(A) All occupation taxes, except those relating to retail business in the Enhanced Employment Area (EEA), hotel accommodations, alcoholic liquors, gas service companies or telephone companies, and those where the taxes are levied daily, shall be due and payable on December 1 of each year. Occupation taxes relating to alcoholic liquors shall be due on the same date the liquor license fee is due to the state each year, and no state liquor license shall be delivered to the licensee until the city occupation tax is paid. Upon the payment of the tax by any person to the City Clerk, the Clerk shall give a receipt which is properly dated and specifies the person paying the tax and the amount paid. The revenue collected shall then be immediately deposited into the General Fund by the City Treasurer; revenue collected on hotel accommodations shall be used by the city to assist the city in constructing and operating a visitors center promoting the city’s railroad heritage until 12:00 a.m. (midnight) February 17, 2029, after which time the same shall be deposited into the General Fund of the city, and the retail business occupation tax in the Enhanced Employment Area (EEA) shall terminate and collection of the tax shall cease upon the earlier of: (1) payment in full of all indebtedness issued by the North Platte Community Redevelopment Authority pursuant to the provisions of Neb. RS 18-2142.04 of the Act, for which such occupation tax receipts have been pledged being the Enhanced Employment Area Occupation Tax Revenue Bond, North Platte Mall Rehabilitation Project as described in the Redevelopment Contract; or, (2) December 31, 2041. The City Treasurer shall keep an accurate account of all revenue turned over to him or her. All forms and receipts mentioned in this section shall be issued in duplicate and an annual report be given by the recipients of the fund to the City Council at the last Council meeting of February of each year. One copy shall be kept by each party in the transaction.
(B) If any occupation tax is not paid within 30 days after the tax shall become due, it shall be considered delinquent and a penalty shall be added to the tax in an amount equal to 10% of the tax. This increased amount is to be collected in the same manner as the original tax. If the tax and assessed penalty are not paid within 60 days after they shall become due, the city may proceed to recover both the tax and penalty through civil action.
(C) Occupation taxes paid by the gas service companies and telephone companies shall be paid quarterly within 1 month after the end of each calendar quarter. Each occupation tax payment shall include a summary of revenues for the period classified.
(D) For the purposes of administering the occupation tax on hotel accommodations, the following shall apply.
(1) “Hotel” defined. HOTEL shall mean any facility in which the public may, for a consideration, obtain sleeping accommodations in any space ordinarily used for accommodations. The term shall include hotels, motels, tourist hotels, campgrounds, courts, lodging houses, inns and non- profit hotels; but HOTEL shall not be defined so as to include hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, chronic care centers or dormitories or facilities operated by an education institution and regularly used to house students.
(2) “Occupied room” defined; exceptions.
(a) OCCUPIED ROOM shall mean any space ordinarily used for sleeping accommodations and for which any occupant has, for consideration, obtained the use or possession, or the right to use or possess, for a period not to exceed 30 continuous days. The term shall include camping space, trailer space or recreational vehicle space. The term does not include a function room such as a ballroom, banquet room, reception room or meeting room, provided it is not used as temporary sleeping accommodations.
(b) The term
OCCUPIED ROOM shall not mean, and no tax imposed by this subchapter shall be measured by or collected for:
1. Complimentary or other sleeping accommodations for which no consideration is charged; and/or
2. Sleeping accommodations for which the consideration is paid by a person not subject to the sales and use tax imposed by the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967, as it is amended from time to time.
(3) Collection of taxes. Tax imposed on hotel accommodations may be collected by the hotel operator from the occupant of each room to which the tax applies and shall be due and payable to the city on the first day of each calendar month next succeeding the month during which the room was occupied. The tax may be shown as an add-on to the charge for occupancy of the rooms and shall be collectable at the time the lodging is furnished regardless of when the charge for the occupancy is paid. The operator shall remain responsible for payment of all taxes imposed whether or not the taxes are actually collected from the guests.
