(a) The assessor-collector shall refer any hotel occupancy tax account that has a balance that is more than 90 days past due to the city attorney, or other attorney acting for the city, to institute collection proceedings. The city attorney, or other attorney acting for the city, shall be authorized by this ordinance to file suit to enjoin the hotel owner, operator, manager and other persons in control from operating any hotel in the City of Fort Worth until the tax is remitted in full and/or the report is filed, as applicable, as provided in the court’s order. In the event collection proceedings are instituted under this provision, in addition to the amount of any tax and/or penalty owed under this article, the person is liable to the city for:
(1) The city’s reasonable attorney’s fees;
(2) The costs of an audit conducted under § 32-20, as determined by the city using a reasonable rate, but only if:
a. The tax is at least two complete fiscal quarters past due at the time the audit is conducted; and
b. The city has not received a disbursement from the comptroller as provided by Tex. Tax Code § 156.2513 related to the person’s concurrent state tax delinquency described by Tex. Tax Code § 351.008.
(3) A penalty equal to 15% of the total amount of the tax owed if the tax has not been remitted for at least one complete municipal fiscal quarter after its due date.
(b) The remedies provided by this section are in addition to other available remedies.
(Ord. 13245, § 3, passed 11-18-1997; Ord. 20486-11-2012, § 6, passed 11-6-2012)
Editor’s note:
This section was designated as § 32-22 when enacted by Ord. 13245. It was redesignated by the editor in order to avoid conflicting with previously existing material. The section was subsequently amended under its current section number, as shown in the history note above.