A. For the purpose of this chapter, whenever any of the following words, terms or definitions are used herein, they shall have the meaning ascribed in this section:
1. "City" means the City of Chicago.
2. "Comptroller" means the comptroller of the City of Chicago.
3. "Department" means the department of finance of the City of Chicago.
3.5. "Gross rental or leasing charge" means the gross amount of consideration for the use or privilege of using hotel accommodations in the City of Chicago, valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including cash, credits, property and services, determined without any deduction for costs or expenses whatsoever. The term "gross rental or leasing charge" includes any and all charges that the lessee or tenant pays incidental to obtaining the use or privilege of using hotel accommodations, including but not limited to any and all related markups, service fees, convenience fees, facilitation fees, cancellation fees, late departure fees and other such charges, regardless of terminology. The term "gross rental or leasing charge" does not include charges that are added to the charge or fee on account of the tax imposed by this chapter or on account of any other tax imposed on the charge or fee. The term "gross rental or leasing charge" shall exclude separately stated optional charges not for the use or privilege of using hotel accommodations. The fact that the lessee or tenant could have avoided the charge by obtaining the use or privilege from or through a different owner, manager or operator, pursuant to different terms, or through a course of performance that would have avoided the obligation to pay the charge, does not make the charge "optional".
4. "Hotel accommodations" means a room or rooms in any building or structure kept, used or maintained as or advertised or held out to the public to be an inn, motel, hotel, apartment hotel, lodging house, bed-and-breakfast establishment, vacation rental as defined in Section 4-6-300, shared housing unit as defined in Section 4-14-010, dormitory or similar place, where sleeping, rooming, office, conference or exhibition accommodations are furnished for lease or rent, whether with or without meals.
5. "Operator" means any person who rents or leases hotel accommodations to the public for consideration or who, directly or through an agreement or arrangement with another party, collects the price, charge or rent paid for the rental or lease of hotel accommodations. This term includes, but is not limited to, persons engaged in the business of selling or reselling to the public the right to occupy hotel accommodations, whether on-line, in person or otherwise. The term also includes persons engaged in the business of facilitating the rental or lease of hotel accommodations for consideration, whether on-line, in person or otherwise. The term does not include banks, credit card companies, payment processors or other persons whose involvement is limited to performing functions similar to those performed by such entities.
6. "Person" means any natural person, receiver, administrator, executor, conservator, assignee, trust in perpetuity, trust, estate, firm, copartnership, joint venture, club, company, business trust, domestic or foreign corporation, association, syndicate, society, or any group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit, or otherwise. Whenever the term "person" is used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, the term as applied to associations shall mean that the owners or part-owners thereof, and as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
B. Construction. In this chapter, unless the text otherwise requires, words in the singular number include the plural and in the plural include the singular; words of the masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter; and when the sense so indicates, words in the neuter gender may refer to any gender.
(Prior code § 200.2-1; Amend Coun. J. 7-27-88, p. 15757; Amend Coun. J. 2-5-03, p. 102784, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 9-4-03, p. 7118, § 20; Amend Coun. J. 11-13-07, p. 15814, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-17-10, p. 107294, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. I, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 5-9-12, p. 27485, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 11-8-12, p. 38872, § 34; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-14, p. 98063, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-22-16, p. 27712, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61858, Art. II, § 2)