Huntington Park Municipal Code Ch. 8 Transient Occupancy Taxes

Note: Prior history: Sections 3-8.01 through 3-8.14, as added by Ordinance No. 158-NS, effective March 9, 1977, amended in their entirety by Ordinance No. 386-NS, effective September 4, 1985.

This chapter shall be known as the "Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Law" of the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

"Hotel"

shall mean any structure, or any portion of any structure, which is occupied, or intended or designed for occupancy, by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes and shall include any hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, bachelor hotel, lodging house, rooming house, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, mobile home or house trailer at a fixed location, or other similar structure, or portion thereof.

"Occupancy"

shall mean the use or possession, or the right to the use or possession, of any room, or portion thereof, in any hotel for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes.

"Operator"

shall mean the person who is the proprietor of the hotel, whether in the capacity of owner, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee, or any other capacity. Where the operator performs his or her functions through a managing agent of any type or character other than an employee, the managing agent shall also be deemed an operator for the purposes of this chapter and shall have the same duties and liabilities as his or her principal. Compliance with the provisions of this chapter by either the principal or the managing agent, however, shall be considered to be compliance by both.

"Person"

shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.

"Rent"

shall mean the consideration charged, whether or not received, for the occupancy of space in a hotel valued in money, whether to be received in money, goods, labor, or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, property, and services of any kind or nature, without any deduction therefrom whatsoever.

"Tax Administrator"

shall mean the Director of Finance of the City.

"Transient"

shall mean any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license, time-share arrangement or ownership or agreement, or other agreement of whatever nature, for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of calendar days as full days. Any such person so occupying space in a hotel shall be deemed to be a transient if his or her actual total period of occupancy does not exceed 30 days. Unless days of occupancy or entitlement to occupancy by one person are consecutive without any break, then prior or subsequent periods of such occupancy or entitlement to occupancy shall not be counted when determining whether a period exceeds the stated 30 calendar days.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985, as amended by § 2 (115), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)

For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient shall be subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of 5% of the rent charged by the operator. Such tax shall constitute a debt owed by the transient to the City, which debt shall be extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the City. The transient shall pay the tax to the operator of the hotel at the time the rent is paid. If the rent is paid in installments, a proportionate share of the tax shall be paid with each installment. The unpaid tax shall be due upon the transient's ceasing to occupy space in the hotel. If for any reason the tax due is not paid to the operator of the hotel, the Tax Administrator may require that such tax shall be paid directly to the Tax Administrator.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

No tax shall be imposed upon:

(a) Any person as to whom, or any occupancy as to which, it is beyond the power of the City to impose the tax provided for in this chapter;

(b) Any Federal or State officer or employee when on official business; or

(c) Any officer or employee of a foreign government, which officer or employee is exempt by reason of express provisions of Federal law or international treaty.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

Each operator shall collect the tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter to the same extent and at the same time as the rent is collected from every transient. The amount of the tax shall be separately stated from the amount of the rent charged, and each transient shall receive a receipt for payment from the operator. No operator of a hotel shall advertise or state in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, that the tax, or any part thereof, will be assumed or absorbed by the operator, or that it will not be added to the rent, or that, if added, any part will be refunded, except in the manner provided in this chapter.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

Within 30 days after commencing business, each operator of any hotel renting an occupancy to transients shall register such hotel with the Tax Administrator and obtain from him or her a "Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate" which shall at all times be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. Such certificate, among other things, shall set forth the following information:

(a) The name of the operator;

(b) The address of the hotel;

(c) The date upon which the certificate was issued; and

(d) A statement as follows: "This Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate signifies that the person named on the face hereof has fulfilled the requirements of the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Law by registering with the Tax Administrator for the purpose of collecting from transients the Transient Occupancy Tax and remitting such tax to the Tax Administrator. This certificate shall not authorize any person to conduct any lawful business or to conduct any lawful business in an unlawful manner, nor to operate a hotel without strictly complying with all local applicable laws, including, but not limited to, those requiring a permit from any board, commission, department, or office of this City. This certificate shall not constitute a permit."

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

The tax imposed by Section 3-8.03 of this chapter shall:

(a) Be due to the Tax Administrator at the time it is collected by the operator; and

(b) Become delinquent and subject to penalties if not received by the Tax Administrator on or before the last working day of the month following the close of each calendar month.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

(a) Original delinquencies. Any operator who shall fail to remit any tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter within the time required shall pay a penalty in the amount of 10% of the tax, in addition to the amount of the tax.

(b) Continued delinquencies. Any operator who shall fail to remit any delinquent remittance on or before a period of 30 days following the date on which the remittance first became delinquent shall pay a second delinquency penalty in the amount of 10% of the tax, in addition to the amount of the tax and the 10% penalty first imposed.

