[Adopted 2-13-1990 by Ord. No. 90-01-151 (Ch. 17, Art. VI,
of the 1977 Code)]
A.
Pursuant to 55 ILCS 5/5-1030, the County Board hereby imposes upon
persons engaged in the business of renting, leasing or letting rooms
in a hotel which is not located within any city, village or incorporated
town, a tax. Such tax shall not exceed 5% of the gross rental receipts
from such renting, leasing or letting; however, excluded from the
gross rental receipts tax are the proceeds from renting, leasing,
or letting to permanent residents of that hotel.
B.
Further, the tax imposed under this article shall be effective on
the first day of the calendar month following the passage and publication
of this article.
C.
The amounts collected by this County pursuant to this article shall
be expended to promote tourism and other ends consistent with 55 ILCS
5/5-1030.
The purpose of this article is to generate revenue to be placed
in a fund to generate tourism through the promotion of lodging, restaurants,
attractions, conventions, expositions, and theatrical, sport, cultural
and other similar activities.
For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively applied to them:
The Illinois Department of Revenue.
Any building or buildings in which the public may, for a
consideration, obtain living quarters, sleeping or housekeeping accommodations.
The term includes inns, motels, tourist homes or courts, lodging houses,
rooming houses, apartment houses and bed-and-breakfast houses.
The use or possession, or the right to the use or possession,
of any room or rooms in a hotel for any purposes, or the right to
the use or possession of the furnishings or to the services and accommodations
accompanying the use and possession of the room or rooms.
Any man or woman who occupied or has the right to occupy
any room or rooms in a hotel for at least 30 consecutive days for
his or her own personal use unrelated to the conducting of any business
or occupation.
Any natural individual, firm, partnership, association, joint
stock company, joint venture, public or private corporation, or a
receiver, executor, trustee, conservator or other representative appointed
by order of any court.
Any person who pays for the privilege of using or occupying
a hotel room for the period for which payment is made.
The consideration received for occupancy, valued in money,
whether received in money or otherwise, including all receipts, cash,
credits and property or services of any kind or nature.
Any living quarters, sleeping or housekeeping accommodations.
The Treasurer of the County.
A.
The tax imposed herein shall be in addition to any and all other
taxes and charges applicable to such hotels, but such other taxes
and charges shall not be construed to be a part of the charges upon
which this tax is levied.
B.
The ultimate incidents of and liability for payment of the tax levied
herein is to be borne by the person engaged in the business of leasing,
renting or letting the rooms. Such owners and operators may reimburse
themselves for their tax liability for this tax by separately stating
such tax as an additional charge to the resident, which charge may
be stated in combination, as a single amount, with state tax imposed
under the Hotel Operator's Occupation Tax, as provided in 35 ILCS
145/1 et seq., as amended. No tax is imposed based upon any permanent
residents of any hotel.
C.
No person engaged in the business of renting, leasing, or letting
rooms in a hotel shall reimburse himself for the imposition of this
tax at a rate higher than the tax imposed by this article.
[Amended 8-8-1995 by Ord. No. 95-08-211]
Any person subject to this tax whose annualized tax would be
$250 or more shall transmit to the Treasurer, on or before the last
day of each calendar month, a sum of money equal to the taxes collected
pursuant to this article for the preceding calendar month and, simultaneously
therewith, shall transmit a report upon forms supplied by the Treasurer
indicating the gross receipts from the renting, leasing or letting
of hotel rooms to all renters, including permanent residents as defined
in this article, and such other information as the Treasurer may reasonably
require for the enforcement of this article. Any person subject to
this tax whose annualized tax would be less than $250 shall transmit
to the Treasurer on or before January 1 and June 30, on a semiannual
basis, a sum of money equal to the taxes collected pursuant to this
article for the preceding six months and, simultaneously therewith,
shall transmit a report upon forms supplied by the Treasurer indicating
the gross receipts from the renting, leasing or letting of hotel rooms
to all renters, including permanent residents as defined in this article,
and such other information as the Treasurer may reasonably require
for the enforcement of this article. Any person subject to this tax
shall also file with the Treasurer copies of all sales tax receipt
and report forms which the person is required to file with the state.
These documents shall be filed with the Treasurer no later than five
business days after the documents are transmitted to the state.
A.
Any person engaged in the business of renting, leasing or letting
of hotel rooms shall maintain complete and accurate books and records,
including a daily sheet showing the gross receipts for the hotel rentals
for the day reported.
B.
For the purposes of enforcing and administering this article, the
Treasurer shall, after providing reasonable notice, have access during
normal business hours to the books and records of persons and businesses
subject to this article. The Treasurer shall, at least annually, inspect
the books and records and shall file a written report of his or her
findings with the County Clerk and with the Clerk of the Stephenson
County Convention and Visitors Bureau no later than December 1 of
each year.
C.
The Treasurer shall permit the representative of any unit of local
government in the County which enacts a similar hotel/motel tax ordinance
to inspect the records of his or her office which pertain to the tax
imposed by this article. The Treasurer shall also forward to each
such other unit of local government copies of all such documents filed
with him or her by persons or businesses subject to this tax which
are located within the corporate limits of that unit of local government.
Any person who violates any provision of this article, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to penalties as set forth in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, Penalties, § 1-11. A separate and distinct offense shall be regarded as having been committed each day upon which the person shall continue any such violation.
There is hereby created a Tourism Promotion Fund into which
the Treasurer shall, by the 20th day of each month, place the proceeds
resulting from the previous month's collection of this hotel tax.
The monies in this fund shall be utilized solely and exclusively for
the purpose of promoting tourism in the County area.
This tax shall not, in any manner, constitute an indebtedness
by the County subject to any limitation imposed by statute or otherwise.
Nothing herein adopted shall be construed to affect any suit
now pending in any court or any rights accrued or liability incurred
or any cause or causes of action accrued or existing under any prior
resolution or ordinance; nor shall any right or remedy of any character
be lost, impaired or affected by this article.
