For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel or motel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of fourteen percent of the rent charged by the operator. Such tax constitutes a debt owed by the transient to the city which is extinguished only by payment to the operator, a rental agent, or the city. The transient shall pay the tax to the operator or rental agent at the time the rent is paid. If the rent is paid in installments, a proportionate share of the tax shall be paid with each installment. The unpaid tax shall be due upon the transient's ceasing to occupy space in the hotel. If for any reason the tax is not paid to the operator or rental agent, the tax administrator may require that such tax shall be paid directly to the tax administrator.
(Prior code § 22-4.1; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1465 § 1, 1986; Ord. 1531 § 2, 1991; Ord. 1779 § 1, 2009; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019; Ord. 1895 § 3, 2020)
No tax shall be imposed upon:
A. 
Any person as to whom, of any occupancy as to which, is beyond the power of the city to impose the tax 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 tax administrator.
(Prior code § 22-4.2; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Each operator or rental agent shall collect the tax imposed by this chapter to the same extent and at the same time as the rent is collected from every transient. The amount of tax shall be separately stated from the amount of rent charged. The operator or rental agent shall provide a receipt for payment to each transient.
B. 
No operator or rental agent shall advertise or state in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, that the tax or any part thereof:
1. 
Will be assumed or absorbed by the operator or rental agent; or
2. 
Will not be added to the rent; or
3. 
If added, any part will be refunded except in the manner hereinafter provided.
C. 
If an operator or rental agent fails or refuses to collect the tax, the operator or rental agent shall be liable to the city for the amount of uncollected tax.
(Prior code § 22-4.3; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
Within thirty days after commencing business, each operator of any hotel renting occupancy to transients shall register such hotel with the tax administrator and obtain from him or her a transient occupancy 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. 
This transient occupancy registration certificate signifies that the person named on the face hereof has fulfilled the requirements of the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance by registering with the tax administrator for the purpose of collecting from transients the transient occupancy tax and remitting said tax to the tax 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 city. This certificate does not constitute a permit.
(Prior code § 22-4.4; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Each operator and each rental agent 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 tax administrator, make a return to the tax administrator, on forms provided by him or her, of the total rents collected and received and the amount of tax collected for transient occupancies. At the time the return is filed, the full amount of the tax collected shall be remitted to the tax administrator.
B. 
The tax administrator may establish shorter reporting periods for any certificate holder if he or she deems it necessary in order to insure collection of the tax and he or she may require further information in the return.
C. 
Returns and payments are due immediately upon cessation of business for any reason.
D. 
All taxes collected by operators or rental agents pursuant to this chapter shall be held in trust for the account of the city until payment thereof is made to the tax administrator.
(Prior code § 22-4.5; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Original Delinquency. Any operator or rental agent who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter within the time required shall pay a penalty of ten percent of the amount of the tax in addition to the amount of the tax.
B. 
Continued Delinquency. Any operator or rental agent who fails to remit any delinquent remittance on or before a period of thirty days following the date on which the remittance first became delinquent shall pay a second delinquency penalty of ten percent of the amount of the tax in addition to the amount of the tax and the ten percent penalty first imposed.
C. 
Fraud. If the tax administrator determines that the nonpayment of any remittance due under this chapter is due to fraud, a penalty of twenty-five percent of the amount of the tax shall be added thereto in addition to the penalties stated in subsections A and B of this section.
D. 
Interest. In addition to the penalties imposed, any operator or rental agent who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter shall pay interest at the rate of one percent per month or fraction thereof on the amount of the tax, exclusive of penalties, from the date on which the remittance first became delinquent until paid. Interest shall be imposed on penalties from thirty days after an operator or rental agent is notified of a delinquency.
E. 
Penalties Merged with Tax. Every penalty imposed and such interest as accrues under the provisions of this section shall become a part of the tax herein required to be paid.
(Prior code § 22-4.6; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
If any operator or rental agent fails or refuses to collect such tax and to make any report and remittance of such tax within the time required by this chapter, the tax administrator shall proceed in such matter as he or she may deem best to obtain facts and information on which to base his or her estimate of the tax due.
