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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCE 1435-1991.' ~ ~, ~ - •, 4 SUBSTITUTE Suggested by: City Council CITY OF KENAI ORDINANCE i~35-91 AN ORDINANCE. OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA ADAING ~!- NEW CHAPTER TO THE MUNICIPAL CODE PROVIDING FOR A HOTEL/MOTEL ROOM TAX. WHEREAS, the Kenai Cfty Council has appropriated substantial sums of money to promote economic development and tourism within the City, and WHEREAS, the beneficiaries of the development and tourism include the hotel/motel industry; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to levy a tax on hotel/motel room rentals, and may at its discretion appropriate revenues from the tax for further economic development, tourism promotion, or other functions; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, that the Code of Ordinances is hereby amended by adding a new chapter to be numbered 7.12 which shall read as follows: . Chanter 7.12 f . ~ ,1 l..~_ . ~ ~1~ y i _.e_ Sections: 7.12.010 Definitions. 7.12.020 Applicability of tax. 7.12.030 Responsibility for payment--Collection. 7.12.Oa0 Rental tax records and receipts. 7.12.050 Confidentiality of returns. 7.12.060 Certificate of Registration. 7.12.070 Collections--Prohibited acts. 7.12.080 Rulings and Regulations. 7.12.090 Violation--Penalty. 7,,. i2~,OlQ D~init na. For the purpose of this chapter the following words are defined as set forth below: (a) "City" means the City of Kenai. (b) "Guest" means an individual, corporation, partnership, or association paying or agreeing to pay monetary consideration for the use of a room or rooms in a hotel/motel or other commercial sleeping acscommodations. (c) "Hotel/Motel" means a structure or portion of a structure which is occupied or intended and designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping ., .. :. -. ., ,, .,:~ ,~ s ~.. ~. purposes and includes hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, inn or similar structure, but excludes a structure or part of a structure rented, or offered for rent solely in connection with a principal business or institutional purpose other than providing meals, lodging, entertainment or recreation; foz example, a hospital or university dormitory. (d) "Operator" means a person and/or' entity who furnishes, offers for rent or otherwise Yaakes available rooms in the City in a hotel/motel for monetary consideration whether acting directly or through an agent or employee. (e) "Rents" means the amount paid as monetary consideration for the use of a room or rooms in a hotel/motel or other commercial sleeping accommodations. (f) "Transient" is a person who occupies or rents a suite, room or rooms in a hotel/motel for fewer than thirty (30) consecutive days. 7.12.00 ~ppl~cab lity of ta_x_. ~rhe tax shall be applicable to all transient hotel/motel room rentals unless the guest is exempt from paying sales tax under provision of Title 5, Chapter 18 of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Code of Ordinances. The tax shall be five percent (5~t) of the hotel/motel room rent charged to transient quests. ? .12.030 Res~on,,{~ibility,_f~r „}~ay,~ent :-CSllection. (a) Each transient quest is responsible for the room rental tax imposed by this chapter, and the tax shall be due .and payable at the time rent is paid. All unpaid tax shall be due when the transient guest ceases to occupy or use space in the facility. (b) Every operator and/or owner renting rooms subject to taxation under this chapter shall collect taxes from transient guests at the time of collection of room rental and shall transmit the same quarterly to the City. The tax imposed shall be shown on the billing to the guest as a separate and distinct item. 040 Rental tax records and receipts. (a) Title to the rental taxes collected pursuant to the chapter shall vest in the City upon collection. such taxes shall be safeguarded until transmitted to the City as hereinafter provided. On or before the last day of the month following the end of each quarter, all operators shall prepare and submit a return furnished by the City for the preceding quarter to the Finance Department of the City. In addition, the operator may be required to submit such books and records as necessary to substantiate the amounts shown on the return. (b) The operator shall sign the return and transmit it together with applicable taxes on or before the due date. If taxes have not been received by the City by the due date of the return, the operator shall incur a penalty equal to ten percent (10$) of the tax liability. In addition to the aforesaid penalty, interest at the rate of ten percent (10~) per year, computed monthly, on the delinquent tax from the date of . i" .