As used in this chapter:
means any structure, or any portion of any structure, which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, and includes any hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, bachelor hotel, lodginghouse, roominghouse, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, mobilehome or house trailer at a fixed location, or other similar structure or portion thereof.
means the use or possession or the right to use or possess any room or rooms or portion thereof in any hotel for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.
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 his or her functions through a managing agent or any type or character other than an employee, the managing agent shall also be deemed an operator for the purposes of this chapter and shall have the same duties and liabilities as his or her principal. Compliance with the provisions of this chapter by either the principal or the managing agent shall, however, be considered to be 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 acting as a unit.
means the consideration charged, whether or not received, for the occupancy of space in a hotel, valued in money, whether to be received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits and property and services of any kind or nature, without any deduction therefrom whatsoever.
means any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or other agreement for a period of thirty consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of calendar days as full days. Any such person so occupying space in a hotel shall be deemed to be a transient until the period of thirty days has expired, unless there is an agreement in writing between the operator and the occupant providing for a longer period of occupancy. In determining whether a person is a transient, uninterrupted periods of time extending both prior and subsequent to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter may be considered.
(Prior code § 5611; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient shall pay a tax in the amount of ten percent of the rent charged by the operator. Such tax is a debt owed by the transient to the city which is extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the city. The transient shall pay the tax 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 tax shall be paid with each installment. The unpaid tax shall be due upon transient's ceasing to occupy the space in the hotel. If, for any reason, the tax is not paid to the operator of the hotel, the finance officer may require that such tax be paid directly to the city.
(Prior code § 5612; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
No tax shall be imposed on any person as to whom, or any occupancy as to which, it is beyond the power of the city to impose a tax; upon any officer or employee of a foreign government who is exempt by reason of express provision of federal law or international treaty, or upon any federal or state officer or employee when on official business. No exemption shall be granted except upon a claim made at the time rent is collected under penalty of perjury under a form prescribed by the finance officer.
(Prior code § 5612.01; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
Each operator 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 the rent charged, and each transient shall receive a receipt for payment from the operator. Within thirty days after commencing business, each operator of any hotel renting occupancy to a transient shall register such hotel with the finance officer 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 a certificate shall, among other things, state the name of the operator, the address of the hotel, and the date upon which the certificate was issued. It shall also contain the following statement:
This transient occupancy registration certificate signifies that the person named on its face has registered with the Finance Officer of the City of La Verne for the purpose of collecting from transients the Transient Occupancy Tax and remitting that tax to the City. 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. This certificate does not constitute a permit.
(Prior code § 5613; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
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 finance officer, make a return to the finance officer on forms provided by him or her of the total rents charged 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 city. The finance officer may establish shorter reporting periods for any certificate holder upon his or her determination that it is necessary in order to insure collection of the tax and may require further information in the return. Failure to timely file or pay taxes for an earlier quarter shall be adequate grounds for requiring shorter reporting periods. Returns and payments are due immediately upon the cessation of business for any reason. All taxes collected by operators pursuant to this chapter shall be held in trust for the account of the city until payment of them is made to the city. It shall be the duty of every operator liable for collection and payment to the city of the transient occupancy tax to keep and preserve for a period of three years all records that may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax, which records the finance officer shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.
(Prior code § 5614; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
Any operator 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 tax in addition to the tax itself. There shall be a second delinquency penalty of ten percent of the tax in addition to the amount of the tax and the ten-percent penalty first imposed for any operator 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. In addition to the penalties imposed, any operator who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter shall pay interest at the rate of one percent per month or a fraction thereof on the amount of the tax, exclusive of the penalties, from the date on which the remittance first became delinquent until paid. Every penalty imposed and such interest as accrues under the provisions of this section shall become part of the tax required to be paid by this chapter.
(Prior code § 5614.01; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
If any operator fails or refuses to collect the transient occupancy tax and timely to make any report or remittance of such tax or any part of it, the finance officer shall proceed in such manner as he or she deems best to obtain facts and information on which to base the estimate of the tax due. The finance officer shall then proceed to determine and assess against such operator the tax, interest and penalties provided for by this chapter. The finance officer 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 the last known place of address. Such operator may, within ten days after the serving or mailing of such notice, make application in writing to the finance officer for a hearing on the amount assessed. If the application by the operator for a hearing is not made within the time prescribed, the tax, interest and penalties, if any, determined by the finance officer, shall become final and conclusive and immediately due and payable. If such an application is made, the finance officer shall give not less than five days' written notice in the manner prescribed in this section 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 tax, interest and penalties. At such hearing, the operator may appear and offer evidence. After such hearing, the finance officer shall determine the proper tax to be remitted and shall thereafter give written notice to the person in the manner prescribed in this chapter of such determination, and the amount of such tax, interest and penalties. The amount determined to be due shall be payable after fifteen days, unless an appeal is timely made to the city council.
(Prior code § 5615; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
Any operator aggrieved by an decision of the finance officer with respect to the amount of the transient occupancy tax, interest and penalties may appeal to the city council by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk within fifteen days of the serving or mailing of the determination of tax due. The council shall fix the time and place for hearing such appeal, and the city clerk shall give notice in writing to such operator at the operator's last known place of address. The findings of the council shall be final and conclusive and shall be served upon the appellant in the manner prescribed in Section 3.16.080 of this chapter for service of notice of hearing. Any amounts found to be due shall be immediately due and payable upon service of the notice.
(Prior code § 5615.01; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
Whenever the amount of any tax, interest or penalties have been overpaid or have been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the city, they may be refunded, provided that a claim in writing therefor, stating under penalty of perjury the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded, is filed with the finance officer within three years of the date of payment. The claim form shall be furnished by the finance officer. Neither a refund nor a credit against future taxes shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax is refunded to the transient or credited to rent subsequently payable by the transient to the operator. The transient may obtain a refund of taxes overpaid or paid more than once by filing a claim in the same manner as an operator, but only where the tax is paid by the transient directly to the finance officer or when the transient, having paid the tax to the operator, establishes to the satisfaction of the finance officer that the transient has been unable to obtain a refund from the operator who collected the tax. No refund shall be paid unless the claimant, whether operator or transient, establishes the right thereto by written record.
(Prior code § 5616; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
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. Any such tax collected by an operator which is not paid to the city 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 city for recovery of such amount.
(Prior code § 5617; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this title is guilty of an infraction and shall be punishable therefor by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars. Any operator or other person who fails or refuses to register as required by this chapter or fails to furnish any refund required to be made or fails or refuses to furnish supplemental returns or other data required by the finance officer, or who renders a false or fraudulent return or claim, is guilty of an infraction and is punishable as aforesaid. Any person required to make, render, sign, or verify any report or claim for making a false or fraudulent report or claim with intent to deceive or evade determination of any amount due required by this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable therefor by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for a period of not more than six months or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(Prior code § 5618; Ord. 650 § 1, 1982)