[Adopted by Ord. No. 5-07 as Sec. 3.08 of the 1986 Municipal Code]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Village of Fremont and the Towns of Fremont and Wolf
River.
The total receipts received from motel or hotel room charges.[1]
A building or group of buildings in which the public may
obtain accommodations for a consideration including, without limitation,
such establishments as inns, motels, hotels, tourist homes, tourist
houses or courts, lodging houses, rooming houses, summer camps, apartment
hotels, resort lodges and cabins, and any other buildings in which
accommodations are available to the public, except accommodations
rented for a continuous period of more than one month and accommodations
furnished by any hospitals, sanitoriums, or nursing homes, or by corporations
or associations organized and operated exclusively for religious,
charitable or educational purposes, provided that no part of the net
earnings of such corporations and associations inured to the benefit
of any private shareholder or individual.
Any person residing for a continuous period of less than
one month in a hotel, motel, or other furnished accommodations available
to the public.
Pursuant to § 66.0615, Wis. Stats., a tax is hereby
imposed on the privilege and service of furnishing, at retail, of
rooms or lodging to transients by hotel keepers, motel operators and
other persons furnishing accommodations that are available to the
public, irrespective of whether membership is required for the use
of the accommodations. Such tax shall be at the rate of 4.5% of the
gross room receipts for such retail furnishing of rooms or lodging.
Such tax shall not be subject to the selective sales tax imposed by
§ 77.52(2), Wis. Stats. The proceeds of such tax shall be
remitted quarterly to the Clerk-Treasurer. The Clerk-Treasurer shall
direct that 20% of the total amount collected be retained by the municipality,
with 80% of the balance of the proceeds directed to the Fremont Area
Chamber of Commerce to be used for the promotion of tourism and of
businesses located in the Fremont area.
A Room Tax Commission shall be created to oversee the use of
tax proceeds by the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce to promote tourism
and area businesses. The Room Tax Commission shall meet once per year
in January to review the Chamber's expenditures for the past
year and to approve the Chamber's budget for the new year. The
Commission shall be made up of not less than one, but not more than
three, elected official(s) from each municipality [the exact number
shall be determined in accordance with § 66.0615(1m)(c)2.a,
Wis. Stats.], appointed by the President or Chairperson of each municipality,
and two business owners from the lodging industry, initially appointed
by the President of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and thereafter
appointed annually by the Chairperson of the Commission. The boards
of each municipality and of the Chamber of Commerce shall confirm
their respective appointments. Representatives to the Room Tax Commission
may not serve on the board of any municipality, or the Fremont Chamber
of Commerce, while serving on the Commission. The Commission shall
elect, from among its members, a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and
Secretary. All members shall serve for a one-year term and may be
reappointed.
This section shall be administered by the Clerk-Treasurer. The
tax shall be payable quarterly and shall be due on the last day of
the month next succeeding the calendar quarter for which imposed.
A return shall be filed with the Clerk-Treasurer by those furnishing
at retail such rooms and lodging on or before the same date on which
such tax is due and payable. Such return shall show the gross room
receipts of the preceding calendar quarter from such retail furnishing
of rooms or lodging, the amount of taxes imposed for such period,
and such other information as the Clerk-Treasurer deems necessary.
Every person required to file such quarterly return shall, with his
first return, elect to file an annual calendar year or fiscal year
return. Such annual return shall be filed within 90 days of the close
of each such calendar or fiscal year. The annual return shall summarize
the quarterly returns, reconcile and adjust for errors in the quarterly
returns, and shall contain certain such additional information as
the Clerk-Treasurer requires. Such annual returns shall be signed
by the person required to file a return or his duly authorized agent,
but need not be verified by oath. The Clerk-Treasurer may, for good
cause, extend the time of filing any return, but in no event longer
than one month from the filing date.
Every person furnishing rooms or lodging under § 65-9 above shall file with the Clerk-Treasurer an application for a permit for each place of business. Every application for a permit shall be made upon a form prescribed by the Clerk-Treasurer and shall set forth the name under which the applicant transactor intends to transact business, the location of his place of business, and such other information as the Clerk-Treasurer requires. The application shall be signed by the owner if a sole proprietor and, if not a sole proprietor, by the person authorized to act on behalf of such sellers. At the time of making an application, the applicant shall pay to the Clerk-Treasurer an initial fee of $2 for each permit.
After compliance with § 65-12 above and § 65-22 below by the applicant, the Clerk-Treasurer shall grant and issue each applicant a separate permit for each place of business within the Town. Such permit is not assignable and is valid only for the person in whose name it is issued and for the transaction of business at the place designated therein. It shall at all times be conspicuously displayed at the place for which issued.
When any person fails to comply with this section, the Clerk-Treasurer
may, upon 10 days' notification and after affording such person the
opportunity to show cause why his permit should not be revoked, revoke
or suspend any or all of the permits held by such person. The Clerk-Treasurer
shall give to such person written notice of the suspension or revocation
of any of his permits. The Clerk-Treasurer shall not issue a new permit
after the revocation of a permit unless he is satisfied that the former
holder of the permit will comply with the provisions of this section.
A fee of $2 shall be imposed for the renewal or issuance of a permit
which has been previously suspended or revoked.
