[HISTORY: Adopted by the County Council of
the County of Delaware as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-1-1977 by Ord. No. 77-2]
All real estate taxes and personal property
taxes levied and assessed or imposed by the County of Delaware shall
be collected and receipted for by the elected or duly appointed Treasurer
of the County of Delaware.
The collection of said real estate and personal
property taxes by the County Treasurer shall commence on the first
day of January 1978, and said collection of taxes by the County Treasurer
shall continue thereafter until determined otherwise by County Council.
It is the intent of this article that all real
estate and personal property taxes levied and assessed or imposed
by the County of Delaware for the taxable year 1978, and every year
thereafter, shall be collected by the County Treasurer and not by
any of the Tax Collectors elected or appointed in the local municipalities
located in the County of Delaware.
For the faithful performance of his duties as
collector of said taxes, the Treasurer of the County of Delaware shall
give and acknowledge a yearly bond to the County in an amount as determined
by County Council.
[Adopted 4-22-1986 by Ord. No. 86-2]
The following definitions shall apply to this
article:
The receipts, fees, charges, rentals, leases, cash, credits,
property of any kind or nature, or other payment received by operators
in exchange for or in consideration of the use or occupancy by a transient
of a room or rooms in a hotel for any temporary period.
A hotel, motel, inn, guesthouse, or other building located
within the County of Delaware which holds itself out by any means,
including advertising, license, registration with any innkeeper's
group, convention listing association, travel publication or similar
association or with any government agency as being available to provide
overnight lodging or use of facility space for consideration to persons
seeking temporary accommodation; any place which advertises to the
public at large or any segment thereof that it will provide beds,
sanitary facilities or other space for a temporary period to members
of the public at large; any place recognized as a hostelry, provided
that portions of such facility which are devoted to persons who have
established permanent residence shall not be included in this definition.
The use or possession or the right to the use or possession
by any person other than a permanent resident of any room in a hotel
for any purpose or the right to the use or possession of the furnishings
or to the services accompanying the use and possession of the room.
Any individual, partnership, nonprofit or profit-making association
or corporation or other person or group of persons who maintain, operate,
manage, own, have custody of, or otherwise possess the right to rent
or lease overnight accommodations in any hotel to the public for consideration.
Any person who pays the consideration for the occupancy of
a room or rooms in a hotel.
Any individual person who has occupied or has the right to
occupy any room or rooms in a hotel as a patron or otherwise for a
period exceeding 30 consecutive days; the term "permanent resident"
shall not include any patron or business entity which reserves a room
or rooms, whether specified or unspecified, in any hotel unless said
room or rooms are each used by the same individual person for a period
exceeding 30 consecutive days.
The act of paying consideration, whether received in cash
money or otherwise, for occupancy.
A space in a hotel set aside for use and occupancy by patrons,
or otherwise, for consideration, having at least one bed or other
sleeping accommodation provided therein.
A period of time not exceeding 30 consecutive days.
The agency or department designated by County Council to
carry out tourist promotion activities as provided for in this article
and as authorized by law.
The activity involving the obtaining by a transient or patron
of the use or occupancy of a hotel room from which consideration emanates
to the operator under an express or an implied contract.
Any individual who obtains accommodation in any hotel for
himself or herself by means of registering at the facility for the
temporary occupancy of any room for the personal use of that individual,
whether the fee paid to the operator of said facility in consideration
thereof is paid by said individual or by some other person or entity
on his or her behalf.
A.
There is hereby imposed an excise tax of 3% on the
consideration received by each operator of a hotel within the County
of Delaware from each transaction of renting a room or rooms to accommodate
transients.
[Amended 7-2-1991 by Ord. No. 91-2; 7-20-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-2]
B.
The County Treasurer shall collect the tax from the
operator and deposit the revenues received therefrom in a special
account established solely for the purpose of travel and tourism promotion
and advertising related to such promotion.
C.
The County Treasurer is authorized to establish rules
and regulations concerning the collection of this tax.
D.
Expenditures from the account established pursuant
to this article shall be annually appropriated by County Council for
tourist promotion activities to be executed by the designated tourist
promotion agency involved in County tourist promotion activities;
there shall be deducted from the funds collected pursuant to this
article any direct or indirect costs attributable to the collection
of the tax.
E.
The tourist promotion activities to be executed by
the designated tourist promotion agency shall include:
(1)
Marketing the area served by the agency as a leisure
travel destination;
(2)
Marketing the area served by the agency as a convention
and business travel destination;
(3)
Marketing the area served by the agency to the public
as a whole for use of its tourist and convention facilities;
(4)
Using all appropriate marketing tools to accomplish
these purposes, including advertising, publicity, publications, direct
marketing, direct sales, participation in travel trade shows, etc.
F.
The designated tourist promotion agency shall submit
to the Delaware County Council monthly written reports detailing the
nature of the tourist promotion activities carried out by said agency
and the expenditures made for such activities for the previous month.
A.
The operator shall collect the tax imposed by this
article from the patron of the room and pay it over to the County
as provided hereinafter. The operator shall be liable to the County
as agent thereof for the payment of the tax to the County Treasurer
as provided in this article.
B.
Every report and return shall be made upon a form
furnished by the County Treasurer.
C.
Every operator shall transmit to the County Treasurer,
on or before the 10th day of each month, a return for the preceding
month, which shall contain the amount of consideration received for
the transactions during the month for which the return is made, the
amount of tax collected by the operator during that month, and such
other information as the County Treasurer may require.
D.
Every operator, at the time of filing every return
required by this article, shall compute and pay to the County Treasurer
the taxes collected by him and due to the County during the period
for which the report is made; a ten-percent penalty shall be added
to all such payments transmitted to the County after the 10th day
of each such month.
E.
Every operator shall maintain records, which shall
be made available to the County Treasurer upon request, which shall
include, but not be limited to, the number of transactions in each
hotel reflected on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis, the rate(s)
charged for each occupancy, the consideration received from all transactions
during the month for which each return is made, as well as such other
information as the County Treasurer may require.
F.
First return.
(1)
The first return shall be due on June 10, 1986, for
the month of May 1986, and the tax due shall be based upon transactions
occurring during the month of May.
(2)
If an operator enters the business of the renting
of hotel rooms subsequent to May 3, 1986, the first return shall be
filed on the 10th day of the first month subsequent thereto. The first
return and tax payment due shall be for all transactions occurring
during the preceding month based upon the actual taxable transactions
during that month.
This article shall become effective May 3, 1986,
and the provisions of this article shall remain in force for three
years from the effective date of the enabling legislation heretofore
enacted by the General Assembly, and the provisions hereof may be
continued thereafter by resolution of the Delaware County Council.
