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G-99-03-25-9B2 - 3/25/1999ORDINANCE NO. 2--O3-S -`78a AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 1, SECTION 1.1800, CODE OF ORDINANCES (1995 EDITION), CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS; TO CONFORM THE EXISTING LOCAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX ORDINANCE WITH STATE LAW; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE AND REPEALING CONFLICTING ORDINANCES OR RESOLUTIONS. WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Round Rock, Texas previously enacted an ordinance imposing a local hotel occupancy tax; and WHEREAS, the law governing the local hotel occupancy tax has been amended by the Texas Legislature and changed as a result of court decisions; and WHEREAS, the city council of the City of Round Rock, Texas desires to amend the existing local hotel occupancy tax ordinance to conform it to current law; Now Therefore BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS, THAT: I . That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1801(2), of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: (2) Hotel shall mean any buildings in which the public may, for a consideration, obtain sleeping accommodations, including hotels, motels, tourist homes, houses or courts, lodging houses, inns, rooming houses, bed and breakfast facilities, or other buildings where rooms are furnished for a consideration. The term does not include: a) hospitals, sanitariums, or nursing homes; or b) a dormitory or other housing facility owned or leased and operated by an institution of higher education or a private or independent institution of higher education as those terms are defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, used by the institution for the purpose of providing sleeping accommodations for persons engaged in an educational program or activity at the institution. K:\WPDOCS\ORDINANC\09032582. 2WP/clb II. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1801(5), of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: (5) Permanent Resident shall mean any occupant who has or shall have the right to occupancy of any room or rooms in a hotel for at least thirty (30) consecutive days, so long as there is no interruption of payment for the period. III. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1801(8), of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: (8) Tax Assessor -Collector shall mean the Director of Finance of the City. IV. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1802, of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: There is hereby levied a tax of seven (7) percent of the price paid for a room in a hotel on every person who, under lease, concession, permit, right of access, license, contract or agreement, pays for the use or possession or for the right to the use or possession of a room that is in a hotel, costs two dollars ($2.00) or more each day, and is ordinarily used for sleeping. The price of a room in a hotel does not include the cost of food served by the hotel and the cost of personal services performed by the hotel for the person except those services related to the cleaning and readying of the room for possession. Exceptions are as follows: (1) No tax shall be imposed hereunder upon a permanent resident. (2) No tax shall be imposed hereunder for federal employees traveling on business. (3) No tax shall be imposed hereunder for diplomatic personnel who present a tax exemption card issued by the United States Department of State. (4) No tax shall be imposed hereunder for federal military personnel traveling on official military business. This exemption does not cover military staff on leave or between stations. (5) No tax shall be imposed hereunder for state officers or employees who present a tax exemption card issued by a governmental entity of the State of Texas. 2 (6) State officers or employees traveling on business who do not present a tax exemption card issued by a governmental entity of the State of Texas are subject to the tax imposed hereunder; however, the state governmental entity with whom the state officer or employee is associated is entitled to a refund of the tax paid. (7) To receive a refund of the tax paid hereunder, the governmental entity entitled to a refund must file a refund claim form provided by the city and containing the information required by the city. The governmental entity entitled to claim a refund may file only one claim form with the city for each calendar quarter for all reimbursements accrued during that quarter. V. That Chapter 1, Section 1.1800, of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended by adding a subsection, to be numbered subsection 1.1803.1 which said subsection shall read as follows: 1.1803 .1 Collection Procedures on Purchase of Hotel (1) If a person who is liable for the payment of a tax imposed hereunder is the owner of a hotel and sells the hotel, the successor to the seller or the seller's assignee shall withhold an amount of the purchase price sufficient to pay the amount of tax due until the seller provides a receipt by the Director of Finance showing that the amount has been paid or a certificate showing that no tax is due. (2) The purchaser of a hotel who fails to withhold an amount of the purchase price as required is liable for the amount required to be withheld to the extent of the value of the purchase price of the hotel. (3) The purchaser of the hotel may request that the Director of Finance issue a certificate stating that no tax is due or issue a statement of the amount required to be paid before a certificate may be issued. The Director of Finance shall issue the certificate or statement not later than the sixtieth (60th) day after the date that he receives the request. (4) If the Director of Finance fails to issue the certificate or statement within sixty (60) days after the date that he receives the request, the purchaser of the hotel is released from the obligation to withhold the purchase price or pay the amount due. VI. