[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Toms River as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-28-2017 by Ord. No. 4561-17]
As used in this article, the following terms have the meanings indicated:
EMPLOYEE
Any person who is employed either full- or part-time in any capacity at a hotel or motel.
HOTEL
Any building, including but not limited to any related structure, accessory building and land appurtenant thereto, and any part thereof, which contains 10 or more units of dwelling space or has sleeping facilities for 10 or more persons, and is kept, used, maintained, advertised as, or held out to be a place where sleeping or dwelling accommodations are available to transit guests.
MOTEL
A "hotel" with individual entrances from the exterior of the building to each room or unit.
OWNER
Any person who owns, purports to own or exercise control of a hotel or motel.
PERSON
Any individual, group of individuals, corporation, association or other legal entity.
The following acts or activities are prohibited at a hotel or motel.
A. 
No owner or employee shall rent a room or unit in a hotel or motel to any person, nor permit, suffer or allow the renting of any room or unit to any person for less than a period of 12 hours.
B. 
No owner or employee shall rent a room or unit in a hotel or motel to any person, nor permit, suffer or allow the renting of any room or unit to any person for a period of time which exceeds 90 days. Any person switching or changing rooms during the ninety-day period shall not extend the ninety-day period.
A. 
Every person operating a hotel or motel shall keep a standard hotel register in which shall be printed legibly the true name and home address of each and every guest or person renting or occupying a room or rooms therein. The names of such guests shall be written upon the register by the persons themselves, and if they cannot write, the names shall be written in by the person renting the room or rooms, stating that the persons occupying such room could not sign their names. The person renting the room shall also require each person or head of the party who is occupying such room or rooms to display to the person in charge of the register one government-issued photo identification or not less than two other forms of valid identification. The form of identification that is produced shall be recorded electronically or photocopied, as well as any information from the identification that differs from the information supplied by said person renting the room. The register shall also include the registrant's home address, telephone numbers, and the state license number of any motor vehicle then being used by or operated by the registrant, including the make, model and color of the vehicle, and the person renting the room shall thereupon write, opposite the name so registered, the number of the room or rooms assigned to each guest and the time when the same is rented, whether a.m. or p.m. The register shall be signed by the person renting the rooming unit and shall show the date of registration and the date when the occupant of each room shall surrender the room. Until all such entries have been made in such register, no guest shall be permitted to occupy privately any room in the structure. If the registrant does not write in the register the information herein required as to the motor vehicle, it shall be the duty of the operator or a duly authorized employee to write in said information. At any time any room or rooms are surrendered, it shall be the further duty of the agent to enter the time thereof in the register opposite the names of all official persons making such surrender.
B. 
The register shall be available at all times to any Township Code Enforcement or police officer upon request.
C. 
No person under the age of 18 shall be permitted to rent a room without the permission of parent or legal guardian. If the parent is not present at the time the room is rented, the minor shall present proof, in writing, of parental consent, the parent's name, telephone number, and a legal form of identification, which shall be electronically recorded and photocopied as set forth in Subsection A above, of the parent authorizing the registration.
D. 
The Bureau of Property Maintenance and the Police Department are hereby designated as the local enforcing agencies of the provisions of this article.
[Amended 2-14-2024 by Ord. No. 4799-24]
E. 
The Bureau of Property Maintenance, the Police Department and any law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction any of the above-mentioned places may be located may inspect such place at any hour to see that the register requirements of this article are being complied with.
[Amended 2-14-2024 by Ord. No. 4799-24]
F. 
Should there be a refusal to provide the register upon request or a refusal to permit inspection of the register, the Bureau of Property Maintenance or Police Department may seek its remedy through precompliance review established by law. Precompliance review shall include, but not be limited to, the issuance of a subpoena or by obtaining an administrative search warrant.
[Added 4-10-2018 by Ord. No. 4578-18; amended 2-14-2024 by Ord. No. 4799-24]
A. 
Every person convicted of a violation of a provision of this article shall be subject to the maximum fines and penalties established under N.J.S.A. 40:49-5 and 40:69A-29, and any subsequent amendments thereto.
B. 
Each and every day a violation of this article persists shall constitute a separate violation.
C. 
To the extent the conduct prohibited under this article also violates other provisions of the Township Code, those violations constitute separate offenses subject to the additional fines and penalties as prescribed.
