This chapter shall be known as the “South Placer County Tourism Business Improvement Area Ordinance.”
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
means the board of directors of the South Placer County Tourism Corporation.
means the amount to be collected by an operator from a transient and paid to the city.
means the city treasurer of the city, or such other person or entity as shall be designated from time to time by the city to receive and administer assessments collected pursuant to this chapter.
means the South Placer County tourism business improvement district, created pursuant to this chapter.
means the City of Roseville, unless otherwise stated.
means the city clerk of the City of Roseville.
means the city council of the City of Roseville.
means any public or private hotel or motel within the cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln (excluding Placer County owned real property) offering lodging, wherein the owner and operator thereof, for compensation, furnishes lodging to any transient.
means each successive rental of lodging rights by a transient in a hotel, beginning on or after the check-in time for the hotel and ending at the designated check-out time for the hotel on the following calendar day. In the event a transient rents lodging in a hotel for two or more consecutive nights of occupancy, a separate assessment shall be charged for each night.
means the person who is proprietor of the hotel, whether in the capacity of owner, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee, or any other capacity. Where the operator performs functions through a managing agent, the managing agent shall also be deemed an operator for the purposes of this chapter and shall have the same duties and liabilities as the principal. Compliance with the provisions of this chapter by either the principal or the managing agent shall, however, be considered compliance by both.
means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate, or any other group or combination thereof acting as a unit.
means any person who, for any period, either at his or her own expense or at the expense of another, obtains lodging or the use of any lodging space in any hotel, for which lodging or use of lodging space a charge is made.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Pursuant to the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989, codified in Streets and Highways Code Section 36500 et seq., a parking and business improvement area was established on March 5, 2003, the purpose of which is to promote tourism within the cities of Roseville, Lincoln and Rocklin. The name of the assessment area is the “South Placer County Tourism Business Improvement Area.” The ordinance codified in this chapter hereby ratifies the city council’s initial formation of the area on March 5, 2003 under Resolution No. 03-94 and codifies and amends Ordinance No. 4760 adopted August 5, 2009.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
The boundaries of the assessment area shall be the areas included within the city limits of the cities of Roseville, Lincoln and Rocklin, as such city limits are determined and maintained by each respective city in accordance with its official records and maps, as now existing and from time to time amended. There shall be no separate benefit zones within the assessment area. New hotels within the assessment area boundaries will not be exempt from the levy of assessments.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
A.
Each transient is subject to and shall pay an assessment to the city in the amount set forth in Table 1, below, for each night of occupancy in a hotel. Said assessment constitutes a debt owed by the transient to the city, which is extinguished only by payment to the operator or the assessment administrator.
Table 1 | |
|---|---|
For hotels located within the city limits of the City of Roseville | $1.50 for each night of occupancy |
For hotels located within the city limits of the City of Rocklin | $1.00 for each night of occupancy |
For hotels located within the city limits of the City of Lincoln | $1.00 for each night of occupancy |
B.
The transient shall pay the assessment to the operator of the hotel at the time the rent is paid. If the rent is paid in installments, a proportionate share of the assessment shall be paid with each installment. The unpaid assessment shall be due upon the transient’s ceasing to occupy space in the hotel.
C.
If, for any reason, the assessment due is not paid to the operator of the hotel, the assessment administrator may require that such assessment be paid directly to the assessment administrator.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
No assessment shall be imposed upon:
A.
Any person as to whom, or any occupancy as to which, it is beyond the power of the city to impose the assessment herein provided;
B.
Any federal or state officer or employee when on official business;
C.
Any officer or employee of a foreign government who is exempt by reason of express provision of federal law or international treaty.
No exemption shall be granted except upon a claim therefor made at the time rent is collected and under penalty of perjury upon a form prescribed by the assessment administrator.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Each operator shall collect the assessment imposed by this chapter to the same extent and at the same time as the rent is collected from every transient. The amount of assessment shall be separately stated from the amount of the rent charged, and each transient shall receive a receipt when requested for payment from the operator.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Within 30 days after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter or within 30 days after commencing business, whichever is later, each operator of any hotel renting occupancy to transients shall register such hotel with the assessment administrator and obtain from him or her a “South Placer County Tourism Business Improvement Assessment Area Registration Certificate” to be at all times posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. Such certificate shall, among other things, state the following:
A.
