(A) Imposed. The city hereby adopts the provisions of ILCS Ch. 65, Act 5, § 8-3-14, as amended, and imposes a tax upon all persons engaged within the city in the business of renting, leasing, or letting rooms in a hotel, as defined in the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Act, being ILCS Ch. 35, Act 145, §§ 1 et seq., at a rate of 4% of the gross rental receipts from that renting, leasing, or letting, excluding, however, from gross rental receipts, the proceeds of the renting, leasing, or letting to permanent residents of each hotel, this tax to be administered and collected in accordance with the following:
(1983 Code, § 20-151)
(B) Definitions. All terms used in this section shall have the meaning as defined in the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Act, ILCS Ch. 35, Act 145, §§ 1 et seq., as applicable and as the same shall be in force and effect from time to time.
(1983 Code, § 20-152)
(C) Tax constituting separate charge. Those persons subject to the tax imposed by this section may reimburse themselves for their tax liability for the tax by separately stating the tax as an additional charge, which charge may be stated in combination, in a single amount, with the state tax imposed under the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Act heretofore cited.
(1983 Code, § 20-153)
(D) Exemptions from tax. Gross rental receipts from the renting, leasing, or letting rooms in a hotel only to permanent residents shall be exempt from the provisions of this section, and persons subject to the tax imposed hereby shall be entitled to exclude from gross rental receipts, for the purpose of computing the tax imposed hereby, that portion of the proceeds arising from renting, leasing, or letting to permanent residents of the hotel operated by the person.
(1983 Code, § 20-154)
(E) Use of proceeds. The city shall expend the tax collected pursuant to this section solely to promote tourism and conventions within the city and, otherwise, to attract non-resident, overnight visitors to the city, and no tax collected pursuant to this section shall be used to advertise for or otherwise to promote new competition in the hotel business within the city. One-half of 1% of the tax shall be devoted to the purchase of interior furnishings for the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center, located in Litchfield, for a period of four years. After a period of four years, the one-half of 1% of the tax will return to the regular fund to use solely to promote tourism and conventions within the city and otherwise to attract non-resident, overnight visitors to the city.
(1983 Code, § 20-155)
(F) Books and records. Every person subject to the tax imposed by this section shall keep separate books and records of his or her business as an operator so as to show the rents and occupancies taxable under this section separately from his or her transactions not taxable hereunder. If any operator fails to keep these separate books or records, he or she shall be liable to tax at the rate designated herein upon the entire gross proceeds from the operation of his or her hotel.
(1983 Code, § 20-156)
(G) Registration. Every person engaged within the city in the business of renting, leasing, or letting rooms in a hotel, so as to be subject to the tax imposed hereby, shall register his or her operation in the office of the City Clerk upon a registration form to be adopted and prescribed by the city, which form shall include that information as shall be reasonably necessary in order to issue collection and enforcement of the tax imposed by this section.
(1983 Code, § 20-157)
(H) Tax returns. Each person required to be registered hereunder and subject to the tax imposed by this section shall, on or before the last day of each calendar month, file with the City Clerk a copy of the tax return filed by that person with the State Department of Revenue pursuant to the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Act hereinabove cited, for the preceding calendar month, together with a copy of the return filed with the state for that period. In the event any person required to file a return hereunder shall not be required to file a monthly return with the State Department of Revenue pursuant to the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Act as heretofore cited, that person shall, upon substantiation of the required filing frequency of the state return, be entitled to file the tax returns due pursuant to this section upon the same frequency and for the same period as the state return is required to be filed by that person, with the prior approval of the City Council.
(1983 Code, § 20-158)
(I) Payment of tax. The tax due pursuant to this section shall be due and payable on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the date the tax return showing the tax liability is filed with the City Clerk and shall be paid to the City Clerk together with any interest and penalty due, and the City Clerk shall deposit the funds so collected into a separate fund to be designated “Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Fund.”
(1983 Code, § 20-159)
(J) Interest and penalties. If the tax due pursuant to this section is not paid on or before the due date of the return required to be filed by the person responsible for the payment of the tax, that person shall, in addition to the tax, be liable for a penalty equal to 1.5% of the tax due for each month, or part thereof, until the tax and penalty is paid in full. The penalty imposed hereby shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as the tax imposed under this section.
(1983 Code, § 20-160)
(K) Penalties for late filing. Any person responsible for filing a tax return and paying tax pursuant to this section who shall fail to file the required tax return on or before the due date thereof, whether or not the tax is paid therewith, shall be liable for a penalty in the amount of $10 per day for each day that the tax return is late, and each day shall constitute a separate offense for purposes hereof.
(1983 Code, § 20-161)
(L) Compliance. All returns required to be filed hereunder shall be executed by the proprietor, a general partner, or an authorized corporate officer and shall be made under penalties of perjury. Any person willfully filing a return containing false or inaccurate information shall be guilty of perjury and of a violation of this section, and shall be subject to the fine imposed for violations of this section in addition.
(1983 Code, § 20-162)
(M) Audits. The city, through its designated agent or officer, shall have the right, at reasonable times after reasonable notice, to examine all books and records maintained by the person registered or required to be registered under this section, including, but not limited to, general accounting records, bank records, returns required to be filed under the Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Act heretofore cited, state and federal income tax returns, and any other books, records, or documents which are relevant in the determination and confirmation of the full and accurate reporting of gross receipts on which tax is imposed by this section, the entitlement to any exemptions claimed, and the payment of the full tax due pursuant to this section.
(1983 Code, § 20-163)
(N) Lien imposed. At any time after an assessment and demand for payment of any tax interest or penalty due pursuant to this section is made against any person, the city may file a notice of lien for that tax, in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of the Montgomery County, Illinois, or any other county in which the person responsible for the payment of tax resides or has property, and a lien shall attach to all property owned by the person in that county and shall continue in effect for a period of 7 years after filing and may be foreclosed in the manner of a judicial lien. The remedy of imposing a lien hereunder shall be in addition to all other remedies available to the city to collect the tax, interest, and penalty due, including civil actions.
(1983 Code, § 20-165)
(Ord. 2834, passed 4-8-1999; Am. Ord. 3359, passed 12-4-2012) Penalty, see § 39.99
Statutory reference:
Authority to impose, see ILCS Ch. 65, Act 5, § 8-11-1