(4) Records. It shall be unlawful for any hotel operator subject to this subchapter to fail to maintain or fail to make available to the city, upon 72 hours notice, written records accurately and completely evidencing the number of rooms occupied, the dates the rooms are occupied, the amount of occupation tax due or paid under this subchapter, and such other information required by the Director of Finance and administration. The records shall be maintained for a period of 3 years after the occupation tax is due.
(E) For the purposes of administering the retail business occupation tax in the Enhanced Employment Area (EEA), the following shall apply:
(1) Findings and determinations. The Mayor and Council of the City of North Platte, Nebraska (the "city") hereby find and determine as follows:
(a) Pursuant to Neb. RS 18-2142.02 and the Community Development Law, as amended (the "Act"), the City of North Platte will enter into an Enhanced Employment Area Redevelopment Contract (the "Redevelopment Contract") with North Platte Mall, L.L.C., a Nebraska limited liability company and the North Platte Community Redevelopment Authority, which in part: (1) provides for the improvement of a commercial shopping center (the "Redevelopment Project") in the Enhanced Employment Area as shown in division (E)(14); and (2) designates such area as an "enhanced employment area" as defined in Neb. RS 18-2103(11) of the Act (the "Enhanced Employment Area").
(b) Pursuant to Neb. RS 18-2142.02 of the Act, the city is authorized to agree to and to levy and collect a general business occupation tax upon the businesses and users of space within the Enhanced Employment Area for the purpose of paying all or any part of the costs and expenses of the Enhanced Employment Project within the Enhanced Employment Area.
(c) It is necessary, desirable, advisable and in the best interests of the city that a general business occupation tax be imposed within the Enhanced Employment Area as provided by the Act for the purpose set forth in division (E)(1)(b) above.
(2) Definitions. As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this division, except where the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
GENERAL RETAIL BUSINESS. Any activity engaged in by any person or caused to be engaged in by such person in which products or services are sold, leased or rented for any purpose other than for resale, sublease or sub rent, except that GENERAL RETAIL BUSINESS shall not mean any transaction which is subject to tax under Neb. RS 53-160, 66-489, 66-489.02, 66-4,140, 66-4,145, 66-4,146, 77-2602 or 77-4008 or which is exempt from tax under Neb. RS 77-2704.24.
PERSON. Any natural person, individual, partnership, association, organization or corporation of any kind or character engaging in the business of operating a general retail business.
TAXPAYER. Any person engaged in the business of operating a general retail business as herein defined who is required to pay the tax herein imposed.
(3) Agreement to impose tax. The city hereby agrees to impose an occupation tax upon every person operating a general retail business within the Enhanced Employment Area, and the Mayor and City Clerk are hereby authorized and directed to execute such documents and take such actions as are necessary to carry out this section, including, but not limited to, entering into an Enhanced Employment Area Redevelopment Contract with North Platte Mall, L.L.C., a Nebraska limited liability company and the North Platte Community Redevelopment Authority.
(4) Tax imposed; collection of tax.
(a) On or after January 1, 2022, and in each calendar month thereafter, there is hereby imposed a retail business occupation tax upon each and every person operating a general retail business within the Enhanced Employment Area for any period of time during a calendar month. The amount of such tax shall be 1.95% of all general retail business transactions, upon which the State of Nebraska is authorized to impose a tax as allowed by the Nebraska Local Option Revenue Act for each calendar month derived from the general retail business subject to this tax. Such tax shall be imposed on transactions upon which the State of Nebraska is authorized to impose a tax as allowed by the Nebraska Local Option Revenue Act resulting from the sales of products or services within the limits of the Enhanced Employment Area which are subject to the sales and use tax imposed by the State of Nebraska, except that no occupation tax shall be imposed on any transaction which is subject to tax under Neb. RS 53-160, 66-489, 66-489.02, 66-4,140, 66-4,145, 66-4,146, 77-2602 or 77-4008 or which is exempt from tax under Neb. RS 77-2704.24.
(b) The person engaged in operating a general retail business may itemize the tax levied on a bill, receipt, or other invoice to the purchaser, but each person engaged in such business shall remain liable for the tax imposed by this section.
