G55-74 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.
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(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