HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 717-2016 Amending Code Part II, Article 57 Adopting Article 57, Sec 2 Hotel Occupancy TaxCITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 717-2016 (Hotel Occupancy Tax) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS, AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS, PART II, ARTICLE 57 (TAXATION), BY ADOPTING ARTICLE 57, SECTION 2 (HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX) TO INCLUDE ALL COSTS AND FEES CHARGED TO HOTEL OCCUPANTS FOR THE USE, POSSESSION, OR THE RIGHT TO USE OR POSSESSION OF A HOTEL ROOM; PROVIDING FOR A $500 PENAL TY FOR DELINQUENCY; PROVIDING FOR
SAVINGS, SEVERABILITY, AND REPEALING CLAUSES; AND PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature has passed legislation authorizing municipalities to
impose a tax on persons paying for the use, possession, or right to use or possess
rooms in hotels, said legislation codified as Texas Tax Code§ 351.001, et seq.; and
WHEREAS, the City of Anna (the "City") has experienced strong residential growth in
recent years; and
WHEREAS, the development community has expressed interest and made inquiries
regarding the development of hotels in the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Anna, Texas (the "City Council") is of the
opinion that it is in the best interests of the City and its citizens to adopt the hotel
occupancy tax in preparation for the potential development of a hotel; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ANNA, TEXAS, THAT:
Section 1. Recitals Incorporated.
The above-referenced recitals are incorporated herein as if set forth in full for all
purposes.
Section 2. Amendments to Code.
In accordance with the Code of Ordinances, City of Anna, Texas (the "Code") Chapter
1, Article 1, Section 9, the City Council hereby amends the Code by adopting Article 57
Section 2 (Hotel Occupancy Tax), in Part II of the Code, as follows:
SECTION 2 HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX Sec. 2.001 Definitions For the purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning: Consideration. The cost of the room in the hotel as measured in U.S. dollars, only if the room is only ordinarily used for sleeping, and shall not include the cost of any food served by the hotel or the cost of personal services rendered by the hotel to the occupant of such room not related to the cleaning and
readying of such room for occupancy. Charges not stated separately shall be
presumed to part of the consideration paid for occupancy of a sleeping room
or sleeping facility and shall be taxed under this article.
Hotel. Any building or buildings in which the public may, for a consideration,
obtain sleeping accommodations whether such building are located in the
city's corporate limits or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The term shall include
hotels, motels, tourist homes, houses or courts, lodging houses, inns, rooming
houses, or other buildings where rooms are furnished for a consideration, but
"hotel" shall not be defined so as to include hospitals, sanitariums, or nursing
homes.
Occupancy. The use or possession, or the right to the use or possession, of
any room in a hotel if the room is one ordinarily used for sleeping and if the
occupant's use, possession, or right to use or possession extends for a period
of less than 30 days.
Occupant. Anyone who, for a consideration, uses, possesses, or has a right to
use or possess any room in a hotel if the room is one ordinarily used for
sleeping. This term applies regardless of whether such use, possession, or a
right to use or possession is arranged under a lease, concession, permit, right
of access, license, contract or other agreement.
Permanent resident. Any occupant who has or shall have the right of
occupancy of any room or rooms or sleeping space or facility in a hotel for at
least 30 consecutive days during the current calendar year or preceding year.
Quarterly period. The regular calendar quarters of the year, the first quarter
being the months of October, November and December, the second quarter
being the months of January, February and March, the third quarter being the
months of April, May and June, and the fourth quarter being the months of
July, August and September.
Citv Manager. The City Manager of the City of Anna, Texas, or his or her
designee .
ORDINANCE NO. 717-2016
(Hotel Occupancy Tax) PAGE 2 OF 6
Sec. 2.002 Levy; rate (a) Authorization. There is hereby levied a tax upon the occupant for the cost of, or consideration paid for, the use, possession, or the right to use or possess any sleeping room or sleeping space furnished by any hotel, and such tax shall apply whether paid under or through a lease, concession, permit, right of access, license, contract, or other agreement. (b) Tax rate. The tax shall be equal to 7% of the total consideration provided
by an occupant for a sleeping room or sleeping space, said consideration to
include all goods and services provided by the hotel which are not ordinarily
subject to sales tax.
(c) Presumption of taxability. For the purpose of proper administration of the
tax, it is presumed that all amounts contributing to the total cost of, or the total
consideration paid for, a sleeping room are subject to the tax until the contrary
is established, and the burden of proving that any amount is not taxable is
upon the party collecting the tax.
(d) Exceptions.
(1) There shall be no tax on the cost of, or consideration paid for,
occupancy of a hotel sleeping room or sleeping facility priced at less than two
dollars ($2.00) per day.
(2) Other occupancy taxes imposed by other governmental
agencies are excluded in determining the total consideration paid for a room
or space which is the subject of the tax levied by this article.
(3) The cost or consideration paid for a room or space occupied by
a permanent guest is not subject to this tax.
(4) There can be no occupancy tax on the consideration paid
directly by the United States Treasury if the constitutional exemption is
invoked. This exception is not extended to employees of the federal
government or any local government who pay the consideration for the room
or space without the federal government being a party to the contract.
Sec. 2.003 Disposition of revenue
The revenue derived from this tax will only be used for the purposes as
authorized by applicable state law. The City manager, upon approval by the
City council, may contract with an approved organization for the disposition of
revenues from this tax.
ORDINANCE NO. 717-2016
(Hotel Occupancy Tax) PAGE 3 OF 6
Sec. 2.004 Collection by operator All parties owning, operating, managing or controlling any hotel shall collect the tax imposed in section 2.002 for the city. As used in this article, the term "controlling" includes but is not limited to accepting occupant reservations for rooms in a hotel if the occupant makes or pays a deposit, advance payment, or other service fee associated with or attributable to the use, possession, or any right to use or possess a sleeping room or space, whether or not such charges are separately listed in any invoice, transaction receipt, or other list of charges provided to the occupant.