(5) Business classifications. Pursuant to Neb. RS 18-2142.04 of the Act, the city hereby makes the following classifications of businesses, users of space, or kinds of transactions for purposes of imposing the occupation tax:
(a) General retail business: means any activity engaged in by any person or caused to be engaged in by such person in which products or services are sold, leased or rented for any purpose other than for resale, sublease or sub rent, except that general retail business shall not mean any transaction which is subject to tax under Neb. RS 53-160, 66-489, 66-489.02, 66-4,140, 66-4,145, 66-4,146, 77-2602 or 77-4008, as amended, or which is exempt from tax under Neb. RS 77-2704.24, as amended.
(b) Non-occupation tax retail: means users of space, or kinds of transactions where an occupations tax cannot be imposed pursuant to Neb. RS 18-2142.02 of the Act, which includes, but is not limited to: (1) manufacturers or wholesalers of alcoholic liquor; (2) producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, or importers of motor fuel and/or gasoline; (3) stamping agents engaged in distributing or selling cigarettes at wholesale; (4) the first owner of tobacco products in the State of Nebraska; and (5) the gross receipts from the sale, lease, or rental of and the storage use, or other consumption of food or food ingredients except for prepared food and food sold through vending machines.
(c) Other: businesses that are not either general retail or non-occupation tax retail.
(6) Return. Each and every person engaged in the operation of a general retail business within the Enhanced Employment Area for the calendar month beginning January 1, 2022, and for each and every month thereafter, shall prepare and file, on or before the 25th day of the following month thereafter on a form prescribed and furnished by the City Administrator, a return for such month, and at the same time pay to the city the tax herein imposed. The return shall be verified and sworn to by the officer in charge of the business. The return shall be considered filed on time if mailed in an envelope properly addressed to the City Administrator, postage prepaid and postmarked before midnight of the 25th day of the appropriate month.
(7) Tax cumulative.
(a) The levy of the tax under this section is in addition to all other fees, taxes, excises and licenses levied and imposed under any contract or any other ordinances of the city, in addition to any fee, tax, excise or license imposed by the State of Nebraska.
(b) Payment of the tax imposed by this section shall not relieve the person paying the same from payment of any other tax now or hereafter imposed by contract or ordinance or by this section, including those imposed for any business or occupation he or she may carry on, unless so provided therein. The occupation tax imposed by this section shall be cumulative except where otherwise specifically provided.
(8) Use of revenue. The 1.95% occupation tax imposed by this section, less any administrative expenses, shall be transferred to the North Platte Community Redevelopment Authority for payment of principal and interest on the Enhanced Employment Area Occupation Tax Revenue Bond, North Platte Mall Redevelopment Project and to fund any expenditures that the city is lawfully authorized to make in connection with the Enhanced Employment Area Project as permitted by the Act.
(9) Failure to file return; delinquency; assessment by the City Administrator.
(a) If any person neglects or refuses to file a return or make payment of the taxes as required by this section, the City Administrator shall make an estimate, based upon such information as may be reasonably available, of the amount of taxes due for the period or periods for which the taxpayer is delinquent, and upon the basis of such estimated amount, compute and assess in addition thereto a penalty equal to 1% thereof, together with interest on such delinquent taxes, at the rate of 10% per month, or fraction thereof from the date when due. Any such interest due may be compounded quarterly.
(b) The City Administrator shall give the delinquent taxpayer written notice of such estimated taxes, penalty, and interest, which notice must be served personally or by certified mail.
(c) Such estimate shall thereupon become an assessment and such assessment shall be final and due and payable from the taxpayer to the City Administrator 10 days from the date of service of the notice or the date of mailing by certified mail; however, within such 10-day period the delinquent taxpayer may petition the City Administrator for a revision or modification of such assessment and shall, within such 10-day period, furnish the City Administrator the facts and correct figures showing the correct amounts of such taxes.
