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HomeMy WebLinkAboutG55-74 Ordinance No.G55-74 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A TAX ON THE USE AND PRIVILEGE OF RENTING A HOTEL OR MOTEL ROOM WITHIN THE CITY OF ELGIN BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS: Section 1. Chapter 28 of the Code of the City of Elgin, Illinois, as amended, is hereby amended to add thereto Article XVI to read as follows: "Article XVI. TAX UPON THE USE AND PRIVILEGE OF RENTING A HOTEL OR MOTEL ROOM Section 28-1601. Definitions. For the purpose of this ordinance, whenever any of the following words, terms or definitions are used herein, they shall have the mean- ing ascribed to them in this Section: "Hotel Room or Motel Room" means a room within a structure offered for rental on a daily basis and containing facilities for sleeping. One room offered for rental with or without an adjoining bath shall be considered as a single hotel or motel room. The number of hotel or motel rooms within a suite shall be computed on the basis of those rooms utilized for the purpose of sleeping. "Owner" means any person having an ownership interest in or con- ducting the operation of a hotel or motel room or receiving the consi- deration for the rental of such hotel or motel room. "Person" means any natural person, trustee, court appointed repre- sentative, syndicate, association, partnership, firm, club, company, corporation, business trust, institution, agency, government corporation, municipal corporation, district or other political subdivision, contractor, supplier, vendor, vendee, operator, user or owner, or any officers, agents, employees or other representative, acting either for himself or for any other person in any capacity, or any other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. The masculine, feminine, singular or plural is included in any circumstances. Section 28-1602. Tax. (a) There is hereby levied and imposed a tax of 3% (three percent) of the rent charged for the privilege and use of renting a hotel or motel room within the City of Elgin for each 24-hour period or any portion thereof for which a daily room charge is made; provided, however, that the tax shall not be levied and imposed upon any person who rents a hotel or motel room for more than 30 consecutive days or to a person who works and lives in the same hotel or motel. r (b) The ultimate incidence of and liability for payment of said tax is to be born by the person who seeks the privilege of occupying the hotel or motel room, said person hereinafter referred to as "Renter". (c) The tax herein levied shall be paid in addition to any and all other taxes and charges. It shall be the duty of the owner of every hotel or motel to secure said tax from the renter of the motel or hotel room and to pay over to the Finance Director or any authorized representative of his office said tax under procedures prescribed by the Finance Director, or as otherwise provided in this ordinance. (d) Every person required to collect the tax levied by this ordinance shall secure said tax from the renter at the time he collects the rental payment for the hotel or motel room. Section 28-1603. Books and Records. The Finance Director, or his authorized representative, may enter the premises of any hotel or motel for inspection and examination of records in order to effectuate the proper administration of this ordi- nance, and to assure the enforcement of the collection of the tax imposed. It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent, hinder, or interfere with the Finance Director or his authorized deputy or representative in the ' discharge of his duties in the performance of this ordinance. It shall be the duty of every owner to keep accurate and complete books and records to which the Finance Director, or his authorized representative, shall at all times have full access, which records shall include a daily sheet showing: (1) the number of hotel or motel rooms rented during the 24-hour period, including multiple rentals of the same hotel or motel room where such shall occur, and (2) the actual hotel or motel tax receipts collected for the date in question. Section 28-1604. Transmittal of Tax Revenue. (a) The owner or owners of each hotel or motel room within the City of Elgin shall file tax returns showing tax receipts received with respect to each hotel and motel room during each month commencing on and including the first day of each month on forms prescribed by the Finance Director. The returns shall be due on or before the 15th day of the succeed- ing calendar month. (b) The first taxing period for the purpose of this ordinance shall commence on January 1, 1975 and the tax return and payment for such period shall be due on or before February 15, 1975. Thereafter reporting periods and taxes shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance. At the time of filing said tax returns, the owner shall pay to the Finance Director all taxes due for the period to which the tax return applies. (c) If for any reason any tax is not paid when due, a penalty at the rate of 1% (one percent) per 30-day period, or portion thereof, from the day of deliquency shall be added and collected. (d) The Finance Director shall have the power to determine whether the owner shall file his returns on the receipts . basis (reporting, for the return period, only those receipts received during such return period) , or the gross billing basis (reporting, for the return period, all rentals billed during the return period whether collected during such return period or not) . If the owner is allowed to file his return on the gross billing basis, if a billing later turns out to be a bad debt, and is charged off on the operators book as a bad debt for Federal Income Tax purposes, the owner may take a deduction for such bad debt on his hotel or motel room tax return to the City. If such owner, after taking such bad debt deduction, should later realize a recovery thereon, he shall report and pay tax on the amount of such recovery when filing his return for the return period in which such recovery occurs. (e) Except as provided in this section, all information received by the Finance Director from returns filed under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this Act, shall be confidential, except for official purposes with the Finance Department or pursuant to official procedures for collection of any State Tax or enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or State Statute. Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the Finance Director from publishing or making available to the public the names eft and addresses of persons filing returns under this Act and the number of rooms covered in said return, or from publish- ing or making available reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the tax wherein the contents of returns are grouped into aggregates in such a way that the information contained in any individual return shall not be disclosed. The Finance Director may make available to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, or a proper official of the State of Illinois or a delegate of any other State imposing a tax upon a motel or hotel room, for exclusively official purposes, information received by the Finance Director in the administration of this Act. Section 28-1605. Collection. Whenever any person shall fail to pay any tax as herein provided, the Corporation Counsel shall, upon the request of the Finance Director, bring or cause to be brought an action to enforce the payment of said tax on behalf of the City in any Court of competent jurisdiction. Section 28-1606. Penalties. Any person found willfully guilty of failing to pay, collect, report and transmit said hotel or motel tax to the Finance Director in accordance with the terms of this ordinance shall, except when otherwise specifically $provided, upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than 200.00 nor more than $300.00 for the first offense, and not less than $300.00 nor more than $500.00 for the second and each subsequent offense in any 180-day period; provided however, that all actions seeking the impo- sition of fines only shall be filed as quasi-criminal actions subject to the provisions of the Illinois Civil Practice Act (Illinois Revised Statutes, 1973, Chapter 110, Paragraph 1, et seq.) Section 28-1607. Separability. If any provision of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby." Section 2. That this ordinance is adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Illinois State Constitution and the City of Elgin's power as a Home Rule Unit. Section 3. That this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after December 6, 1974 and shall be published in pamphlet form. s/ W. E. Rauschenberger W. E. Rauschenberger, Mayor Presented: October 23, 1974 Passed: November 26, 1974 Vote: Yeas 4 Nays 2 Recorded: November 26, 1974 Published: November 26, 1974 Attest: s/ Margaret A. Glink Margaret A. Glink, City Clerk