Every person receiving any payment upon which a tax is levied under this chapter shall collect the amount of the tax imposed from the person making the lodging payment. The tax required to be collected under this chapter shall be deemed to be held in trust by the person required to collect the same until paid to the Director of Finance as herein provided. Any person required to collect the tax imposed under this chapter who fails to collect the same, or having collected the same, fails to remit the same to the Director of Finance in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure is the result of his or her own act or the result of acts or conditions beyond his or her control, shall nevertheless be personally liable to the City for the amount of such tax and shall, unless the remittance is made as herein required, be guilty of a violation of this chapter. The tax imposed hereunder shall be collected at the time the lodging charge is paid by the transient guest seeking lodging in a hotel or motel and shall be reported and remitted by the person receiving the tax to the Director of Finance in either twelve or thirteen annual installments and remittances therefor on or before the final day of the period next succeeding the end of the period in which the tax is collected or received. Payment or remittance of the tax collected may be made by check, unless payment or remittance is otherwise required by the Director of Finance, but payment by check shall not relieve the person collecting the tax from liability for payment and remittance of the tax to the Director of Finance unless the check is honored and is in the full and correct amount. The person receiving any payment for lodgings from a transient guest shall make out a return upon such forms and setting forth such information as the Director of Finance may require, showing the amount of the tax upon lodgings for which he or she is liable for the preceding monthly period, and shall sign and transmit the same to the Director of Finance with a remittance for such amount, provided that the Director of Finance may, in his or her discretion, require verified annual returns from any person receiving lodging payments setting forth such additional information as he or she may deem necessary to determine correctly the amount of tax collected and payable, and failure to comply with any requirement of the Director as to report and remittance of the tax as required shall be a violation of this chapter.
The books, records and accounts of any person collecting a tax herein levied shall, as to lodging and tax collections, be at all reasonable times subject to examination and audit by the Director of Finance. If the tax imposed by this chapter is not paid when due there shall be added, as part of the tax, interest at the rate of one percent per month from the time the tax became due until paid.
(Ord. 1968-121. Passed 9-10-68; Ord. 1999-83. Passed 7-27-99.)