(d) Such petition shall be in writing, and the facts and figures submitted shall be submitted in writing and shall be given under oath of the taxpayer.
(e) The City Administrator may then modify such assessment in accordance with the facts which he or she deems correct. Such adjusted assessment shall be made in writing, and notice thereof shall be mailed to the taxpayer within 10 days; and all such decisions shall become final upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of service, unless proceedings are commenced within that time for appeal in the District Court.
(10) Administration; miscellaneous provision.
(a) The administration of the provisions of this section are hereby vested in the City Administrator, or his designee, who shall prescribe forms in conformity with this section for the making of returns, for the ascertainment, assessment and collection of the tax imposed hereunder, and for the proper administration and enforcement hereof.
(b) All notices required to be given to the taxpayer under the provisions of this section shall be in writing. Notices shall be mailed by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the taxpayer at his or her last known address.
(c) It shall be the duty of every taxpayer to keep and preserve suitable records and other books or accounts as may be necessary to determine the amount of tax for which he/she is liable hereunder.
1. Records of the transitions upon which the State of Nebraska is authorized to impose a tax allowed by the Nebraska Local Option Revenue Act by which this tax is measured shall be kept separate and apart from the records of other sales or receipts in order to facilitate the examination of books and records as necessary for the collection of this tax.
2. It shall be the duty of every taxpayer to keep and preserve for a period of 4 years all such books, invoices and other records, which shall be open for examination during normal working hours by the City Administrator or his or her duly designated persons. If such person keeps or maintains his books, invoices, accounts or other records, or any thereof, outside of the state, upon demand of the City Administrator he/she shall make the same available at a suitable place within the city, to be designated by the City Administrator, for examination, inspection and audit by the City Administrator or his or her duly authorized persons. The taxpayer shall reimburse the city for the reasonable costs of examination, inspection and audit if the City Administrator determines that the taxpayer paid 90% or less of the tax owing for the period of the examination.
3. The City Administrator, in his or her discretion, may make, permit or cause to be made the examination, inspection or audit of books, invoices, accounts or other records so kept or maintained by such person outside of the state at the place where same are kept or maintained or at any place outside the state where the same may be made available, provided such person shall have entered into a binding agreement with the city to reimburse it for all costs and expenses incurred by it in order to have such examination, inspection or audit made in such place.
(d) For the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of a return, or for the purpose of determining the amount of tax due from any person, the City Administrator or his or her duly authorized persons may conduct investigations concerning any matters covered by this section and may examine any relevant books, papers, records or memoranda of any such person.
(e) The city shall retain monthly 3% of the gross amount received from the occupation tax imposed hereby, or a monthly minimum of $25 per general retail occupation tax return required to be made pursuant to this section, whichever is higher, as an administrative fee.
(11) Recover of unpaid tax by action at law.
(a) The City Administrator may also treat any such taxes, penalties or interest due and unpaid as a debt due the city.
(b) In case of failure to pay the taxes, or any portion thereof, or any penalty or interest thereon when due, the city may recover at law the amount of such taxes, penalties and interest in any court of Lincoln County, Nebraska or of the county wherein the taxpayer resides or has its principal place of business having jurisdiction of the amounts sought to be collected.
(c) The return of the taxpayer or the assessment made by the City Administrator, as herein provided, shall be prima facie proof of the amount due.
(d) The City Attorney may commence an action for the recovery of taxes due under this section and this remedy shall be in addition to all other existing remedies, or remedies provided in this section.
(12) Suspension or revocation of licenses for failure to pay tax; hearing. If the Mayor or the Mayor's designee, after holding a hearing, shall find that any person has willfully evaded payment or collection and remittance of the tax imposed by this section, such official may suspend or revoke any city license, permit or other approval held by such tax evader. Such person shall have an opportunity to be heard at such hearing to be held not less than 7 days after notice is given of the time and place of the hearing to be held, addressed to the last known place of business of such person. Pending the notice, hearing and finding, any licensee, permit or other approval issued by the city to the person may be temporarily suspended. No suspension or revocation hereunder shall release or discharge the person from civil liability for the payment or collection and remittance of the tax, nor from prosecution for such offense.
