For the purposes of this article, the term:
(a) "City" and "City Council" means the City Council of Martinsburg, West Virginia, a political subdivision of the State of West Virginia.
(b) "Commission", "County" or "County Commission" means the County Commission of Berkeley County, West Virginia, acting on behalf of Berkeley County, a political subdivision of the State of West Virginia.
(c) "Consideration paid" or "consideration" means the amount received in money, credits, property or other consideration for or in exchange for the right to occupy a hotel room as herein defined.
(d) "Consumer" means a person who pays the consideration for the use of occupancy of a hotel room. The term "consumer" shall not be construed to mean the government of the United States of America, its agencies or instrumentalities, or the government of the State of West Virginia or political subdivisions thereof.
(e) "Convention and Visitor's Bureau" and "Visitor's and Convention Bureau" are interchangeable, and either shall mean a non-stock, non-profit corporation with a full-time staff working exclusively to promote tourism and to attract conventions, conferences and visitors to the County in which such Convention and Visitor's Bureau or Visitor's and Convention is located.
(f) "Convention Center" means a convention facility owned by the State, a county, a municipality or other public entity or instrumentality and shall include all facilities, including armories, commercial, office, community service and parking facilities and publically owned facilities constructed or used for the accommodation and entertainment of tourists and visitors, constructed in conjunction with the Convention Center and forming reasonable appurtenances thereto.
(g) "Evade" means to willfully and fraudulently commit any act with the intent of depriving the City of payment of any tax which there is a know legal duty to pay.
(h) "Fraud" means any false representation or concealment as to any material fact made by any person with the knowledge that it is not true and correct, with the intention that such representation or concealment be relied upon by the City.
(i) "Hotel" means any facility, building or buildings, publicly or privately owned in which the public may, for a consideration, obtain sleeping accommodations. The term shall include, but not be limited to, boarding houses, hotels, motels, inns, courts, lodges, cabins and tourist houses. The term "hotel" shall include State, county and City parks offering accommodations as herein set forth. The term "hotel" shall not be construed to mean any hospital, sanitarium, extended care facility, nursing home or university or college housing unit or any facility providing fewer than three hotel rooms, nor any tent, trailer or camper campsites; provided, that where a university or college housing unit provides sleeping accommodations for the general nonstudent public for a consideration, the term "hotel" shall, if otherwise applicable, apply to such accommodations for the purposes of this tax.
(j) "Hotel operator" means the person who is proprietor of a hotel, whether in the capacity of owner, lessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee, trustee in possession, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, executor or in any other capacity. Where the hotel operator performs his functions through a managing agent of any type or character other than an employee, the managing agent shall also be deemed a hotel operator for the purpose of this article and shall have the same duties and liabilities as his principal. Compliance with the provisions of this article by either the principal or the managing agent shall, however, be considered to be compliance by both.
(k) "Hotel room" means any room or suite of rooms or other facility affording sleeping accommodations to the general public and situated within a hotel. The term "hotel room" shall not be construed to mean a banquet room, meeting room or any other room not primarily used for, or in conjunction with, sleeping accommodations.
(l) "Net proceeds" mean the gross amount of tax collectioned less the amount of tax lawfully refunded.
(m) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, syndicate, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, receiver, corporation, guardian, trust, business trust, trustee, committee, estate, executor, administrator, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
(n) "Promotion of the Arts" means activity to promote public appreciation and interest in one or more of the arts. It includes the promotion of music for all types, the dramatic arts, dancing, painting in the creative arts through shows, exhibits, festivals, concerts, musicals and plays.
(o) "Recreation Facilities" means and includes any public parks, parkway, playground, public recreation center, athletic field, sports arena, stadium, skating rink arena, golf course, tennis courts and other park and recreational facilities, whether of a like or different nature, that are owned by the City.
(p) "Regional Travel Council" means a non-stock, non-profit corporation, with a full-time staff working exclusively to promote tourism and to attract conventions, conferences and visitors to the region of the State served by the Regional Travel Council.
(q) "Tax", "taxes" or "this tax" means the hotel occupancy tax authorized by this article.
(r) "Taxing authority" means the Martinsburg City Council levying or imposing the tax authorized by this article.
(s) "Taxpayer" means any person liable for the tax authorized by this article.
(t) "Willfully" means the intentional violation of a known legal duty to perform any act, required to be performed by any provision of this article, in respect of which the violation occurs; provided, that the mere failure to perform any act shall not be willful violation under this article. A willful violation of the article requires that the defendant have had knowledge of or notice of a duty to perform such act, and that the defendant, with knowledge of or notice of such duty, intentionally failed to perform such act.
(Passed 4-9-87.)