If any person liable for any amount of tax under this section
sells out his business or stock of goods or quits the business, his
successors or assigns shall withhold sufficient funds of the purchase
price to cover such amount until the former owner produces a receipt
from the Clerk-Treasurer that it has been paid or a certificate stating
that no amount is due. If a person subject to the tax imposed by this
section fails to withhold such amount from the purchase price as required,
he shall become personally liable for payment of the amount required
to be withheld by him to the extent of the price of the accommodations
valued in money.
The Clerk-Treasurer may, by office audit, determine the tax
required to be paid to the Village or the refund due to any person
under this section. This determination may be made upon the basis
of the facts contained in the return being audited or on the basis
of the other information with the Clerk-Treasurer's possession.
One or more such office audit determination may be made of the amount
due for any one or for more than one period.
The Clerk-Treasurer may, by field audit, determine the tax required
to be paid to the Village or the refund due to any person under this
section. The determination may be made upon the basis of the facts
contained in the return being audited or upon any other information
within the Clerk-Treasurer's possession. The Clerk-Treasurer
is authorized to examine and inspect the books, records, memoranda,
and property of any person in order to verify the tax liability of
that person or another person. Nothing herein shall prevent the Clerk-Treasurer
from making a determination of tax at any time.
If any person fails to file a return as required by this section, the Clerk-Treasurer shall make an estimate of the amount of gross receipts under § 65-9 above. Such estimate shall be made for the period from which such person failed to make a return and shall be based upon any information which is in the Clerk-Treasurer's possession or may come into his possession. On the basis of this estimate, the Clerk-Treasurer shall compute and determine the amount required to be paid to the Village adding to the sum arrived at a penalty equal to 10% thereof. One or more such determinations may be made for one or more than one period.
All unpaid taxes shall bear interest at the rate of 12% per
annum from the due date of the return until the first day of the month
following the month in which the tax is paid or deposited with the
Clerk-Treasurer. All refunded taxes shall bear interest at 12% per
annum from the due date of the return until the first day of the month
following the month in which the tax is paid or deposited with the
Clerk-Treasurer. All refunded taxes shall bear interest at 12% per
annum from the due date of the return until the first day of the month
following the month in which said taxes are refunded. An extension
of time within which to file a return shall not operate to extend
the due date of the return for purposes of interest computation. If
the Clerk-Treasurer determines that any overpayment of tax has been
made intentionally or by reason of carelessness or neglect, or if
the tax which was overpaid was not accompanied by a complete return,
it shall not permit any interest thereon.
Delinquent tax returns shall be subject to a $1,000 late filing
fee. The tax imposed by this section shall become delinquent if not
paid:
If, due to negligence, no return is filed, or a return is filed
late, or an incorrect return is filed, the entire tax finally determined
shall be subject to a penalty of 25% of the tax, exclusive of any
interest or other penalties. If a person fails to file a return when
due or files a false or fraudulent return with the intent in either
case to defeat or evade the tax imposed by this section, a penalty
of 50% shall be added to the tax required to be paid, exclusive of
interest and other penalties.
To protect the revenue of the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce,
the Clerk-Treasurer may require any person liable for the tax imposed
by this section to place with him, before or after a permit is issued,
such security, not in an excess of an amount equal to the maximum
possible revenue to be derived from said property per quarter of operation
to be determined by the Clerk-Treasurer. If any taxpayer fails or
refuses to place such security the Clerk-Treasurer may, upon 10 days'
notice, recover the taxes, interest and penalties from the security
placed with the Clerk-Treasurer by such taxpayer. No interest shall
be paid or allowed by the Village to any person for the deposit of
such security.
Every person liable for the tax imposed by this section shall
keep or cause to be kept such records, receipts, invoices and other
pertinent information essential to the proper recording and payment
of said tax.
All tax returns, schedules, exhibits, writings or audit reports
relating to such returns on file with the Clerk-Treasurer are deemed
to be confidential, except the Clerk-Treasurer may divulge their contents
to the following only:
No person having an administrative duty under this section shall make known in any manner the business affairs, operations or information obtained by an investigation of records of any person on whom a tax is imposed by this section, or the amount or source of income, profits, losses, expenditures, or any particular thereof set forth or disclosed in any return, or to permit any return or copy thereof to be seen or examined by any person, except as provided in § 65-24 above.
Any person who is subject to the tax imposed by this article who fails to obtain a permit as required in § 65-12 above or who fails or refuses to permit the inspection of his records by the Clerk-Treasurer after such inspection has been duly requested by the Clerk-Treasurer, or who fails to file a return as provided in this article, or who violates any provision of this article, shall be subject to a forfeiture not to exceed $200. Each day, or portion thereof, that such violation continues is hereby deemed to constitute a separate offense.
Following adoption of this article, should any other Fremont
area municipality, upon consideration of adoption of this same article
or a similar version thereof, whether or not such other Fremont area
municipality has entered into a contract as contemplated by § 66.0301,
Wis. Stats., to create and participate in a Room Tax Commission as
further described elsewhere herein, fail to enact, or choose to repeal,
its respective version of this article, then all provisions of this
article as such article applies to this enacting municipality, being
the Village of Fremont, shall be declared repealed, null and void,
upon formal action taken by the acting board or other appropriate
governing body of this enacting municipality.