(13) Sunset provision. The occupation tax imposed by this section shall terminate and collection of the tax shall cease upon the earlier of: (1) payment in full of all indebtedness issued by the North Platte Community Redevelopment Authority pursuant to the provisions of Neb. RS 18-2142.04 of the Act, for which such occupation tax receipts have been pledged being the Enhanced Employment Area Occupation Tax Revenue Bond, North Platte Mall Rehabilitation Project as described in the Redevelopment Contract; or (2) December 31, 2041.
(14) Enhanced Employment Area description.
(a) Tract 1.
1. That portion of Lots 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 in Siegelin and Waibel's Subdivision of part of the NW1/4SE1/4 of Section 4, Township 13 North, Range 30 West of the 6th P.M. in North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska and that portion of the vacated alley between said Lots 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10, all more particularly described as follows:
2. Beginning at a point which lies 697.0 feet south and 33.0 feet east of the northwest corner of said SE1/4 of said Section 4; thence going south, parallel to the west line of said SE1/4 of said Section 4, for a distance of 150.0 feet; thence going S89°39'E, parallel to the north line of said SE1/4 of said Section 4 for a distance of 150.0 feet; thence going north parallel to the west line of said SE1/4 of Section 4 for a distance of 150.0 feet; thence going N89°39'W parallel to the north line of said SE1/4 of Section 4 for a distance of 150.0 feet to the Place of Beginning.
(b) Tract 2.
1. All of Siegelin and Waibel's Subdivision to North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska, including vacated South Pine Street, vacated K and L Streets and the vacated alley as recorded in Book 3 at Page 29, except that part of Lot 5 conveyed to the State of Nebraska by Warranty Deeds recorded in Book 152 at Page 429 and Book 152 at Page 431; and
2. Except that portion of Lots 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 in Siegelin and Waibel's Subdivision of part of the NW1/4SE1/4 of Section 4, Township 13 North, Range 30 West of the 6th P.M. in North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska; and that portion of the vacated alley between said Lots 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10, all more particularly described as follows:
A. Beginning at a point which lies 697.0 feet south and 33.0 feet east of the northwest corner of said SE1/4 of said Section 4; thence going south, parallel to the west line of said SE1/4 of said Section 4, for a distance of 150.0 feet; thence going S89°39'E, parallel to the north line of said SE1/4 of said Section 4 for a distance of 150.0 feet; thence going north parallel to the west line of said SE1/4 of Section 4 for a distance of 150.0 feet; thence going N89°39'W parallel to the north line of said SE1/4 of Section 4 for a distance of 150.0 feet to the Place of Beginning; and
B. Except the east 99.1 feet of the south 25 feet of Lot 5 in Siegelin and Waibel's Subdivision of the NW1/4SE1/4 of Section 4, Township 13 North, Range 30 West of the 6th P.M., North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska, together with the south 25 feet of the west 2.9 feet of the vacated alley in said Subdivision which abuts said Lot 5 as above described, all in the City of North Platte and all that part of East "L" Street in the City of North Platte, now vacated, which lies south of that part of said Lot 5 and the alley as above described.
(c) Tract 3. Block 4, South Platte Business Park, a Subdivision of Lot 7 of Fritz's Subdivision of part of the SE1/4 of Section 4, Township 13 North, Range 30 West of the 6th P.M., in North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska and vacated alley recorded in Book 383 at Page 279; except tract conveyed to the State of Nebraska, Department of Roads by deeds recorded 10/15/12 as document numbers 201206108 and 201206109.
(Prior Code, § 14-33) (Ord. 3257, § 1, 10-19-1999; Am. Ord. 3320, § 1, 8-15-2000; Am. Ord. 3383, § 1, 8-21-2001; Am. Ord. 3446, § 1, 9-17-2002; Am. Ord. 4067, § 2, 6-1-2021) Penalty, see § 10.99