Sec. 2.005 Reports
(a) Every person required to collect the tax by section 2.004 shall file a
report with the city manager showing: the consideration paid for all sleeping
room or sleeping space occupancies in the preceding month; the amount of
tax collected on such occupancies; and any other useful and relevant
information as the city manager may reasonably require. This report is timely if
filed on the tenth day following the end of each monthly period.
(b) Every person required to collect the tax by section 2.004 shall provide
the city with a copy of all reports related to sleeping room or sleeping space
occupancy filed with the state comptroller . This report is timely filed with the
city if filed no later than 10 days from the last day of each quarterly period.
(c) Persons filing reports under (a) or (b) shall pay the tax due to the city
on such occupancies at the time of filing such report.
Sec. 2.006 Rules and regulations; access to records
The city manager shall have the power to make such rules and regulations as
are necessary to effectively collect the tax levied herein, and the city manager
shall upon reasonable notice have access to books and records necessary to
enable him or her to determine the correctness of any report filed as required
by this article and the amount of taxes due under the provisions of this article .
Sec. 2.007 Penalty; delinquency
(a) If any person shall fail to collect the tax imposed in this article or shall fail
to file a report as required herein, or shall fail to pay to the city manager the
tax as imposed herein when said report or payment is due, or shall file a false
report, then such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon
conviction be punished by a fine of no less than $100.00, but_not to exceed
the sum of $500.00.l. for each offense, and each and every day such offense
ORDINANCE NO. 717-2016
(Hotel Occupancy Tax) PAGE 4 OF 6
shall continue shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense. (b) In addition, such person who fails to remit the tax imposed by section 2.002 within the time required shall forfeit 5% of the amount due as a penalty and after the first 30 days shall forfeit an additional 5% of such tax; provided, however, the penalty shall never be less than $1.00. Delinquent taxes shall draw interest at the rate of 10% per annum beginning 60 days from the date due. (c) The penalties described in subsections (a) and (b) are in addition to other available remedies, including civil suits authorized by subsection 2.008. The
city's prosecution of, or decision not to prosecute, a person failing to timely
remit the tax or file required reports shall have no effect on any other remedy
available to the city.
(d) Payment of any fine or penalty shall not reduce the tax due the city by a
person found to have violated this article.
Sec. 2.008 Suit to enjoin hotel operations
{a) The city manager shall refer any hotel occupancy tax account that has a
delinquent balance older than sixty days to the city attorney for the purpose of
filing a suit to enjoin the hotel owner, operator, manager, and other persons in
control from operating any hotel in the City of Anna until the tax is paid and/or
the appropriate report filed. This remedy shall be in addition to any collection
suit, municipal court criminal complaint, or other remedy available to the City.
(b) The city attorney is authorized to bring suit against a person who is
required to collect the tax imposed by this article and pay the collections over
to the municipality and who has failed to file a tax report or pay the tax when
due to collect the tax not paid or to enjoin the person from operating a hotel in
the municipality until the tax is paid or the report filed, as applicable, as
provided by the court's order. In addition to the amount of tax owed under this
chapter, the person is liable to the municipality for:
(1) The city's reasonable attorney's fees;
(2) The costs of an audit conducted in accordance with Texas Tax
Code, Chapter 351 (as amended), as determined by the city using a
reasonable rate, but only if the tax has been delinquent for at least two
complete quarterly periods at the time the audit is conducted; and
(3)
owed.
A penalty equal to 15 percent of the total amount of the tax
ORDINANCE NO. 717-2016
(Hotel Occupancy Tax) PAGE 5 OF 6
(c) The remedies provided by this section are in addition to other available remedies. The city's filing of suit in accordance with this article shall have no effect on any other remedy available to the city. Section 2.009 Surety bond in lieu of injunction suit The city manager shall not be required to refer a delinquent account to the city attorney for the purpose of enjoining the hotel operators from doing business in the City of Anna if the owner, manager, operator, or other person(s) in control provides an acceptable surety bond in an amount equal to the
municipal hotel occupancy tax collected on behalf of the subject hotel in the
six best net revenue months of the twelve full calendar months immediately
prior to the acquisition of the bond, said bond to ensure payment for a one-
year period, and be updated and approved by the city manager annually if
said hotel operators desire to continue such protection from business-closing
during a period of delinquency.
Section 3. Savings, Severability and Repealing Clauses.
All ordinances of the City in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance a re repealed to
the extent of that conflict. If any provision of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of such ordinance shall continue in full force and effect
the same as if such invalid or unconstitutional provision had never been a part hereof.
The City declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each section ,
subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or
more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, and phrases be declared
unconstitutional or invalid.
Section 4. Publication of the Caption Hereof and Effective Date.
This ordinance shall be in full force and effective from and immediately after its
passage and publication as required by law.
PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of Anna, Texas, this 22nct day
of March 2016.
I I \I \I \I ti II //// I ·
,,,,,,, 0 F ,.q 1111
/.'/ ~
ATTEST: ,"''"'l ....... JV~~;,, APPRQVED: d~ ! ~·u··· ····· .. -v\ /fl ~ ' ~ . . = ~~ , '--~, -~ * ~ ~ * ...... ~,_· -------------
Carrie L. Smith ; City Secretary %. \ /* §Mike Crist, Mayor ~ * ~.. ..· .§'
ORDINANCE NO . 717-2016
(Hotel Occupancy Tax)
~;, .,.~.-.;... r ~ '!.~"" ;f~1t f,,; A. Fl·~ \\\"\ 7f#~f#IJ1tl i1\\\\\\\\
PAGE 6 OF 6