~ ~ , delinquency until paid shall accrue and be collected in the same manner the delinquent tax is collected. (c) Every operator engaged in business within the City shall keep and preserve suitable records of all r®ntals made by him and such other books or accounts to determine the amount of tax he is required to collect. All books and records shall be maintained for a period of three (3) .years after any reporting period, and shall be available for examination at reasonable times by the City Finance Director to ascertain the correctne~is of a return or to determine the amount of tax collected ar levied . y.12.050 Con ids t,~n fality~„of rg urns. (a) All returns filed with the City pursuant to this ordinance and ail data obtained from such returns are confidential, and may not be released. for public inspection except to those agencies specifically charged with review and/or audit responsibility by law and/or appropriate court order. (b) The preceding subsection does not prohibit the City from collecting and publishing statistical data, provided it is cumulative and so long as no identification of particular returns or reports is made. ~.i2.o6Q cer ificate of regi~tra,,,tfon. (a) Operators shall apply to the Finance Department for a certificate of registration on a form prescribed by the City not later than ten (10) days from the effective date of the ordinance codf fled in this chapter, the date of commencement of business or the<opening of additional places of business. Upon receipt~of a properly executed application, the City's Finance Director will issue without charge a certificate of registration to the operator authorizing the operator to collect the tax at the business address stated on the certificate. (b) The certificate must be displayed prominently at the registered place of business. (c) The certificate of registration is nonassignable and nontransferable and must be surrendered to the Finance Department by the operator to whom it was issued upon the operator's c©ssation of business at the location stated in the certificate. If the business is continued at the same location but the form of business organization is changed, the operator shall surrender his old certificate to the Finance Department for cancellation. The new operator shall file a new application for the certificate of registration, and upon receipt of a properly executed application, a new certificate bearing a new number will be issued. If there is a change of address for the operator's place of business, a new certificate of registration is required bearing the same registration number but showing the new location or address. ~.ia.o7o Collections-Prohibit®d acts. (a) Taxes due but not paid or taxes collected but not transmitted, may be recovered in an action at law against the operator. Tax returns, under this ordinance, shall be prima facie prjoof of taxes collected but ..: .. .. . ... .. ~. _,. .. -. . • _ , ~y ' ~ ; not transmitted. Notwithstanding the civil penalty limitation contained in KMC 13.05.010(b), an operator who rents accommodations within the City and thereafter fails to file a return, or who rents accommodations upon which a tax is levied under the provisions of this chapter and fails to collect Much tax, shall incur a penalty of double the tax liability. (b) No person may fail or refuse to pay this tax when it is due and payable to an operator authorized to collect the tax. (c) An operator may not advertise or state to the public that the tax or any part of it will be assumed or absorbed by the operator, or will not be added to the rental, or that it will be refunded. X12.480 Ru ng,and Reaula~fons. (a) The Finance Director of the City may take any action necessary or appropriate to the implementation of this chapter by promulgating regulations which may include the adoption of forms. Such regulations or any procedures adopted by the Finance Director are effective at the time indicated by~him, but are subject to revision or repeal by the City Council. (b) Should a taxpayer under this Code or an operator obliged to collect the tax, be in doubt as to the applications of the provisions to an actual situation facing the taxpayer, or about to face the taxpayer, the taxpayer may apply for an ~,~.a .ate., ..c ter..,.. , ~..... ~ informal ruling on the issue. Rulings having a general application may, at the discretion of the Finance Director, be promulgated as regulations. x.12.090 Violation--Penalty. The violation of any provision contained in this chapter shall be punished under the general penalty provision, Section 13.05.010, of the City Code. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI ALASKA this Effective Date : January 1993 1, APPROVED BY FINANCE: C°4 (4/24/91)