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1808, of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: 3 1.1808 ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION TO BRING SUIT The city attorney is hereby authorized to bring suit against any person required to collect the tax imposed hereby and required to pay the collection over to the city and who has failed to file a report, or filed a false report, or failed to pay the tax when due. Such suit may seek to collect such tax not paid or to enjoin such person from operating a hotel in the city until the tax is paid or the report is filed or both, as applicable and as provided in the injunction. In addition to the amount of any tax owed to the city, the person is liable to the city for the city's reasonable attorney's fees and a penalty equal to fifteen (15) percent of the total amount of the taxed owed. VII. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1809, of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: The revenue derived from any hotel occupancy tax imposed and levied by this section may be used only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry, and that use is limited to the following: (1) The acquisition of sites for and the construction, improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information centers, or both (as such are defined in V.A.T.S. Tax Code, Section 351.001); (5) Historical restoration and preservation projects or activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums: (a) Which are at or in the immediate vicinity of convention center facilities or visitor information centers; or (b) Which are located elsewhere in the municipality or its vicinity that would be frequented by tourists, convention delegates, or other visitors to the municipality. VIII. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1810, of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: 1.1810 ALLOCATION OF REVENUE (1) Not less than the amount of revenue received by the city from the tax at a rate of one (1) percent of the cost of the room shall be allocated for the purposes provided in Section 1.1809(3) above. 4 (2) Not more than fifteen (15) percent of the hotel occupancy tax revenue collected by the city or the amount of tax received by the city at the rate of one (1) percent of the cost of the room, whichever is greater, may be used for the purpose provided by Section 1.1809(4) above. If the city does not allocate any hotel occupancy tax revenue for the purposes provided by Section 1.1809(1) above, then the city may allocate not more than fifty (50) percent of the hotel occupancy tax revenue collected by the city for the purposes provided by Section 1.1809(5) above. (3) IX. That Chapter 1, subsection 1.1811(1), of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: (1) The city council may, by contract, delegate to a person, including another governmental entity or a private organization, the management or supervision of programs and activities funded with revenue from the hotel occupancy tax. The city council shall approve in writing in advance the annual budget of the entity to which it delegates those functions, and shall require the entity to make periodic reports to the city council at least quarterly listing the expenditures made by the entity of revenue from the tax provided by the city . X. A. All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or resolutions in conflict herewith are expressly repealed. B. The invalidity of any section or provision of this ordinance shall not invalidate other sections or provisions thereof. C. The City Council hereby finds and declares that written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of the meeting at which this Ordinance was adopted was posted and that such meeting was open to the public as required by law at all times during which this Ordinance and the subject matter hereof were discussed, considered and formally acted upon, all as required by the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, as amended, and the Act. 5 READ and APPROVED on first reading this the - day of , 1999. READ, APPROVED and ADOPTED on second reading this the day of 1 , 1999. ATTEST: eh E LAND, City Secretary CHARLES CULPEPPER, Mayor City of Round Rock, Texas 6 DATE: March 19, 1999 SUBJECT: City Council Meeting, March 25, 1999 ITEM: 9. B. 2. Consider an ordinance amending the Hotel Occupancy Tax Ordinance. (First Reading) The proposed changes to the existing local Hotel Occupancy Tax are minor in nature and are intended to reflect amendments made by the State Legislature to the law governing the local hotel occupancy tax. Staff Resource Person: David Kautz, Finance Director.