(a) For the purpose of providing revenue toward the needs of the City, an excise tax is hereby levied on transactions by which accommodations in a hotel are or are to be furnished to transient guests. The tax shall be three percent of the rent paid or to be paid by the transient guest for the uses set forth in Section 890.02(b). The tax shall apply and be due at the time the accommodations are furnished, regardless of the time when the rent is paid.
(b) In order to insure the proper administration of this chapter and to prevent the evasion of the tax, it is hereby presumed that all accommodations furnished by hotels in this City to transient guests are subject to the tax until the contrary is established. Such tax shall constitute a debt owed by the transient guest which debt is discharged only by payment to the operator as trustee for the City. Each transient guest shall pay the tax to the operator of the hotel at the time the rent is paid. If the rent is paid in installments, a proportionate share of the tax shall be paid with each installment.
(c) If any guest should refuse to pay such tax to the operator, the operator shall immediately notify the Tax Administrator of such refusal and the Administrator may require that such transient guest pay the tax due directly to him.
(Ord. 1973-58. Passed 5-7-73; Ord. 2009-060. Passed 8-10-09.)