SECTION 10.01. GENERAL POWER TO LEVY TAXES. Subject to provisions of general law, the board shall have and is hereby given the power to levy taxes for all corporate purposes upon all taxable property, real, personal and mixed, and privileges within the limits of the Town, and be it further enacted, that the board shall have the power to license, tax and regulate everything licensed, taxed and regulated by the state and/or county.
SECTION 10.02. ASSESSMENT AND LEVY. The principles established for state and county taxation shall be used to assess for taxation all property within the Town not exempt by general law. Assessments made by the Shelby County Tax Assessor may be adopted by the Town or assessments may be made by the Town in accordance with applicable law.
SECTION 10.03. PENALTIES AND INTEREST ON DELINQUENT TAXES. The Town shall establish due and delinquent dates for payment of property taxes and shall be allowed to assess the same penalties and collect the same rate of interest on delinquent taxes which may be due the municipality as are now or may hereafter be assessed and/or collected by the County of Shelby. Taxes shall be due on December 1st of each year, and declared delinquent if not paid in full on or before March 1 of the following year.
SECTION 10.05. INSTITUTION OF SUITS TO ENFORCE TAX LIENS. Before March 1 of the second year following the year for which assessed, the town administrator shall certify to the town attorney the list of all real estate upon which municipal taxes remain due and unpaid or which is liable for sale for other taxes and assessments; and the attorney shall proceed at once to file or cause to be filed suits in the appropriate court for the collection of such taxes, assessments, penalties, and interest and enforcement of tax liens. Upon the filing of suit, an additional penalty established by the board shall accrue upon all delinquent taxes as attorney’s fees. Suits may be filed, prosecuted and the land sold in the same manner as for the enforcement of tax liens for delinquent county taxes, or as otherwise provided by state law.
SECTION 10.07. COLLECTION OF DELINQUENT PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES. All taxes delinquent for thirty (30) days may be collected by distress warrants, by the sale of personal property, and by any other judicially accepted means. The delinquent tax list in the hands of the collector shall have the force and effect of a judgment and execution from a court of record.
SECTION A. As used in this section unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Consideration” means the consideration charged, whether or not received, for the occupancy in a hotel valued in money whether to be received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, property and services of any kind or nature without any deduction therefrom whatsoever. Nothing in this definition shall be construed to imply that consideration is charged when the space provided to the person is complimentary from the operator and no consideration is charged to, or received from, any person.
(2) “Finance director” means the finance director of the Town of Collierville, Tennessee.
(3) “Hotel” means any structure or space, or any portion thereof, which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, and includes any hotel, inn, tourist camp, tourist court, tourist cabin, motel or any place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are furnished to transients for a consideration.
(4) “Occupancy” means the use or possession, or the right to the use or possession, of any room, lodgings or accommodations in any hotel.
(5) “Operator” means the person operating the hotel whether as owner, lessee or otherwise.
(6) “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
(7) “Transient” means any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy for any rooms, lodgings or accommodations in a hotel for a period of less than thirty (30) continuous days.
SECTION B. The board of the Town is authorized to levy by ordinance and collect a privilege tax upon the privilege of occupancy in any hotel of each transient in any amount to be set by ordinance by the Town of up to five percent (5%) of the consideration charged by the operator. Such tax is a privilege tax upon the transient occupying such room and is to be collected as provided in this charter.
SECTION C.
(1) Such tax shall be added by each and every operator to each invoice prepared by the operator for the occupancy of the hotel and given directly or transmitted to the transient for the occupancy in the operator’s hotel. Such tax shall be collected by such operator from the transient and remitted to the Town.
(2) When a person has maintained occupancy for thirty (30) continuous days, that person shall receive from the operator a refund or credit for the tax previously collected from, or charged to, the transient, and the operator shall receive credit for the amount of such tax if previously paid or reported to the Town.
SECTION D.
(1) The tax hereby levied shall be remitted to the finance director or his designee by all operators who lease, rent or charge for any rooms, lodgings, spaces or accommodations in hotels within the Town which finance director shall be charged by ordinance of the Town with the duty of collection thereof, such tax to be remitted to such officer not later than the twentieth (20th) day of each month for the preceding month. The operator is required to collect the tax from the transient at the time of the presentation of the invoice for such occupancy whether prior to occupancy or after occupancy as may be the custom of the operator, and if credit is granted by the operator to the transient, then the obligation to the Town for such tax shall be that of the operator.
