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Commencing June 28,1999, for the purpose of providing revenue with which to meet the needs of the City for the use of the General Revenue Fund of the City, an excise tax is hereby levied on transactions by which lodging by a hotel is or is to be furnished to transient guests. The tax shall be 3% of the amount paid or to be paid by the transient guest for the lodging.
Commencing December 1, 2017, for the purpose of providing revenue for the City to promote economic development and tourism related activities, an additional 3% excise tax is hereby levied on transactions by which lodging by a hotel is or is to be furnished to transient guests pursuant to R.C. § 5739.09(B)(3). This tax shall be in addition to the 3% tax currently being levied pursuant to R.C. § 5709.02, resulting in a total aggregate tax due of 6%. The tax applies and is collectible at the time the lodging is furnished, regardless of the time when the amount owed for such lodging is paid. The tax does not apply to lodging furnished to the State or any of its political subdivisions.
For the proper administration of this chapter, and to prevent evasion of the tax, it is presumed that all lodging furnished by hotels, motels and motor inns in the City to transient guests is subject to the tax imposed by this chapter until the contrary is established.
(Ord. 108-99. Passed 6-28-99; Ord. 113-14. Passed 9-22-14; Ord. 91-17. Passed 10-23-17.)
The tax imposed by this chapter shall be paid by the transient guest to the vendor, and each vendor shall collect from the transient guest the full and exact amount of the tax payable on each taxable lodging.
If the transaction is claimed to be exempt, the transient guest must furnish to the vendor, and the vendor must obtain from the transient guest, a certificate specifying the reason that the sale is not legally subject to the tax. If no certificate is obtained, it shall be presumed that the tax applies.
(Ord. 108-99. Passed 6-28-99.)
The Finance Director shall refund to vendors the amount of taxes paid illegally or erroneously or paid on any illegal or erroneous assessment where the vendor has not reimbursed himself or herself from the transient guest. When such illegal or erroneous payment or assessment was not paid to a vendor but was paid by the transient guest directly to the Finance Director or his or her agent, the Finance Director or his or her agent shall refund the tax to the transient guest.
Applications for refund shall be filed with the Finance Director on the form prescribed by him or her, within ninety days from the date it is ascertained that the assessment or payment was illegal or erroneous. However, in any event, an application for refund must be filed with the Finance Director within four years from the date of the illegal or erroneous payment of the tax. Upon the filing of the application, the Finance Director shall determine the amount of refund due and certify the amount. The Finance Director shall draw a warrant for such certified amount to the person claiming such refund, and the Finance Director shall make such payments from the General Fund.
(Ord. 108-99. Passed 6-28-99.)
Each vendor shall keep complete and accurate records of lodging furnished, together with a record of the tax collected thereon, which shall be the amount due under this chapter, and shall keep all invoices and other pertinent documents. If the vendor furnishes lodging not subject to the tax, the vendor's records shall show the identity of the transient guest, if the sale was exempted by reason of such identity, or the nature of the transaction, if exempted for any other reason. Such records and other documents shall be opened during business hours to the inspection of the Finance Director and shall be preserved for a period of four years, unless the Finance Director, in writing, consents to their destruction within that period, or by order requires that they be kept longer.
(Ord. 108-99. Passed 6-28-99.)
Each vendor shall, on or before the twentieth day of each month, make and file an excise tax return for the preceding month, on forms prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, showing the receipts from furnishing lodging, the amount of tax due from the vendor to the City for the period covered by the return and such other information as the Finance Director believes necessary for the proper administration of this chapter. The Finance Director may extend the time for making and filing returns. Returns shall be filed by mailing them to the Finance Director, together with payment of the amount of tax shown to be due thereon.
The Finance Director may authorize vendors whose tax liability is not such as to merit monthly returns, as determined by the Finance Director upon the basis of administrative costs to the City, to make and file returns at less frequent intervals. Such authorization shall be in writing and shall indicate the intervals at which returns are to be filed.
The Finance Director shall stamp or otherwise mark on each return the date such return is received by him or her and shall also show thereon, by stamp or otherwise, the amount of payment received with the return. Any vendor who fails to file a return under this chapter shall, for each day such failure occurs or continues, forfeit and pay into the City Treasury the sum of one dollar ($1.00).
The Finance Director, if he or she deems it necessary in order to insure the payment of the tax imposed by this chapter, may require returns and payment to be made for other than monthly periods. The return shall be signed by the vendor or the vendor's authorized agent.
(Ord. 108-99. Passed 6-28-99.)
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