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There is hereby imposed a tax upon the occupancy of hotel rooms located within the city including, but not limited to, hotels owned by the state or any political subdivision of the state.
(Ord. 097-01, passed 2-4-1997; Ord. 064, passed 10-18-2007; Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014)
The tax imposed by this subchapter shall be a tax upon the consumer and shall be collected by the hotel operator as a part of the consideration paid for the occupancy of a hotel room; provided, that the tax shall not be imposed on any consumer occupying a hotel room for 30 or more consecutive days.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014; Ord. 247, passed 12-7-2017)
The rate of tax imposed by this subchapter shall be 6% of the consideration paid for the use or occupancy of the hotel room. The consideration paid for the use or occupancy of the hotel room shall not include the amount of tax imposed on the transaction under W.Va. Code §§ 11-15-1 et seq., or charges for meals, valet service, room service, telephone service or other charges or consideration not paid for the use or occupancy of a hotel room.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014)
For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CONSIDERATION PAID or CONSIDERATION. The amount received in money, credits, property or other consideration for or in exchange for the right to occupy a hotel room as herein defined.
CONSUMER. A person who pays the consideration for the use or occupancy of a hotel room. The term CONSUMER shall not be construed to mean the government of the United States of America, its agencies or instrumentalities, or the government of the state or political subdivisions thereof.
HOTEL. Any facility, building or buildings, publicly or privately owned (including a facility located in a state, county or municipal park), in which the public may, for a consideration, obtain sleeping accommodations. The term shall include, but not be limited to, boarding houses, hotels, motels, inns, courts, condominiums, lodges, cabins and tourist homes. The term HOTEL shall include state, county and city parks offering accommodations as herein set forth. The term HOTEL shall not be construed to mean any hospital, sanitarium, extended care facility, nursing home or university or college housing unit, or any facility providing fewer than three rooms in private homes, not exceeding a total of ten days in a calendar year, nor any tent, trailer or camper campsites; provided, that where a university or college housing unit provides sleeping accommodations for the general nonstudent public for a consideration, the term HOTEL shall, if otherwise applicable, apply to such accommodations for the purposes of this tax.
HOTEL OPERATOR. The person who is proprietor of a hotel, whether in the capacity of owner, lessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee, trustee in possession, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, executor or in any other capacity. Where the HOTEL OPERATOR performs his or her functions through a managing agent of any type or character other than an employee, the managing agent shall also be deemed a HOTEL OPERATOR for the purposes of this subchapter and shall have the same duties and liabilities as his or her principal. Compliance with the provisions of this subchapter by either the principal or the managing agent shall, however, be considered to be compliance by both.
HOTEL ROOM.
(1) Any room or suite of rooms or other facility affording sleeping accommodations to the general public and situated within a hotel.
(2) The term HOTEL ROOM does not include:
(a) A banquet room, meeting room or any other room not primarily used for, or in conjunction with, sleeping accommodations; or
(b) Sleeping accommodations rented on a month-to-month basis or other rental arrangement for 30 days or longer at the inception at a boarding house, condominium, cabin, tourist home, apartment or home; and
(c) Sleeping accommodations rented by a hotel operator to those persons directly employed by the hotel operator for the purposes of performing duties in support of the operation of the hotel or related operations.
PERSON. Any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, syndicate, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, receiver, corporation, guardian, trust, business trust, trustee, committee, estate, executor, administrator of any other group or combination acting as a unit.
STATE PARK. Any state-owned facility which is part of this state’s park and recreation system established pursuant to this code. For purposes of this subchapter, any recreational facility otherwise qualifying as a hotel and situated within a STATE PARK shall be deemed to be solely within the county in which the building or buildings comprising said facility are physically situated, notwithstanding the fact that the STATE PARK within which said facility is located may lie within the jurisdiction of more than one county.
TAX, TAXES or THIS TAX. The hotel occupancy tax authorized by this subchapter.
TAXPAYER. Any person liable for the tax authorized by this subchapter.
(Ord. 097-01, passed 2-4-1997; Ord. 064, passed 10-18-2007; Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014; Ord. 247, passed 12-7-2017)
(A) The consumer shall pay to the hotel operator the amount of tax imposed by this subchapter, which tax shall be added to and shall constitute a part of the consideration paid for the use and occupancy of the hotel room, and which tax shall be collectible as such by the hotel operator who shall account for, and remit to the city, all taxes paid by consumers. The hotel operator shall separately state the tax authorized by this subchapter on all bills, invoices, accounts, books of account and records relating to consideration paid for occupancy or use of a hotel room. The hotel operator may commingle taxes collected hereunder with the proceeds of the rental of hotel accommodations. All taxes collected pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter shall be deemed to be held in trust by the hotel until the same shall have been remitted to the city as hereinafter provided.
(B) A hotel or hotel operator shall not represent to the public in any manner, directly or indirectly, that it will absorb all or any part of the tax or that the tax is not to be considered an element in the price to be collected from the consumer.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014)
(A) Hotel room occupancy billed directly to the federal government shall be exempt from this tax; provided, that rooms paid for a federal government employee for which reimbursement is made shall be subject to this tax.
(B) Hotel room occupancy billed directly to this state or its political subdivisions shall be exempt from this tax; provided, that rooms paid for by an employee of this state for which reimbursement is made shall be subject to this tax.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014)
In the distribution, voluntary or compulsory, in receivership, bankruptcy or otherwise, of the property or estate of any person, all taxes due and unpaid authorized under this subchapter shall be paid from the first money available for distribution in priority to all claims and liens except taxes and debts due to the United States which under federal law are given priority over the debts and liens created by this subchapter for this tax and taxes and debts due to the state. Any person charged with the administration or distribution of any such property or estate who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be personally liable for any taxes accrued and unpaid which are chargeable against the person whose property or estate is in administration or distribution.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014)
If any hotel operator fails to collect the tax authorized by this subchapter and levied pursuant to this subchapter or shall fail to properly remit such tax to the taxing authority, he or she shall be personally liable for such amount as he or she failed to collect or remit; provided, that such hotel operator shall not be held liable for failure to collect such tax if the hotel operator can by good and substantial evidence prove the refusal of the purchaser to pay this tax despite the diligent effort in good faith of the hotel operator to collect the tax.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014) Penalty, see § 36.99
(A) A profit may not accrue to any person as a result of the collection of the tax authorized under this subchapter. Notwithstanding that the total amount of taxes collected by a hotel operator may be in excess of the amount for which a consumer would be liable by the application of the levy imposed under this subchapter for the occupancy of a hotel room or rooms, the total amount of all taxes collected by any hotel operator shall be remitted to the city as hereinafter provided.
(B) (1) The tax authorized by this subchapter shall be due and payable in monthly installments on or before the fifteenth day of the calendar month next succeeding the month in which the tax accrued; provided, that for credit sales in which the tax authorized by this subchapter is not collected by the hotel operator at the time of such sales, such tax shall not, for purposes of this subchapter, be regarded as having accrued until the date on which it is either received by the hotel operator or upon the expiration of the 30-day payment period set forth in this subchapter. The hotel operator shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, prepare and deliver to the city a return for the preceding month, in the form prescribed by the city. Each return shall be signed by the hotel operator or his or her duly authorized agent.
(2) For the first month that the tax is delinquent, there shall be assessed by the Treasurer a penalty in the amount of 10% of the tax due for the delinquent period. No payment for a subsequent period shall be collected until all prior delinquent taxes have been paid in full with all penalties assessed thereto.
(Ord. 180, passed 9-4-2014)
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