(A) The city will create, by ordinance, a City Tourism Commission for the promotion of these activities within the city, known as the City Tourism Commission. The Commission shall be composed of seven members who shall serve without compensation and who shall be citizens, residents and voters of the county who shall be appointed by the Mayor as follows:
(1) One Commissioner from a hotel or motel background or that possesses a particular interest in promoting tourism within the city;
(2) Two Commissioners representing local restaurants;
(3) Two Commissioners from a financial background; and
(4) Two Commissioners representing local businesses.
(B) Vacancies in the Commission shall be appointed by the Mayor. The Commissioners shall be appointed for terms of one, two and three years initially providing staggered terms for the Commission. All proceeding terms will be for three years. The Commission shall annually elect from its membership a chairperson, a secretary, and a treasurer, and may employ such personnel and make such contracts as are necessary to effectively carry out the purpose of KRS 91A.350 and 91A.360. A quorum will consist of a majority of the Commission, four of seven for conducting business. The Commission shall submit a budget to City Council at least 30 days prior to the start of the Commissioner’s fiscal year.
(C) The City Council does hereby ordain as follows.
(1) Pursuant to KRS 91A.400, there is hereby levied upon the retail sales of all food, beverage and non-alcoholic beverages by restaurants and on lodging in the city, a fee of 3% of the gross amount of all food and beverages sales as well as 4% of the gross amount of lodging sales; which shall be passed on to the customer or ultimate consumer.
(2) On or before the twentieth day of each calendar month, each restaurant and lodging owner/operator shall report to the City Clerk/Treasurer or Treasurer of the City Tourism Commission, on forms provided by the Commission. They shall report the gross sales of that restaurant/lodging facility from food and non-alcoholic beverages for the preceding calendar month and on the gross revenue of motels, hotels and other overnight establishments, and calculate the fee due for that month by computing 3% of its gross sales from food and beverages, and 4% on lodging, and the operator shall remit with the form the fee due to the City Tourism Commission. For each 1-30 day period, the report and the fee, or either, is past due, there shall be added a penalty 2% of the fee due. There is a minimum of $50 regardless of the amount of fee due, if any.
(3) (a) A lien is hereby granted unto the city upon all property, real and personal of any restaurant/lodging facility, to secure the unpaid fee receipts due from that restaurant/lodging facility, which lien shall be perfected by filing a notice of the amount due and statement of lien in the office of the County Court Clerk, describing the property on which the lien is asserted.
(b) Any person who violates this chapter or fails to comply with any of its requirements shall, on being adjudged liable thereof, be fine not less than $100, nor more than $250, and in addition shall pay all costs and expenses involved in the collection of the past due amount. Each day a violation continues shall be considered a separate civil offense. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the city from taking any other lawful action as is necessary to prevent or remedy any violation.
(4) (a) The City Tourism Commission shall only expend the money within the guidelines of KRS 91A.350 to 91A.390.
(b) The City Tourism Commission will account for all funding in an, account entitled City Tourism Commission and shall give a quarterly report, to the City Treasurer. Said reports shall also be submitted to the City Council, and Tourism Commission members within 15 days following the close
of each fiscal year quarter. The remaining account will be expended upon recommendations of the Tourism Commission.
(5) (a) A restaurant as used in this chapter is any fixed or mobile commercial establishment that engages in the preparation and serving of ready-to-eat foods in portions to the consumer, including, but not limited to: restaurants; coffee shops, cafeterias; short order cafes; luncheonettes; grilles; tea rooms; sandwich shops; soda fountains; roadside and festival stands; street vendors; catering kitchens; grocery delicatessen, convenience store delicatessen; or similar places in which food is prepared for sale for consumption on the premises or elsewhere. It does not include schools, food vending machines and establishments serving beverages only in single service or original containers.
(b) A lodging facility is defined as an establishment that accommodates overnight visitors, on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, for a charge, regardless of how the charge is characterized by the establishment and includes hotels/motels, suites, bed and breakfasts and similar transient lodging establishments.
(c) Temporary food stands, booths, street concessions and similar type operations, unless operated by nonprofit corporations, when food is prepared and sold for immediate consumption, are not exempt from this fee.
(6) No present or former employee of the City Tourism Commission or any other person including city employees or City Council members shall divulge any information acquired by him or her of the affairs of any person, or information regarding fee schedules, returns or reports required to be filed with the Tourism Commission, or any information produced by a hearing or investigation, insofar as the information may have to do with the affairs of the person’s business. This prohibition does not extend to information required in prosecutions for making false reports or any other infraction of this chapter, nor does it extend to any matter, which is in any way made a matter of public record, nor does it preclude furnishing any taxpayer or his or her properly authorized agent with information respecting his or her own report. Further, this prohibition does not preclude the Tourism Commission or any employee of the Commission from testifying in any court, or from introducing as evidence returns or reports filed with the Tourism Commission, in an action for violation of state or federal tax laws.
(7) (a) Every restaurant/lodging facility as defined in this chapter shall keep such records, receipts, invoices and other pertinent papers in such form as the Tourist Commission may require, for not less than four years from the making of such records unless the Tourism Commission in writing sooner authorizes their destruction. The Tourism Commission or the City Clerk/Treasurer may have access to all of the above records to the extent necessary to determine proper compliance with this chapter.
(b) In the event of an overpayment or incorrect payment, a request for refund will be accepted with proof of detailed overpayment and explanation. The city reserves the right to request further proof of overpayment or incorrect payment and if deemed appropriate the request that the business making such a claim take credits on further returns in lieu of a reimbursement by check. The period that the city will consider reimbursement on is limited to two years prior to the posted date of request.
(8) The license fee provided for in this section is levied, commencing on January 1, 2012. The first report and remittance of tax due from restaurant/lodging operators shall be on the February 20, 2012.
(Ord. 2013-01, passed 2-12-2013)
Statutory reference:
Additional 1% room tax, see KRS 91A.390(a) and (c)