(a) No person shall engage in retail sales or distribution of tobacco products within the City without a valid permit issued by the City or its permitting agent.
(b) The following items shall be required in applying for a permit, or renewing a permit under this section:
(1) A valid vendor's license from the Ohio Department of Taxation;
(2) If applicable, a license required by R.C. Chapter 5743;
(3) The location where the permit applicant proposes to engage in retail sales of tobacco products;
(4) A nonrefundable permit administration fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00); and
(5) Such other information as determined by the City or its permitting agent to be necessary to administer the permitting system provided herein and to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
(c) A permit granted under this section shall be valid from the date of issuance until December 31 of the year of issuance.
(d) Permit administration fees, reinstatement fees, and civil penalties collected in administering this chapter may be collected by the City or its permitting agent and shall be credited to the City's General Fund to defray the costs of administration and enforcement of this chapter. Alternatively, the City and its permitting agent may agree that the permitting agent will retain all or a portion of the fees as compensation for its services as the permitting agent.
(e) For purposes of this section, "valid permit" means a permit issued under this section that has not expired, that is not within a period of suspension or failure-to-reinstate status, and that has not been revoked under this chapter or any provision of applicable law.
(f) A separate permit shall be required for each retail sales location regardless of whether or not a person owns or operates more than one retail sales location within the City.
(g) A penalty equal to 25 percent of the applicable permit fee shall be assessed and collected by the City or its permitting agent for permit fee renewal payments that are not received or postmarked by the first of January.
(Ord. 11122-2019. Passed 10-15-19.)