(2) For the purpose of compensating the operator for remitting the tax authorized and levied pursuant hereto and the related ordinances of the Town, the operator shall be allowed two percent (2%) of the amount of the tax due and accounted for and remitted to the Town in the form of a deduction in submitting the report and paying the amount due by such operator, provided the amount due was not delinquent at the time of payment.
SECTION E. The finance director shall be responsible for the collection of such tax and shall place the proceeds of such tax in such accounts as provided in the ordinance of the Town adopted under the authority hereof. A monthly tax return shall be filed under oath with the finance director by the operator with such number of copies thereof as the finance director may reasonably require for the collection of such tax, The report of the operator shall include such facts and information as may be deemed reasonable for the verification of the tax due. The form of such report shall be developed and furnished by the finance director and approved by the board prior to use. The finance director shall audit each operator in the town at least once a year and shall report on the audits to the board. The board is hereby authorized to adopt reasonable rules and regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this act.
SECTION F. No operator of a hotel shall advertise or state in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, that the tax or any part thereof will be assumed or absorbed by the operator or that it will not be added to the rent, or that if added, any part will be refunded.
SECTION G. Taxes collected by an operator which are not remitted to the finance director on or before the due dates are delinquent. An operator is liable for interest on such delinquent taxes from the due date at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum, and is liable for an additional penalty of one percent (1%) for each month or fraction thereof such taxes are delinquent. Such interest and penalty shall become a part of the tax herein required to be remitted. Each occurrence of willful refusal of an operator to collect or remit the tax or willful refusal of a transient to pay the tax imposed is unlawful and shall be punishable by a civil penalty not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00). In addition, it is unlawful for any operator to knowingly file a false tax return and a violation shall be punishable by a civil penalty not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00).
SECTION H. It is the duty of every operator liable for the collection and payment to the Town of any tax imposed by this charter to keep and preserve for a period of three (3) years all records necessary to determine the amount of such tax due for which he or she may have been liable for the collection of, and payment to, the Town, which records the finance director, his designee or any accounting firm or accountant employed by the Town, shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.
SECTION I.
(1) The finance director in administering and enforcing the provisions of this charter and any ordinance adopted pursuant hereto shall have as additional powers, those powers and duties with respect to the collecting taxes as provided in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 67 or otherwise provided by law for the county clerks and/or municipal officers.
(2) Upon any claim of illegal assessment and collection, the taxpayer has the remedies provided in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 67, Chapter 23, it being the intent of this charter that the provisions of law which apply to the recovery of state taxes illegally assessed and collected shall also apply to taxes illegally assessed and collected under the authority of this charter. The finance director shall possess those powers and duties as provided in Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-1-707, for county clerks applicable to adjustments and refunds of such tax.
(3) With respect to the adjustment and settlement with taxpayers, all errors of taxes collected by the finance director under authority of this charter shall be refunded by the Town.
(4) Notice of any tax paid under protest shall be given to the finance director and the ordinance authorizing levy of the tax shall designate a municipal officer against whom suit may be brought for recovery.
SECTION J. The proceeds of the tax authorized by this charter shall be allocated to such funds as the board shall direct.
