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193.03 IMPOSITION OF TAX.
   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.)
193.04 EXEMPTIONS.
   No tax shall be imposed under this chapter:
   (a)   Upon rents not within the taxing power of the City under the Constitution or laws of Ohio or the United States;
   (b)   Upon rents paid by the State of Ohio or any of its political subdivisions.
   No exemption claimed under subsections (a) and (b) hereof shall be granted except upon a claim therefrom made at the time rent is collected and under penalty of perjury upon a form prescribed by the Auditor. All claims of exemption shall be made in the manner prescribed by the Auditor.
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77.)
193.05 PROHIBITION AGAINST FALSE EVIDENCE OF TAX EXEMPT STATUS.
   No transient guest shall refuse to pay the full and exact tax as required by this chapter or present to the operator false evidence indicating that the lodging as furnished is not subject to the tax.
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77.)
193.06 TRANSIENT GUESTS TO PAY TAX.
   The tax imposed by this chapter shall be paid by the transient guest to the operator, and each operator shall collect from the transient guest the full and exact amount of the tax payable on each taxable lodging.
   If the transaction is claimed to be exempt, the transient guest must furnish to the operator, and the operator must obtain from the transient guest a certificate specifying the reason that the sale is not reasonably subject to the tax. If no certificate is obtained, it shall be presumed the tax applies.
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77.)
193.07 TAX TO BE SEPARATELY STATED AND CHARGED.
   The tax to be collected shall be stated and charged separately from the rent and shown separately on any record thereof, at the time when the occupancy is arranged or contracted and paid for, and upon every evidence of occupancy or any bill or statement or charge made for such occupancy issued or delivered by the operator, and the tax shall be paid by the occupant to the operator as a trustee for and on account of the City, and the operator shall be liable for the collection thereof and for the tax.
   No operator of a hotel shall advertise or state in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, that the cash or any part thereof will be assumed or absolved by the operator, or that it will not be added to the rent, or that if added, any part will be refunded except as in the manner hereinafter provided.
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77.)
193.08 REGISTRATION.
   Within the thirty days after the effective date of this chapter or within thirty days after commencing business, whichever is later, each operator of any hotel renting lodging to transient guests shall register such hotel with the City Auditor and obtain from him a transient occupancy registration certificate to be at all times posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. Such certificate shall, among other things, state the following:
   (a)   The name of the operator;
   (b)   The address of the hotel;
   (c)   The date upon which the certificate was issued;
   (d)   "This transient occupancy registration certificate signifies that the person named on the face hereof has fulfilled the requirements of the hotel-motel tax ordinance by registering with the Auditor of the City of Elyria for the purpose of collecting from transient guests the hotel-motel tax and remitting said tax to the Auditor of the City of Elyria. This certificate does not constitute a permit."
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77.)
193.09 RECORDS, INSPECTION, DESTRUCTION.
   Each operator shall keep complete and accurate records of lodgings furnished, together with a record of the tax collected thereon, which shall be the amount due under this chapter, and shall keep all invoices and such other pertinent documents. If the operator furnishes lodging not subject to the tax, the operator's records shall show the identity of the transient guest if the sale was not exempted by reason of such identity, or the nature of the transaction if exempted for any other reason. Such records and other documents shall be opened during business hours to the inspection of the City Auditor and shall be preserved for a period of four years, unless the Auditor in like, consents to their destruction within that period, or by any orders requesting that such records be kept for a longer period of time.
(Ord. 77-3. Passed 1-18-77.)
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