A. Definitions: Certain words or terms herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them as follows:
FACILITATOR: Any person or entity who provides a means through which a person may book a hotel room and/or transient occupancy rental unit to lessees, regardless of whether payment is transferred through or processed by such facilitator. Facilitators are considered lessors, as used herein.
GROSS RENT: The total amount of consideration for occupancy, valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, and property or services of any kind or nature, including but not limited to, amounts charged for the making, booking, facilitating or servicing of reservations. Gross rent means both (a) the "net rate" paid to the hotel or motel by a facilitator for room occupancy by the consumer; and (b) the amount retained by the facilitator for travel-related services provided to the consumer (sometimes referred to as a "facilitation fee"), and any additional amounts retained by the facilitator as compensation for its services to the consumer for the individual transaction, or, in the instance of a consumer's direct rental of a room with the hotel or motel, gross rent shall mean the amount charged by the hotel or motel directly to the consumer for the occupancy of the room.
HOTEL: A structure kept, used or maintained as or advertised or held out to the public to be an inn, motel, hotel, apartment, home, lodging house, dormitory or place where sleeping, rooming, office, conference or exhibition accommodations are furnished for lease or rent, whether with or without meals. For avoidance of doubt, transient occupancy rental units are hotels under this definition.
LESSEE: Any person who pays for the privilege of occupying all or part of a hotel.
LESSOR: Any person having a sufficient proprietary interest in conducting the operation of a hotel, or receiving the consideration for the rental of all or part of such hotel, so as to entitle such person to all or a portion of the net receipts thereof, including facilitators, as defined herein.
ONLINE TRAVEL COMPANY: An organization that books, reserves, or rents hotel or motel rooms and makes other travel arrangements for consumers via the World Wide Web, internet or other digital means. Online travel companies are considered facilitators, as used herein.
PERMANENT RESIDENT: Any person who has occupied or has the right to occupy all or part of a hotel for more than thirty (30) consecutive days.
PERSON: Any natural person, receiver, administrator, executor, conservator, assignee, trust in perpetuity, trust, estate, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, club, company, business trust, domestic or foreign corporation, association, syndicate, society or any group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit, or otherwise, whenever the term "person" is used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, the term as applied to associations shall mean the owners or part-owners thereof, and as applied to corporations, the offices thereof, or any other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY RENTAL UNIT: A dwelling unit or a habitable unit that is offered, in whole or in part, for rent, lease or hire that is rented, leased or hired for which a lessor receives consideration from a person for a period of thirty (30) days or less and that person has the right to use, occupy or possess all or part of the dwelling unit or habitable unit for said period.
B. Hotel Use Tax Imposed:
1. There is levied and imposed a tax of five (5) percent of the gross rent charged
for the privilege and use of renting a hotel room within the City of Taylorville for each twenty-four (24) hour period or any portion thereof for which a room charge is made.
2. Accommodations within said buildings or structures which are leased to the same occupant for a period of more than thirty (30) consecutive days shall be exempt from the tax provisions of this Article.
3. Lessors renting or leasing hotel rooms within the City are required to collect the Hotel Use Tax; however, the ultimate incidence of any liability for payment of the tax is to be borne by the lessee.
4. The Hotel Use Tax shall be paid in addition to any and all other taxes and charges.
5. It shall be the duty of every lessor of every hotel within the City to separately state such tax at the five (5) percent rate upon the total amount of compensation charged for the use of the hotel. The lessor shall also state separately the amount of tax on the invoice for the transaction that will be tendered to the lessee.
6. It shall be the duty of every lessor of every hotel within the City to collect the tax from the lessee at the time the lessee pays for the privilege of occupying all or part of a hotel transient occupancy rental unit, and to remit to the City the tax under procedures provided for in this chapter or otherwise prescribed by the City. If more than one person is the lessor as related to a particular transaction, the lessors are jointly and severally responsible for collecting and remitting the tax.
7. It shall not be a defense to this ordinance that the lessor is not licensed by the City to rent hotels and the lessor will still be required to remit the proper tax to the City.
8. All funds collected by the City under this tax shall be expended solely to promote tourism and conventions within the City or otherwise to attract nonresident overnight visitors to the municipality. No funds received under this tax shall be used to advertise for or otherwise promote new competition in the hotel business within the City.
C. Rules And Regulations: The Tax Administrator may promulgate rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter concerning enforcement and application of this chapter. The phrase "rules and regulations" includes, but is not limited to, case-by-case determination of whether or not the tax imposed by this chapter applies.
D. Transmittal Of Tax Revenue:
1. The lessor of each hotel within the City shall file returns and remit collected taxes, to the City Clerk's Office showing tax receipts received with respect to each hotel during each monthly period commencing on (date), and continuing on the first day of every month thereafter on forms prescribed by the City. The return shall be due on or before the last day of the calendar month succeeding the end of the monthly filing period. Each lessor shall file an application with the City Clerk for a City Taxpayer Identification Number prior to filing its first tax return.
2. The first taxing period for the purpose of this chapter shall commence on [August 1, 2020]; and the tax return and payment for such period shall be due on or before [the last day of the calendar month succeeding the end of the monthly filing period like in the draft]. Thereafter, reporting periods and tax payments shall be in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. At the time of filing such tax returns, the owner shall pay to the Tax Administrator all taxes due for the period to which the tax return applies.
