There is hereby imposed a tax of 3% on the rent charged by an operator for providing lodging to any person after October 1, 1991. The tax shall be stated and charged separately and shall be collected by the operator from the lodger. The tax collected by the operator shall be a debt owed by the operator to the city and shall be extinguished only by payment to the city. In no case shall the tax imposed by this section upon an operator exceed the amount of tax which the operator is authorized and required by this section to collect from a lodger.
(1989 Code, § 6.32, Subd. 3)