(a) For the purpose of providing funds for general municipal operations, procurement of fixed assets or permanent improvements, payment of debt charges, the elimination of deficits in City funds, contributions for recreational, cultural, and extracurricular programs in the Cleveland Public Schools, and for all other lawful purposes, an excise tax is hereby imposed upon the privilege of leasing motor vehicles within the City to a lessee. Such tax shall be imposed upon the lessor and shall be in the amount of three dollars ($3.00) per vehicle per rental period for any lease entered into or renewed after April 1, 1991 and before April 1, 1992; four dollars ($4.00) per vehicle per rental period for any lease for which the total lease amount exceeds sixteen dollars ($16.00) entered into or renewed after April 1, 1992, and before August 1, 1995; and six dollars ($6.00) per vehicle per lease for which the total lease amount exceeds twenty- five dollars ($25.00) for any lease entered into or renewed on or after August 1, 1995. The lessor shall not divide a transaction into multiple leases to avoid tax liability under this division.
(b) Any tax herein imposed is in addition to any other taxes authorized by law.
(c) The lessor shall be required to pay this tax to the Commissioner as provided in division (e) of this section. The lessor shall be allowed to pass this tax along to his or her lessees as a separate charge on his or her rental bills or invoices.
(d) This tax shall not apply to any lessor who is a governmental body; nor shall it apply to any lessor upon whom the imposition of the tax would violate the United States Constitution or the Constitution of the State of Ohio; nor shall it apply to the lease of limousines for hire or public hacks.
(e) Except as provided herein, the lessor shall pay this tax on a monthly basis, with the tax due on motor vehicles leased within the month by the last day of the following month. A remittance return shall accompany each monthly payment. The format of such remittance return shall be prescribed by the Commissioner, and such return shall include the number of motor vehicles leased within that month and any other reasonable information the Commissioner deems necessary. The remittance returns shall be filed and signed by the Lessor under penalty as provided in Section 198.99 of this chapter. If in the second quarter of a given calendar year, the lessor’s tax liability pursuant to this division averages less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per month, then the lessor may, at the lessor’s option, in lieu of filing monthly tax returns and making monthly tax remittances, pay in each of the three (3) subsequent quarters an amount equal to the tax liability in the second quarter. A remittance form prescribed by the Commission, with requirements similar to the monthly remittance return referred to above, shall be signed and filed by the lessor with his or her annual payment.
(Ord. No. 1025-A-95. Passed 6-29-95, eff. 6-29-95)