The name of the operator;
B.
The address of the hotel;
C.
The date upon which the certificate was issued;
D.
The following information:
“This South Placer County Tourism Business Improvement Assessment Area Registration Certificate signifies that the person named on the face hereof has fulfilled the requirements of the South Placer County Tourism Business Improvement Assessment Area Ordinance by registering with the assessment administrator for the purpose of collecting from transients the South Placer County Tourism Business Improvement Area Assessment and remitting said assessment to the assessment administrator. This certificate does not authorize any person to conduct any unlawful business or to conduct any lawful business in an unlawful manner, nor to operate a hotel without strictly complying with all local applicable laws, including but not limited to those requiring a permit from any board, commission, department or office of this county. This certificate does not constitute a permit.”
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Each operator shall, on or before the last day of the month following the close of each calendar quarter, or at the close of any shorter reporting period which may be established by the assessment administrator, make a report to the assessment administrator, on forms provided by it, of the total nights of occupancy within the reporting period and the amount of assessment collected for transient occupancies pursuant to this chapter. At the time the report is filed, the full amount of the assessment collected shall be remitted to the assessment administrator. The assessment administrator may establish shorter reporting periods for any certificate holder if he or she deems it necessary in order to insure collection of the assessment and he or she may require further information in the report. Reports and payments are due immediately upon cessation of business for any reason. All assessments collected by operators pursuant to this chapter shall be held in trust for the account of the city until payment thereof is made to the assessment administrator. The assessment administrator shall remit to the advisory board the assessments collected from the operators within 30 days of receipt.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
A.
Original Delinquency. Any operator who fails to remit any assessment imposed by this chapter within the time required shall pay a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the assessment in addition to the amount of assessment.
B.
Continued Delinquency. Any operator who fails to remit any delinquent remittance on or before a period of 30 days following the date on which the remittance first became delinquent shall pay a second delinquency penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the assessment in addition to the amount of the assessment and the 10 percent penalty first imposed.
D.
Interest. In addition to the penalties imposed, any operator who fails to remit any assessment imposed by this chapter shall pay interest at the rate of one-half of one percent per month or fraction thereof on the amount of the assessment, exclusive of penalties, from the date on which the remittance first became delinquent until paid.
E.
Penalties Merged with Assessment. Every penalty imposed and such interest as accrues under the provisions of this section shall become a part of the assessment herein required to be paid.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
If any operator shall fail or refuse to collect such assessment and to make, within the time provided in this chapter, any report and remittance of such assessment or any portion thereof required by this chapter, the assessment administrator shall proceed in such manner as he or she may deem best to obtain facts and information on which to base his or her estimate of the assessment due. As soon as the assessment administrator shall procure such facts and information as he or she is able to obtain upon which to base the assessment of any assessment imposed by this chapter and payable by any operator who has failed or refused to collect the same and to make such report and remittance, he or she shall proceed to determine and assess against such operator the assessment, interest and penalties provided for by this chapter. In case such determination is made, the assessment administrator shall give a notice of the amount so assessed by serving it personally or by depositing it in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the operator so assessed at his or her last-known place of address. Such operator may within 10 days after the serving or mailing of such notice make application in writing to the assessment administrator for a hearing on the amount assessed. If application by the operator for a hearing is not made within the time prescribed, the assessment, interest and penalties, if any, determined by the assessment administrator shall become final and conclusive and immediately due and payable. If such application is made, the assessment administrator shall give not less than five days’ written notice in the manner prescribed herein to the operator to show cause at a time and place fixed in such notice why such amount specified therein should not be fixed for such assessment, interest and penalties. At such hearing, the operator may appear and offer evidence why such specified assessment, interest and penalties should not be so fixed. After such hearing the assessment administrator shall determine the proper assessment to be remitted and shall thereafter give written notice to the person in the manner prescribed herein of such determination and the amount of such assessment, interest and penalties. The amount determined to be due shall be payable after 15 days unless an appeal is taken as provided in Section 4.26.120.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Any operator aggrieved by any decision of the assessment administrator with respect to the amount of such assessment, interest and penalties, if any, may appeal to the city council by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk within 15 days of the serving or mailing of the determination of assessment due. The city council shall fix a time and place for hearing such appeal and the city clerk shall give notice in writing to such operator at his or her last known place of address. The findings of the city council shall be final and conclusive and shall be served upon the appellant in the manner prescribed above for service of notice of hearing. Any amount found to be due shall be immediately due and payable upon the service of notice.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
A.
