(A) There is levied and imposed a tax of seven percent (7%) of the Gross Rent charged for the privilege and use of renting a Hotel room within the City for each 24-hour period or any portion thereof for which a room charge is made.
(B) Lessors renting or leasing Hotel rooms within the City are required to collect the Hotel Use Tax; however, the ultimate incidence of any liability for payment of the tax is to be borne by the Lessee.
(C) The tax herein levied shall be paid in addition to any and all other taxes and charges. It shall be the duty of every Lessor of every Hotel within the City to collect the tax from the Lessee at the time the Lessee pays for the privilege of occupying all or part of a Hotel Transient Occupancy Rental Unit, and to remit to the City the tax under procedures provided for in this chapter or otherwise prescribed by the City. If more than one Person is the Lessor as related to a particular transaction, the Lessors are jointly and severally responsible for collecting and remitting the tax. Taxes shall be remitted to the City Comptroller under procedures prescribed by the city comptroller or as otherwise provided in this subchapter.
(D) Every person required to collect the tax levied by this subchapter shall secure said tax from the renter at the time he collects the rental payment for the hotel room or motel room. It shall be the duty of every Lessor of every Hotel within the City to separately state such tax at the seven percent (7%) rate upon the total amount of compensation charged for the use of the Hotel. The Lessor shall also state separately the amount of tax on the invoice for the transaction that will be tendered to the Lessee.
(E) Exemption. Accommodations within said buildings or structures which are leased to the same occupant for a period of more than 30 consecutive days shall be exempt from the tax provisions of this subchapter. The owner of the location seeking the exemption shall provide documentary support for any claim of exemption, which shall be filed with the return for the month in which such exemption is claimed.
(F) It shall not be a defense to this subchapter that the Lessor is not licensed by the City to rent Hotels and the Lessor will still be required to remit the proper tax to the City.
(Ord. 6699, passed 9-20-79; amend. Ord. 8069, passed 1-18-00; amend. Ord. 8366, passed 5-18-04; Am. Ord. 8492, passed 8-1-06; Am. Ord. 9199, passed 4-16-19; Am. Ord. 9284, passed 10-6-20)