The purpose of this article is to authorize the Town of Mount Pleasant to impose a 3% hotel/motel occupancy tax, pursuant to § 1202-gg of the New York State Tax Law, upon persons occupying any room or rooms in a hotel or motel for hire in the Town. The hotel/motel occupancy tax will provide the Town with another source of funds to provide much-needed services to residents that are becoming much more difficult to provide due to the economic situation impacting local governments. The legislation has been adopted by the New York State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor. The legislation requires that each municipality authorized to institute such a hotel/motel occupancy tax adopt a local law which establishes the level of tax and the rules and regulations governing the collection of the tax and other procedures relating to the tax. This article of Chapter
196 shall implement the hotel/motel occupancy tax and establish all of the rules and procedures relating thereto.
For the purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
EFFECTIVE DATE
The effective date of this article shall be February 23,
2021.
HOTEL
Any building or portion of any building in the Town of Mount
Pleasant, Westchester County, which is used and kept open as such
for the overnight lodging of guests, including, but not limited to,
an apartment hotel, conference/training center, a motel or a boardinghouse,
whether or not meals are served.
OCCUPANCY
The use or possession or the right to the use or possession
of any room in a hotel.
OCCUPANT
A natural person who, for a consideration, uses, possesses
or has the right to use or possess any room in a hotel under any lease,
concession, permit, right of access, license to use or other agreement
or otherwise.
OPERATOR
Any person operating a hotel in the Town of Mount Pleasant,
Westchester County, including, but not limited to, an owner or proprietor
of such premises, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee
or any other person otherwise operating such hotel.
PERSON
An individual, partnership, society, association, joint-stock
company, corporation, estate, receiver, trustee, assignee, referee
or any other person acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity,
whether appointed by a court or otherwise, or any combination of the
foregoing.
RENT
The consideration received for occupancy valued in money,
whether received in money or otherwise, for the occupancy of a room
in a hotel for any period of time.
RETURN
A document designed by the Comptroller and filled out by
the operator on a regular basis detailing the rents received for occupancies
of rooms in a prescribed time period and the applicable tax payable
thereon.
ROOM
Any room or rooms or suite of rooms with sleeping accommodations,
whether or not such accommodations are used, of any kind in any part
or portion of a hotel which is available for or let out for any purpose.
Beginning on February 23, 2021, there is hereby imposed and
there shall be paid a per diem tax of 3% upon the rent for every occupancy
of a room or rooms in a hotel in the Town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester
County, except that the tax shall not be imposed upon an exempt occupant,
exempt organization or as otherwise provided herein.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, any use or occupancy
by any of the following shall not be subject to the tax imposed by
this article:
A. The State of New York, or any of its agencies or instrumentalities,
public corporations (including a public corporation created pursuant
to agreement or compact with another state or Canada), improvement
districts or political subdivisions of the state.
B. The United States of America, or any of its agencies and instrumentalities,
insofar as it is immune from taxation.
C. Any corporation or association, or trust, or community chest, fund
or foundation organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable
or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children
or animals, and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the
benefit of any private shareholder or individual and no substantial
part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda or otherwise
attempting to influence legislation; provided, however, that nothing
in this subsection shall include an organization operated for the
primary purpose of carrying on a trade or business for profit, whether
or not all of its profits are payable to one or more organizations
described in this subsection.
D. Any permanent resident of a hotel, which are persons occupying any
room or rooms in a hotel for at least 30 consecutive days.
E. Any occupant of any room or rooms in a hotel whose rent is paid from
public assistance by the County of Westchester.
The tax imposed by this article shall apply only within the
territorial limits of the Town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester County.
Every operator shall keep records of every occupancy and of
all rent paid, charged or due thereon and of the tax payable thereon
in such form as the Comptroller requires. Such records shall be available
for inspection, audit and/or third-party audit and examination at
any time upon demand by the Comptroller or his/her duly authorized
agent or employee and shall be preserved for a period of three years,
except that the Comptroller may consent to their destruction within
that period or may require that they be kept together.
Any final determination of the amount of any tax payable hereunder
shall be reviewable for error, illegality or unconstitutionality or
any other reason whatsoever by a proceeding under Article 78 of the
Civil Practice Law and Rules if application therefor is made to the
Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Westchester, within
30 days after giving of the notice of such final determination; provided,
however, that any such proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice
Law and Rules shall not be instituted unless:
A. The amount of any tax sought to be reviewed, with such interest and
penalties thereon as may be provided for by local law or regulations,
shall be first deposited and there shall be filed an undertaking,
issued by a surety company authorized to transact business in this
state and approved by the Superintendent of Financial Services of
this state as to solvency and responsibility, in such amount as a
Justice of the Supreme Court shall approve, to the effect that if
such proceeding be dismissed or the tax confirmed, the petitioner
will pay all costs and charges which may accrue in the prosecution
of such proceeding; or
B. At the option of the petitioner, such undertaking may be in a sum
sufficient to cover the taxes, interests and penalties stated in such
determination plus the costs and charges which may accrue against
it in the prosecution of the proceeding, in which event the petitioner
shall not be required to pay such taxes, interests or penalties as
a condition precedent to the application.
All revenue resulting from the imposition of the tax authorized
under this article shall be paid into the treasury of the Town of
Mount Pleasant and shall be credited to and deposited in the general
fund of the Town of Mount Pleasant and may thereafter be allocated
at the discretion of the Town Board.
In cases where the occupant or operator has applied for a refund
and has instituted a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice
Law and Rules to review a determination adverse to him/her on his/her
application for refund, the Comptroller shall have the option of crediting
future tax payments to meet the cost of any settlements or judgments
or, at his/her option, may, in the first instance, set up appropriate
reserves to meet any decision adverse to the Town.
The remedies provided by §§
196-44 and
196-47 of this article shall be the exclusive remedies available to any person for the review of tax liability imposed by this article, and no determination or proposed determination of tax or determination on any application for refund shall be enjoined or reviewed by an action for declaratory judgment, an action for money had and received or by any action or proceeding other than a proceeding in a nature of a certiorari proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules; provided, however, that a taxpayer may proceed by declaratory judgment if he/she institutes suit within 30 days after a deficiency assessment is made and pays the amount of the deficiency assessment to the Comptroller prior to the institution of such suit and posts a bond for costs as provided in §
196-44 of this article.
If any provision of this article, or the application thereof
to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this
article, and the application of such provisions to other persons or
circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.