(A) (1) The county does hereby impose the tax on any transaction in the county in which any room, or rooms, lodging, or accommodations are rented or furnished in any hotel, motel, boat motel, recreational vehicle, college or university memorial union, college or university residence hall or dormitory, or tourist cabin for consideration at a rate equal to 5% of the gross retail income derived from lodging income only, which tax is in addition to the state retail tax imposed under I.C. 6-2.5-2, all as provided in I.C. 6-9-18. The tax shall be imposed, paid, and collected in the same manner as the state gross retail tax is imposed by I.C. 6-2.5-2, but that collection of said tax, and payment thereof, shall be made on a monthly basis directly to the Treasurer of the county. The gross retail income on which the tax is imposed shall not include the amount of tax imposed on the transaction under I.C. 6-2.5-2.
(2) The tax does not apply to gross income received in a transaction in which:
(a) A student rents lodging in a college or university hall while that student participated in a study for which the student receives college credit from a college or university located in the county; or
(b) A person rents a room, lodging, or accommodations for a period of 30 days or more.
(B) The Council will send a certified copy of this section to the Commissioner of the State Department of Revenue immediately upon adoption of this section.
(C) All of the provisions of I.C. 6-2.5 relating to the rights, duties, liabilities, procedures, penalties, definitions, and administration are applicable to the imposition and administration of the tax imposed under this section, except to the extent those provisions are in conflict or inconsistent with the specific provisions of this section or the requirements of the Treasurer of the county. The return to be filed for the payment of tax under this section may be either a separate return or may be combined with the return filed for the payment of the State Gross Retail Tax, as the State Department of Revenue may, by rule, determine.
(D) Money in the Convention, Recreation, and Visitor Promotion Fund shall be used solely to promote and encourage recreation, visitor industry development, special events, trade shows, and conventions in, and to, the county, including administrative and other incidental expenses, if necessary. Expenditures of funds so collected shall be set forth in a budget to be submitted annually to the Council for its review and subject to its approval, and no expenditure may be made using such funds unless it is in accordance with an appropriation made by the Council in the manner provided by law.
(E) (1) The tax shall be reported and paid to the County Treasurer on approved forms. The tax shall be paid to the County Treasurer not more than 20 days after the end of the month the tax is collected, pursuant to I.C. 6-9-18-3. The tax shall be postmarked to the County Auditor on or before the twentieth day of the month following the reporting period. The reporting period runs from the first of the month through the last day of the month. A 10% penalty of the base amount due will be assessed on delinquent taxes paid after the last day of the month following the reporting period. An additional 1% interest will be assessed on delinquent taxes every 30 days thereafter until all taxes and penalties are paid in full.
(2) The business/innkeeper will be assessed for any costs and legal fees associated with the collection of the delinquent taxes.
(F) The county will retain 1% of all tax amounts remitted for deposit into the County General Fund for expenses incurred in the collection of the tax.
(G) (1) The County Tourism Commission will be responsible for all costs to implement local collection of the innkeeper’s tax. This may include, but is not limited to, creating, printing, and the distribution of tax coupons/vouchers, legal fees, and legal advertising.
(2) The County Treasurer grants authority and gives permission to the County Tourism Commission to collect and enforce this section. The Tourism Commission shall assume all costs and legal fees associated with the collection of delinquent innkeeper’s taxes. The Tourism Commission is granted authority to collect all costs and legal fees associated with the collection of delinquent innkeeper’s taxes from the delinquent business/innkeeper.
(Council Ord. 1994-3, passed 6-1-1994; Council Ord. 2004-08, passed 5-18-2004; Council Ord. 2008-17, passed 12-16-2008; Council Ord. 2014-2, passed 1-1-2015) Penalty, see § 36.99