(c) Fraud. If the Tax Administrator shall determine that the nonpayment of any remittance due pursuant to the provisions of this chapter is due to fraud, a penalty in the amount of 100 percent of the amount of the tax shall be added thereto, in addition to the penalties set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

(d) Interest. In addition to the penalties imposed, any operator who shall fail to remit any tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter shall pay interest at the rate of one percent per month, or fraction thereof, on the amount of the tax, exclusive of penalties, from the date on which the remittance first became delinquent until paid.

(e) Penalties and interest merged with tax. Every penalty imposed, and such interest as accrues, pursuant to the provisions of this section shall become a part of the tax required to be paid by the provisions of this chapter.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

If any operator shall fail or refuse to collect such tax and to make, within the time provided in this chapter, any report and remittance of such tax, or any portion thereof, required by the provisions of this chapter, the Tax Administrator shall proceed in such manner as he or she may deem best to obtain the facts and information on which to base his or her estimate of the tax due. As soon as the Tax Administrator shall procure such facts and information as he or she is able to obtain upon which to base the assessment of any such tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter and payable by any operator who has failed or refused to collect the tax and to make such report and remittance, the Tax Administrator shall proceed to determine and assess against such operator the tax, interest, and penalties provided for by the provisions of this chapter. In the event such determination is made, the Tax Administrator shall give notice of the amount so assessed by serving it personally or by depositing it in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the operator so assessed at his or her last known place of address. Such operator, within 10 days after the service or mailing of such notice, may make an application in writing to the Tax Administrator for a hearing on the amount assessed. If an application by the operator for a hearing is not made within the time prescribed, the tax, interest, and penalties, if any, determined by the Tax Administrator shall become final and conclusive and immediately due and payable. If such an application is made, the Tax Administrator shall give not less than five days' written notice in the manner prescribed in this section to the operator to show cause at a time and place fixed in such notice why the amount specified therein should not be fixed for such tax, interest, and penalties. At such hearing the operator may appear and offer evidence why such specified tax, interest, and penalties should not be so fixed. After such hearing the Tax Administrator shall determine the proper tax to be remitted and shall thereafter give written notice to the person in the manner prescribed in this section of such determination and the amount of such tax, interest, and penalties. The amount determined to be due shall be payable after 15 days, unless an appeal is filed as provided in Section 3-8.11 of this chapter.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

Each operator shall notify the Tax Administrator 10 days prior to the sale or cessation of business for any reason, and returns and remittances shall be due immediately upon the sale or cessation of business.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

Any operator aggrieved by any decision of the Tax Administrator with respect to the amount of such tax, interest, and penalties, if any, may appeal to the Council by filing a notice of appeal with the City Clerk within 15 days after the service or mailing of the determination of the tax due. The Council shall fix a time and place for hearing such appeal, and the City Clerk shall give notice in writing to such operator at his or her last known place of address. The findings of the Council shall be final and conclusive and shall be served upon the appellant in the manner prescribed in this chapter for the service of a notice of hearing. Any amount found to be due shall be immediately due and payable upon the service of notice.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

It shall be the duty of every operator liable for the collection and payment to the City of any tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter to keep and preserve, for a period of three years after the date any such tax is due and payable, all records as may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax as he or she may have been liable for the collection of and payment to the City, which records the Tax Administrator shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times during regular business hours.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

(a) Whenever the amount of any tax, interest, or penalty has been overpaid, or paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, such amount may be refunded as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section provided a claim in writing therefor, stating under penalty of perjury the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded, is filed with the Tax Administrator within three years after the date of payment. The claim shall be on forms furnished by the Tax Administrator.

(b) Any operator may claim a refund or take as credit against taxes collected and remitted the amount overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received when it is established in a manner prescribed by the Tax Administrator that the person from whom the tax has been collected was not a transient; provided, however, neither a refund nor a credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax so collected has either been refunded to the transient or credited to rent subsequently payable by the transient to the operator.

(c) A transient may obtain a refund of taxes overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City by filing a claim in the manner provided in subsection (a) of this section, but only when the tax was paid by the transient directly to the Tax Administrator, or when the transient, having paid the tax to the operator, establishes to the satisfaction of the Tax Administrator that the transient has been unable to obtain a refund from the operator who collected the tax.

