This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Hotel Room Rental Tax Ordinance of Allegheny County."
The following words and phrases when used in
this article shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise,
the meanings ascribed to them in this section:
BOOKING AGENT[Added 3-22-2016 by Ord. No. 04-16]
A.
Any company, person, or other entity that:
(1)
Is in the business of facilitating, making or processing hotel
reservations on behalf of prospective patrons and/or hotels or operators;
or
(2)
Is paid a fee or otherwise derives any type of compensation
through facilitating, making or booking hotel reservations by one
or more patrons, regardless of whether such fee or compensation is
paid by the hotel, operator, patron, or other entity or collects payments
for hotel reservations or accommodations on behalf of or for a patron,
hotel or operator, and regardless of whether a fee or other compensation
is paid for making the reservations for accommodations. Merely publishing
an advertisement for accommodations does not make the publisher a
booking agent.
B.
The term "booking agent" shall include, but not be limited to:
(1)
Online travel booking sites which are involved in the process
of listing vacant lodgings to patrons, booking reservations on behalf
of patrons, operators, or any other entity, and handling any aspect
of the resulting financial transaction; and/or
(2)
A hosting or other online site that provides a means through
which an operator, hotel, or agent for an operator or hotel may accept
reservations for hotel occupancy.
CONSIDERATION
Receipts, fees, charges, rentals, leases, cash, credits,
property of any kind or nature, or other payment received by operators
in exchange for or in consideration of the use or occupancy by a transient
of a room or rooms in a hotel for any temporary period.
CONVENTION CENTER or EXHIBITION HALL
A building or series of buildings not used for the retail
sale of merchandise or part of any shopping center, mall or other
retail center together with any land appurtenant thereto, a major
function of which is to house meetings, exhibitions, shows, conventions,
assemblies, convocations and similar gatherings; provided that one
of the aforesaid buildings shall contain a minimum of 75,000 gross
square feet of exhibition space for shows and conventions.
HOTEL
A hotel, motel, inn, guest house or other building located
within the taxing jurisdiction which holds itself out by any means
including advertising, license, registration with any innkeeper's
group, convention listing association, travel publication or similar
association or with any government agency as being available to provide
overnight lodging or use of facility space for consideration to persons
seeking temporary accommodation; any place which advertises to the
public at large or any segment thereof that it will provide beds,
sanitary facilities or other space for a temporary period to members
of the public at large; any place recognized as a hostelry; provided,
that portions of such facility which are devoted to persons who have
established permanent residence shall not be included in this definition.
MUNICIPALITY
A township, borough or a home rule municipality which was
formerly a township or a borough.
OCCUPANCY
The use or possession or the right to use or possession by
any person other than a permanent resident of any room in a hotel
for any purpose or the right to the use or possession of the furnishings
or to the services accompanying the use and possession of the room.
OPERATOR
Any individual, partnership, nonprofit or profit-making association
or corporation or other person or group of persons who maintain, operate,
manage, own, have custody of, or otherwise possess the right to rent
or lease overnight accommodations in any hotel to the public for consideration.
OPERATING DEFICIT
The excess of expenses over receipts from the operation and
management of a convention center or exhibition hall.
PATRON
Any person who pays the consideration for the occupancy of
a room or rooms in a hotel.
PERMANENT RESIDENT
Any person who has occupied or has the right to occupy any
room or rooms in a hotel as a patron or otherwise for a period exceeding
30 consecutive days.
RECOGNIZED TOURIST PROMOTION AGENCY
The nonprofit corporation, organization, association or agency
which is and has been engaged in planning and promoting programs designed
to stimulate and increase the volume of tourist, visitor and vacation
business within counties serviced by such agencies as that term is
defined in the Act of April 28, 1961 (P.L. 111, No. 50), known as
the "Tourist Promotion Law," and which particular nonprofit corporation,
organization, association or agency heretofore has been recognized
by the Department of Commerce, all in accordance with the terms of
said Tourist Promotion Law.
REGIONAL TOURIST PROMOTION ACTIVITIES
Services, activities, facilities and events which result
in a significant number of nonresidents visiting the County for recreational,
cultural or educational purposes.
ROOM
A space in a hotel set aside for use and occupancy by patrons,
or otherwise, for consideration, having at least one bed or other
sleeping accommodation provided therein.
TEMPORARY
A period of time not exceeding 30 consecutive days.
TRANSACTION
The activity involving the obtaining by a transient or patron
of the use of occupancy of a hotel room from which consideration emanates
to the operator under an express or an implied contract.
TRANSIENT
Any individual who obtains accommodation in any hotel for
himself by means of registering at the facility for the temporary
occupancy of any room for the personal use of that individual by paying
to the operator of the facility a fee in consideration therefor.
A tax not to exceed 5% is hereby imposed on
the consideration received by each operator of a hotel within the
County from each transaction of renting a room or rooms to accommodate
transients.
All taxes due and unpaid under this article
shall be recoverable by the County in accordance with rules and regulations
established by the County's Treasurer.
[Amended 3-22-2016 by Ord. No.
04-16]
The County Treasurer shall collect the tax imposed under this
article from the operator or booking agent and shall deposit the revenues
received from the tax in a special fund. The Board of Commissioners
of the County shall authorize distributions of the tax revenues from
the special fund in accordance with § 4(b.1), Act 182 of
1990, 16 P.S. § 1770.12, Subsection (b).
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this article shall be subject to the following penalties:
A. Upon conviction in a summary proceeding, a fine not
in excess of $100 to be paid to the use of the County with costs of
prosecution, or to undergo imprisonment in the County jail for not
more than 30 days, or both.
B. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense
subject to the penalties outlined above.