year's budget. 390(3).
Violations & Fines
Failing to properly complete and return the tax reporting form with payment exposes a hotel or motel to the civil and criminal remedies available under the Kentucky Revised Statutes for failure to make required disposition of property. A separate 6% penalty attaches to any tax paid after its due date, calculated on the total overdue amount as of the date payment is made.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Daviess County
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