Every operator shall keep such records, receipts, invoices, registration cards and other pertinent papers in such form as the assessment administrator may require, for a period of not less than three years.
B.
Upon the presentation of a subpoena or administrative warrant, the assessment administrator or any person authorized in writing by the assessment administrator may examine the books, papers, records, registration cards or other pertinent papers of any operator and may investigate the character of the business of the operator in order to verify the accuracy of the reports made, or, if no report has been made by the operator, to ascertain and determine the amount required to be paid.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
A.
Whenever the amount of any assessment, interest or penalty has been overpaid or paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the assessment administrator under this chapter, it may be refunded as provided in subsections B and C of this section; provided, a claim in writing therefor, stating under penalty of perjury the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded, is filed with the assessment administrator within six months of the date of payment. The claim shall be on forms furnished by the assessment administrator.
B.
An operator may claim a refund or take as credit against assessments collected and remitted the amount overpaid, paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received when it is established in a manner prescribed by the assessment administrator that the person from whom the assessment has been collected was not a transient; provided, however, that neither a refund nor a credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the assessment so collected has either been refunded to the transient or credited to rent subsequently payable by the transient to the operator.
C.
A transient may obtain a refund of assessments overpaid or paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received by filing a claim in the manner provided in subsection A of this section, but only when the assessment was paid by the transient directly to the assessment administrator, or when the transient, having paid the assessment to the operator, establishes to the satisfaction of the assessment administrator that the transient has been unable to obtain a refund from the operator who collected the assessment.
D.
No refund shall be paid under the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his or her right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Any assessment required to be paid by any transient under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a debt owed by the transient and the operator to the city. Any such assessment collected by an operator which has not been paid to the assessment administrator shall be deemed a debt owed by the operator to the city. Any person owing money to the city under the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to an action brought in the name of the assessment area or the city for the recovery of such amount.
In the event a court action is filed to collect assessments from an operator, in addition to all other remedies the city, or the advisory board if the board files the court action, shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in such action.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable therefor by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for a period of not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Any operator or other person who fails or refuses to register as required herein, or to furnish any report required to be made, or who fails or refuses to furnish a supplemental report or other data required by the assessment administrator, or who renders a false or fraudulent report or claim, or who fails to collect or remit any assessment, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable as aforesaid. Any person required to make, render, sign or verify any report or claim who makes any false or fraudulent report or claim with intent to defeat or evade the determination of any amount due required by this chapter to be made, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable as aforesaid.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
The board of directors of the South Placer County Tourism Corporation, a California nonprofit corporation, shall be the advisory agency to the city appointed pursuant to Streets and Highways Code Section 36530, and shall perform all of the responsibilities thereof and any and all responsibilities as set forth in a separate contract between the city and the advisory board.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
The advisory board shall prepare or cause to prepared a report for each fiscal year for which assessments are to be levied and collected. The report shall contain the information required by Streets and Highways Code Section 36533 and shall be approved by the city council after following the process outlined in Sections 36533 through 36535 of the Streets and Highways Code.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)
All businesses located within the assessment area shall be subject to and comply with any amendments to this chapter or to the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989, as from time to time enacted.
(Ord. 5108 § 1, 2012)