SECTION A. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Building permit” means a permit for development issued by the Town for construction of a building within the municipal limits;
(2) “Certificate of occupancy” means a license for occupancy of a building or structure issued in the Town;
(3) “Commercial and office building” means any structure built for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, chattels or movable property of any kind for commercial purposes or to provide office space; the term includes a mobile home;
(4) “Development” means the construction, building, reconstruction, erection, extension, betterment or improvement of land providing a building or structure or the addition to any building or structure, or any part thereof, which provides, adds to, or increases, the floor area of a commercial or office building of a non-residential use;
(5) “Floor area” means the total of the gross horizontal area of all floors, including usable basements and cellars, below the roof and within the outer surface of the main walls of principal or accessory buildings or the center lines of party walls separating such buildings or portions thereof, or within lines drawn parallel to and two (2) feet within the roof line of any building or portions thereof without walls, but excluding arcades, porticos and similar open areas which are accessible to the general public, and which are not designed or used as sales, display, storage, service, production or office areas;
(6) “Governing body” means the board of the Town;
(7) “Historic preservation program” means proposed schedule of future projects in the Town Square Business District, listed in order of construction priority, together with cost estimates and the anticipated means of financing each project approved by the board;
(8) “Non-residential” means the development of any property for any use other than residential use, except as may be exempted by this act;
(9) “Person” means any individual, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or other group or combination acting as a unit, in the plural as well as the singular number;
(10) “Place of worship” means that portion of a building owned by a religious institution which has tax-exempt status, which is used for worship services and related functions; provided, however, that a place of worship does not include buildings or portions of buildings which are used for purposes other than for worship and related functions or which are or are intended to be leased, rented or used by persons who do not have tax-exempt status;
(11) “Public buildings” means a building owned by the state of Tennessee or any agency thereof, a political subdivision of the state of Tennessee, including, but not necessarily limited to, counties, cities, school districts and special districts, or the federal government or any agency thereof; and
(12) “Residential” means the development of any property for a dwelling unit or units.
SECTION B. It is the intent and purpose of this section to authorize the town to impose a tax on new commercial and office development within the corporate limits, but outside the Historic Town Square business district, to be payable at the time of issuance of a building permit or certificate of occupancy so as to ensure and require that the persons responsible for new development share in the burdens of growth by paying their fair share of the costs of maintaining, improving and developing the Historic Town Square made necessary by such development.
SECTION C. Engaging in the act of commercial and office development within Collierville, except as provided in Section E herein, is declared to be a privilege upon which Collierville may, by ordinance of the governing body, levy a tax in an amount not to exceed the rate set forth in Section F.
SECTION D. The board shall impose the tax authorized herein by ordinance after adopting a Historic Town Square capital improvements program indicating the need for, and the cost, for the projects anticipated to be funded, in part, by this tax and after finding that the need for such projects is reasonably related to new commercial and office development in the Town. The ordinance of the board imposing this tax shall state the rate to be applied on new commercial and office development. The governing body shall, by ordinance, adopt administrative guidelines, procedures, policies, regulations, forms and an appellate review process necessary to properly implement, administer and enforce the provisions of this section.
SECTION E. The provisions of Section 10.09 shall not apply to development of:
(1) Residential structures;
(2) Industrial buildings;
(3) Buildings used for agricultural purposes;
(4) Public buildings; and
(5) Places of worship.
SECTION F. For the exercise of the privilege described herein, Collierville may impose a tax on new commercial and office development not to exceed fifty cents ($0.50) per gross square foot of development. The Town may develop a tax rate schedule by which commercial and office building uses are classified by type for the purpose of imposition of the tax authorized herein.
SECTION G. The tax established by this section shall be collected at the time of application for a building permit for development as herein defined or, if a building permit is not required, at the time of application for a certificate of occupancy by the official duly authorized in such jurisdiction to issue building permits or certificates of occupancy. The Town shall, before issuance of a building permit or certificate of occupancy, receive payment in cash or by negotiable instrument payable to the municipality. No building permit for development as herein defined, or certificate of occupancy, if no building permit is required, shall be issued in Collierville unless the tax has been paid in full or a negotiable instrument payable to the Town has been received.
SECTION H. All funds collected by the imposition of the tax shall be used for the purpose of preserving, maintaining, improving and developing public facilities and promoting private redevelopment within the Historic Town Square of Collierville, the need for which is reasonably related to new commercial and office development within the corporate limits of Collierville.
SECTION I. The authority to impose this tax on new commercial and office development in the Town is in addition to all other authority to impose taxes, fees, assessments or other revenue-raising or land development regulatory measures granted either by the private or public acts of the state of Tennessee and the imposition of such tax, in addition to any other authorized tax, fee, assessment or charge, shall not be deemed to constitute double taxation.
SECTION J. The provisions of this section shall in no manner repeal, modify or interfere with the authority granted by any other public or private law applicable to the Town. This section shall be deemed to create an additional and alternative method for Collierville to impose or collect taxes for the purpose stated herein made necessary by new commercial and office development within the municipality.