E. Other Actions Authorized: The officers, employees and/or agents of the City of Taylorville shall take all action necessary or reasonably required to carry out, give effect to and consummate the amendments contemplated by this ordinance and shall take all action necessary in conformity therewith. The officers, employees and/or agents of the City are specifically authorized and directed to draft and disseminate any and all necessary forms to be utilized in connection with these amendments. Any and all actions previously performed by officials, employees and/or agents of the City in connection with carrying out and consummating the intent of this ordinance are hereby authorized, approved and ratified by this reference.
F. Tax Return; Payment Of Tax: Except as provided hereinafter in this subsection, on or before the thirtieth day of each calendar month, every person engaged in the business of renting, leasing or letting rooms in a hotel in this city during the preceding calendar month shall file a return with the city clerk of the city of Taylorville stating:
1. The name of the operator;
2. His residence address and the address of his principal place of business and the address of the principal place of business (if that is a different address) from which he engages in the business of renting, leasing, or letting rooms in a hotel in this city along with his phone number;
3. Total amount of rental receipts received by him during the preceding calendar month from renting, leasing or letting rooms during such preceding calendar month;
4. Total amount of rental receipts received by him during the preceding calendar month from renting, leasing or letting rooms to permanent residents during such preceding calendar month;
5. Total amount of other exclusions from gross rental receipts allowed by this section;
6. Gross rental receipts which were received by him during the preceding calendar month and upon the basis of which the tax is imposed;
7. The amount of tax due;
8. The amount of penalty due, if any;
9. Such other reasonable information as the city may require.
An operator, in lieu of the return described above, may submit to the city a copy of its Illinois department of revenue hotel operators' occupation tax return as and for the return required above. (Ord. 3395, 8-4-2008)
Notwithstanding any other provision in this section concerning the time within which an operator may file his return, in the case of any operator who ceases to engage in a kind of business which makes him responsible for filing returns under this section, such operator shall file a final return under this section with the city clerk not more than one month after discontinuing such business.
Where the same person has more than one hotel located within the city, such person shall file separate returns for each such hotel.
In his return, the operator shall determine the value of any consideration other than money received by him in connection with the renting, leasing or letting of rooms in the course of his business and he shall include such value in his return. Such determination shall be subject to review and revision by the city in the manner hereinafter provided for the correction of returns.
The person filing the return herein provided for shall, at the time of filing such return, pay to the city clerk the amount of tax herein imposed. All monies received by the city clerk for taxes herein imposed shall be promptly deposited in a separate account designated as "Taylorville hotel operator's occupation tax fund".
The city may, upon separate written notice to a taxpayer, require the taxpayer to prepare and file with the city clerk on a form prescribed by the city, within not less than sixty (60) days after receipt of the notice, an annual information return for the tax year specified in the notice. Such annual return to the city shall include a statement of gross receipts as shown by the operator's last state income tax return. If the total receipts of the business as reported in the state income tax return do not agree with the gross receipts reported to the city for the same period, the operator shall attach to his annual information return a schedule showing a reconciliation of the two (2) amounts and the reasons for the difference. The operator's annual information return to the city shall also include any additional reasonable information which the city deems would be helpful in determining the accuracy of the monthly, quarterly or annual tax returns by such operator as provided for in this subsection.
If the annual information return required by this subsection is not filed when and as required, the taxpayer shall be liable for a penalty equal to one percent (1%) of the tax due from such taxpayer under this section during the period to be covered by the annual return for each month or fraction of a month until such return is filed as required with the penalty to be assessed and collected in the same manner as any other penalty provided for in this section.
If the monthly tax return and payment of tax is not filed and paid when due, the taxpayer shall be liable for a penalty equal to one and one-half percent (11/2%) per month or a fraction thereof of the delinquent tax then due from the taxpayer until such return is filed and tax paid with the penalty to be assessed and collected in the same manner as any other penalty provided for in this section.
The chief executive officer, proprietor, owner or highest ranking manager shall sign the annual return to certify the accuracy of the information contained therein. Any person who wilfully signs the annual return containing false or inaccurate information shall be guilty of perjury and punished accordingly. The annual return form prescribed by the city shall include a warning that the person signing the return may be liable for perjury.
The foregoing portion of this subsection concerning the filing of an annual information return shall not apply to an operator who is not required to file an income tax return with the United States government.
G. Enforcement: The corporate authorities of the city shall have all powers necessary to enforce the collection of the tax imposed and collected by the city pursuant to this section including, but not limited to, subpoena power and the power to create and enforce liens. No such lien shall affect the rights of bona fide purchasers, mortgagees, judgment creditors or other lien holders who acquire their interests in such property prior to the time a notice of such lien is placed on record in the office of the recorder of deeds of Christian County. Any such lien placed of record shall only act as a lien upon property located within the corporate boundaries of the city. In creating a lien pursuant to this subsection, the procedures for its notice and enforcement shall be the same as those provided for in the retailers' occupation tax act, as now or hereafter amended, for state tax liens, and the recorder of deeds with whom a notice of such lien is filed shall treat such lien as a state tax lien for recording purposes.
H. Penalties: Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this section shall be fined not less than twenty five dollars ($25.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense; and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
I. Inspection Of Books And Records: The city clerk, or any person otherwise designated by the city, may enter the premises of any hotel or motel for inspection and examination of books and records in order to effectuate the property administration of this section and to assure the enforcement of the collection of the tax imposed. It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent, hinder or interfere with the city clerk or any other duly authorized agent of the city in the discharge of his or her duties in the performance of this section. It shall be the duty of every owner to keep accurate and complete books and records to which the city clerk or other authorized city official shall at all times have access, which books and records shall be as described and set forth in subsection E of this section. (Ord. 3379, 4-21-2008); amd. Ord. 3969, 6-15-2020)