Short-term rentals in Georgetown, explained properly.

Sec. 24-60 defines a short-term rental as a dwelling or dwelling unit that is rented, leased or otherwise assigned for a tenancy of less than 30 consecutive days, where no meals are served. One structure may contain several such units and each separate unit is an individual short-term rental. The term does not include hotel or motel rooms, extended stay lodging facilities, bed and breakfast inns or boarding and lodging house rooms. A host is the owner of record of the real property, or a lessee under a written lease of it, who offers a dwelling unit or part of one for short-term rental.

Sec. 24-62(a)(1) requires the registration form to give the name, address, phone number and email address of the host and of an emergency contact, residing or located in Georgetown, Kentucky and/or within 25 miles of the short-term rental, who is responsible for addressing maintenance, safety concerns or nuisance complaints. The host gives the emergency contact's information to transient users on arriving at the rental. Sec. 24-66(4) requires the contact's name, telephone number and email address to be conspicuously posted within the rental.

Sec. 24-66 makes it the host's duty to ensure (1) there is no more than one contract per short-term rental at a time; (2) short-term rentals are not allowed on any area not considered a primary dwelling (recreational vehicles, tents, garages, boats and the like); (3) there is no signage on the premises advertising or identifying the short-term rental in residential zoning districts; (4) the emergency contact is conspicuously posted inside the rental; and (5) a host using a hosting platform includes the valid GSCRC-issued registration number in the advertisement. Section 24-66 was amended by Ordinance 2022-25 on September 26, 2022, which also retitled it "Duties of a host; general restrictions."

Sec. 24-66(6) limits short-term rental occupancy to two adult guests per bedroom, plus no more than two additional adults. Under that subsection there is a maximum occupancy of ten persons per short-term rental, including adults and children, and bedrooms under 120 square feet are limited to only one adult occupant. Advertisements and contracts must state the lawful maximum number of occupants (Sec. 24-67(a)(1)).

Sec. 24-66(5) requires any host using a hosting platform to include the valid GSCRC-issued registration number in the advertisement. Sec. 24-67(a) says registered rentals may be advertised for stays of less than 30 days on a hosting platform, and a host or owner who advertises an unregistered rental, or advertises in violation of the article, is subject to enforcement under Sec. 24-69. All advertisements and contracts must include language specifying the lawful maximum number of occupants, a clear statement that no parties may be hosted, and a clear statement that guests shall adhere to the City's Code of Ordinances, including its noise, nuisance, traffic and parking provisions.

Sec. 24-62(c) says a registration expires one year from the date it is issued and is renewed annually. Sec. 24-62(d) says a change in host or ownership invalidates any existing registration and the new host or owner must apply for a registration in their own name. The director may refuse to issue or renew a registration until outstanding penalties, fines and liens assessed against the host or the property are paid in full (Sec. 24-61(1) and (2)).

Sec. 24-67(b) lets the director ask a hosting platform to remove a listing whose registration number is invalid, expired or revoked, identifying the listing by URL and displayed number; the platform must remove it within ten business days of notification. Sec. 24-67(c) lets the director ask a platform for monthly reports of the total number of Georgetown short-term rentals listed and the total nights rented, due on the last day of each month for the preceding month. Under Sec. 24-67(d) and KRS 65.8821 the code enforcement board may subpoena platform information in a specific investigation; the platform must notify its host within ten business days and produce records within 21 days of giving that notice, except to the extent the host has sought relief in court.

Sec. 24-69(a) makes a violation of the article, other than one that is also a criminal offense under the Kentucky Revised Statutes, a civil offense enforced under the code enforcement provisions of Chapter 2, Article VI. Sec. 24-69(b) says the penalty is as set forth in Sec. 2-842 and all violations are Class 2 violations. Sec. 24-69(c) waives penalties only if the same or similar violation has not occurred on the property within the same calendar year and is remedied within seven days of the citation or within the time specified by the code enforcement officer. Sec. 24-69(d) also lets the director bring civil actions, including for injunctive relief, in Scott County Circuit Court. Sec. 2-842 sets the dollar amounts and hasn't been reviewed yet, so no penalty amount is shown.

Sec. 24-61 lets the director refuse to issue or renew a registration until outstanding penalties, fines and liens assessed by the City, the Revenue Commission or the Tourism Commission against the host or property are paid, and deny or refuse to renew a host's registration for violating the article. If the property is subject to two or more civil violations, or the host twice violates the article for a given property within a 12-month period, the director may revoke the registration. A civil violation means a final, unappealable code enforcement order. The owner and host are notified and have 30 days to request an appeal, heard under Chapter 2, Article VI; if no appeal is requested the revocation becomes final on the 31st day after the director's action. A revoked owner or host is ineligible for any new registration for one calendar year from the date of revocation.

Section 139.200 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes imposes a 6% sales tax on retailers' gross receipts from the rental of any room or rooms, lodgings, campsites or accommodations furnished by any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp or other place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration. The tax does not apply to rooms or accommodations supplied for a continuous period of 30 days or more to a person. The Department of Revenue says the statewide transient room tax is in addition to the 6% sales tax and any local transient room tax, and that for sales tax purposes the 1% statewide transient room tax is reported as part of taxable receipts, as local transient room taxes are. Local transient room taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 142.400 imposes a statewide transient room tax of 1% of the rent for every occupancy of any suite, room, cabin, lodging, campsite or other accommodation charged by any place in which accommodations are regularly furnished to transients, or by any person that facilitates the rental by brokering, coordinating or otherwise arranging it. Rent does not include other state or local taxes, and stays supplied for a continuous period of 30 days or more to a person are excluded. Under section 142.402 the return and tax for each month are due to the Department of Revenue by the 20th of the next month. The Department of Revenue says this tax is in addition to the 6% sales tax and any locally assessed transient room tax and is reported separately each month.

The Department of Revenue says Airbnb and VRBO are collecting and remitting the 1% statewide transient room tax for all participating Kentucky hosts, that since January 1, 2023 these platforms must also report and pay local transient room tax on their total charges, including service fees, and that a business renting only through Airbnb or VRBO does not need its own state transient room tax account. Section 139.450 requires a marketplace provider whose own and facilitated sales of property or services delivered or provided in Kentucky exceed $100,000 to register for a sales and use tax permit and to collect the tax on each taxable retail sale it facilitates, and relieves the marketplace retailer of collecting tax on those sales. The sources read do not say which platforms collect the 6% sales tax on stays; check with the platform and the Department of Revenue.

No section of the Kentucky Revised Statutes regulating short-term rentals as such was found, so local governments' own rules apply. In the 2026 Regular Session, Senate Bill 112 would have barred local governments from requiring a conditional use permit for a short-term rental, imposing density-based limits, banning short-term rentals in residential zones or imposing a residency requirement on operators; its last action was referral to the Senate Committee on Committees on January 21, 2026. Senate Bill 54 (2026), which would have authorized local governments to regulate short-term rentals, was likewise last referred to the Committee on Committees on January 9, 2026. In 2025, Senate Bill 110 (no conditional use permits or density limits for short-term rentals) was last sent to the Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee. A similar bill could be filed in a later session.