[Adopted 9-14-2021 by Ord. No. 4714-21]
The purpose of this article is to implement the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:48F-1 et seq., which authorizes municipalities to impose a uniform tax not to exceed 3% on charges of rent for every hotel or motel occupancy after July 1, 2004, of a room or rooms in a hotel or motel subject to taxation pursuant to Subsection (d) of Section 3 of P.L. 1966, c. 40 (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3), which is in addition to any other tax or fee imposed pursuant to statute or local ordinance or resolution by any governmental entity upon such occupancies.
There is hereby established a hotel and motel occupancy tax in the Township of Toms River fixed at a uniform percentage rate of 3% on charges of rent for every occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel or motel subject to taxation pursuant to Subsection (d) of Section 3 of P.L. 1966, c. 40 (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3).
The hotel and motel occupancy tax established pursuant to this article shall be in addition to any other tax or fee imposed by statute or local ordinance or resolution by any governmental entity upon the occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel or motel.
The hotel and motel occupancy tax established pursuant to this article shall not be imposed on the rent for an occupancy if the purchaser, user, or consumer is an entity exempt from the tax imposed on an occupancy under the Sales and Use Tax Act pursuant to Subsection (a) of Section 9 of P.L. 1966, c. 430 (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-9).
In accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:48F-2:
A. 
All taxes imposed pursuant to this article shall be paid by the purchaser.
B. 
A vendor shall not assume or absorb any tax imposed by this article.
C. 
A vendor shall not in any manner advertise or hold out to any person or to the public in general, in any manner, directly or indirectly, that the tax will be assumed or absorbed by the vendor; that the tax will not be separately charged and stated to the customer; or that the tax will be refunded to the customer.
D. 
Each assumption or absorption by a vendor of the tax shall be deemed a separate offense and each representation or advertisement by a vendor for each day the representation or advertisement continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
In accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:48F-3:
A. 
The tax imposed pursuant to this article shall be collected on behalf of the Township by the person collecting the rent from the customer.
B. 
Persons required to collect the tax shall be personally liable for the tax imposed, collected, or required to be collected.
C. 
Persons required to collect the tax shall have the same right in respect to collecting the tax from a customer as if the tax were a part of the rent payable at the same time; provided, however, that the Chief Financial Officer of the Township shall be joined as a party in any action or proceeding brought to collect the tax.
A. 
As provided by N.J.S.A. 40:48F-6a, upon written notification of nonpayment from the State Treasurer, the Township shall act as the collecting agent for the outstanding balance of hotel and motel occupancy taxes due and owing to the Township.
B. 
In accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:48F-6b, in the event that the tax imposed pursuant to this article is not paid as and when due by a hotel or motel, the unpaid balance, and any interest thereon, shall be a lien on the parcel of real property comprising the hotel or motel in the same manner as all other unpaid municipal taxes, fees, or other charges.
(1) 
The lien shall be superior and paramount to the interest in such parcel of any owner, lessee, tenant, mortgagee, or other person, except that a lien of municipal taxes shall be on parity with and deemed equal to the municipal lien on the parcel for unpaid property taxes due and owing in the same year.
(2) 
The Township shall file in the office of the Tax Collector a statement showing the amount and due date of the unpaid balance and identifying the lot and block number of the parcel of real property that comprises the delinquent hotel or motel.
(3) 
The lien shall be enforced as a municipal lien in the same manner as all other municipal liens are enforced.
C. 
Unpaid hotel and motel occupancy taxes shall accrue interest at a rate of 5% per annum.
Unless otherwise provided by law, any person or entity that violates this article shall be subject to the maximum fines and penalties established under N.J.S.A. 40:49-5 and N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29, and any subsequent amendments to those statutes, for each offense.
A. 
A copy of this article and any subsequent amendment thereto shall be transmitted to the State Treasurer upon adoption, together with a list of the names and addresses of all the hotels and motels located within the Township.
B. 
A current list of the names and addresses of all hotels and motels located within the Township shall be submitted to the State Treasurer annually, not later than January 1. The State Treasurer shall also be notified of the name and address of any hotel or motel that commences operation after January 1 in any year.
C. 
A copy of this article shall also be distributed to every hotel and motel located within the Township.
In accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:48F-1, the tax provisions established by this article or any subsequent amendment hereto shall take effect on the first day of the first full month occurring 90 days after the date this article or any subsequent amendment is transmitted to the State Treasurer.