B. 
When the tax administrator has procured such facts and information he or she shall proceed to determine and assess against the operator or rental agent the tax, interest, and penalties provided for by this chapter.
C. 
In case such determination is made, the tax 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 or rental agent at his or her last known place of address.
D. 
The operator or rental agent may within ten days after the service or mailing of such notice apply in writing to the tax administrator for a hearing on the amount assessed. If such an application is not made within the time prescribed, the tax, interest, and penalties, if any, determined by the tax administrator shall become final and conclusive and immediately due and payable.
E. 
If such application is made, the tax administrator shall give not less than five days' written notice to the operator or rental agent in the manner prescribed herein of the time and place at which a hearing shall be conducted on the subject of the amount due. At such hearing, the operator or rental agent may appear and offer evidence why the specified tax, interest, and penalties should not be fixed as determined by the tax administrator.
F. 
After such hearing the tax administrator shall determine the proper amount to be remitted, and shall give written notice to the operator or rental agent of such determination in the manner prescribed herein. The amount determined to be due as tax, interest, and penalties shall be payable fifteen days from the date of notice unless an appeal is taken as provided in Section 3.32.080.
G. 
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the tax administrator from assessing the full amount of any unremitted taxes and penalties solely against the operator in lieu of assessing some or all of those taxes and penalties against the rental agent.
(Prior code § 22-4.7; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Any operator or rental agent aggrieved by any decision of the tax administrator with respect to the amount of such tax, interest, and penalties, if any, may appeal to the council by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk within fifteen days of the service or mailing of the notice of determination of tax due.
B. 
The city council shall fix a time and place for hearing such appeal, and the city clerk shall give notice in writing to the appellant not less than ten days prior to the date of the hearing in the manner prescribed by subsection C of Section 3.32.070.
C. 
The findings of the council shall be final and conclusive and shall be served upon the appellant in the manner prescribed for service of notice of hearing. Any amount found to be due shall be immediately due and payable upon the service of notice.
(Prior code § 22-4.8; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
Every operator or rental agent shall keep for a period of three years all records as may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax for which the operator or rental agent may have been liable pursuant to this chapter. The tax administrator shall have the right to inspect such records at all reasonable times. The rental agent shall provide the operator with copies of all records necessary for the operator to comply with its obligations under this chapter.
(Prior code § 22-4.9; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Refunds and credits against taxes collected may be claimed and processed pursuant to this section. They shall be allowed whenever the amount of any tax, interest, or penalty has been overpaid or paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the city.
B. 
An operator, a rental agent, or a transient may claim a refund or credit by providing a claim in writing to the tax administrator on a form furnished by him or her stating under penalty of perjury the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded. No refund shall be paid unless the claimant establishes his or her right thereto by written records showing entitlement.
C. 
An operator or rental agent may claim a refund or a credit only when it is established in a manner prescribed by the tax administrator that the person from whom the tax was collected was not a transient. No refund or credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax so collected has either been refunded to the person from whom it was collected or credited to rent subsequently payable by him or her.
D. 
A transient may obtain a refund only when the tax was paid by him or her directly to the tax administrator, or when the transient has paid the tax to the operator or rental agent and establishes to the satisfaction of the tax administrator that the transient has been unable to obtain a refund from the operator or rental agent who collected the tax.
(Prior code § 22-4.10; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Any tax required to be paid by any transient under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a debt owed by the transient to the city.
B. 
Any such tax collected by an operator or rental agent which has not been paid to the city shall be deemed a debt owed by the operator or rental agent to the city. If the operator or rental agent fails or refuses to collect the tax, the uncollected tax shall be deemed a debt owed by the operator or rental agent to the city.
C. 
Any person owing money to the city under the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to the city in an action brought in the name of the city for the recovery of such amount. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the tax administrator from assessing the full amount of any unremitted taxes and penalties solely against the operator in lieu of assessing some or all of those taxes and penalties against the rental agent.
(Prior code § 22-4.11; Ord. 1357 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1875 § 3, 2019)