For the purpose of providing revenue with which to meet the needs of the City, for the use of the General Fund of the City, an excise tax is hereby levied on transactions by which lodging by a hotel is or is to be furnished to transient guests. The tax is three percent on all rents paid or to be paid by the transient guest for lodging. Such tax constitutes a debt owed by the transient guest to the City, which is extinguished only by payment to the operator as trustee for the City, or to the City. The tax applies and is collectible at the time the lodging is furnished regardless of the time when the price is paid.
For the purposes of the proper administration of this chapter, and to prevent the evasion of the tax, it is presumed that all lodging furnished by hotels in the City to transient guests is subject to the tax until the contrary is established.
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77; Ord. 79-125. Passed 5-7-79.)