(d) No refund shall be paid pursuant to the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his or her right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

Whenever any operator fails to comply with any provision of this chapter relating to the transient occupancy tax or any rule or regulation of the Tax Administrator relating to such tax prescribed and adopted by this chapter, the Tax Administrator, upon a hearing, after giving the operator 10 days' written notice in writing specifying the time and place of the hearing and requiring him or her to show cause why his or her permit or permits should not be revoked, may suspend or revoke any one or more of the permits held by the operator. The Tax Administrator shall give to the operator written notice of the suspension or revocation of any of his or her permits. The notices required by this section may be served personally or by mail in the manner prescribed for the service of a notice of a deficiency determination. The Tax Administrator shall not issue a new permit after the revocation of a permit unless he or she is satisfied that the former holder of the permit will comply with the provisions of this chapter relating to the transient occupancy tax and the regulations of the Tax Administrator.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

During any period of time during which a permit has not been issued, or is suspended, revoked, or otherwise not validly in effect, the Tax Administrator may require that the hotel be closed.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

If any amount required to be remitted or paid to the City pursuant to this chapter is not remitted or paid when due, the Tax Administrator, within three years after the amount is due, may file for record in the office of the County Recorder a certificate specifying the amount of tax, penalties, and interest due, the name and address, as they appear on the records of the Tax Administrator, of the operator liable for the same, and the fact that the Tax Administrator has complied with all the provisions of this chapter in the determination of the amount required to be remitted and paid. From the time of the filing for record, the amount required to be remitted, together with penalties and interest, shall constitute a lien upon all real property in the County owned by the operator or afterwards and before the lien expires acquired by him. The lien shall have the force, effect, and priority of a judgment lien and shall continue for 10 years after the time of the filing of the certificate, unless sooner released or otherwise discharged.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

The amounts required to be remitted and/or paid by any operator pursuant to this chapter, with penalties and interest, shall be satisfied first in any of the following cases:

(a) Whenever the person is insolvent;

(b) Whenever the person makes a voluntary assignment of his assets;

(c) Whenever the estate of the person in the hands of executors, administrators, or heirs is insufficient to pay all of the debts due from the deceased; and

(d) Whenever the estate and effects of an absconding, concealed, or absent person required to pay any amount pursuant to this chapter is levied upon by process law. This chapter shall not give the City a preference over any recorded lien which attached prior to the date when the amounts required to be paid became a lien.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

At any time within three years after any operator is delinquent in the remittance or payment of any amount required by this chapter to be remitted or paid, or within three years after the last recording of a certificate pursuant to Section 3-8.16 of this chapter, the Tax Administrator may issue a warrant for the enforcement of any lien and for the collection of any amount required to be paid to the City pursuant to this chapter. The warrant shall be directed to any sheriff or marshal and shall have the same effect as a writ of execution. The warrant shall be levied and the sale made pursuant to it in the same manner with the same effect as a writ of execution. The Tax Administrator may pay or advance to the sheriff or marshal the same fees, commissions, and expenses for his or her services as are provided by law for similar services pursuant to a writ of execution. The Tax Administrator, and not the court, shall approve the fees for publication in a newspaper.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

At any time within three years after any operator is delinquent in the remittance or payment of any amount due pursuant to this chapter, the Tax Administrator may forthwith collect the amount in the following manner: the Tax Administrator shall seize any property, real or personal, of the operator and sell the property, or a sufficient part of it, at a public auction to pay the amount due, together with any penalties and interest imposed for the delinquency and any costs incurred on account of the seizure and sale. Any seizure made to collect transient occupancy taxes due shall be only of property of the operator not exempt from execution under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure of the State.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

If any operator liable for any amount pursuant to this chapter sells out his or her business or quits the business, his or her successors or assigns shall withhold sufficient of the purchase price to cover such amount until the former owner produces a receipt from the Tax Administrator showing that the amount has been paid or a certificate stating that no amount is due.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

If the purchaser of a hotel fails to withhold the purchase price as required, he or she shall become personally liable for the payment of the amount required to be withheld by him or her to the extent of the purchase price, valued in money. Within 60 days after receiving a written request from the purchaser for a certificate, or within 60 days after the date the former owner's records are made available for audit, whichever period expires last, but in any event not later than 90 days after receiving the request, the Tax Administrator shall either issue the certificate or mail a notice to the purchaser at his or her address as it appears on the records of the Tax Administrator of the amount which shall be paid as a condition of issuing the certificate. Failure of the Tax Administrator to mail the notice will release the purchaser from any further obligation to withhold the purchase price as provided in this section. The time within which the obligation of the successor may be enforced shall start to run at the time the operator sells his or her business or at the time the determination against the operator becomes final, whichever occurs last.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

If any person or operator is delinquent in the remittance or payment of the amount required to be remitted or paid by him or her pursuant to this chapter, or in the event a determination has been made against him or her for the remittance of the tax and the payment of the penalty, the City, within three years after the tax obligation became due, may give notice thereof by personal delivery to the hotel or by registered mail to all persons, including the State or any political subdivision thereof, having in their possession or under their control any credits or other personal property belonging to the taxpayer. After receiving the withholding notice, the person so notified shall make no disposition of the taxpayer's credits, other personal property, or debts until the City consents to a transfer or disposition or until 60 days elapse after the receipt of the notice, whichever expires earlier. All persons, upon the receipt of such notice, shall advise the City immediately of all such credits, other personal property, or debts in their possession, under their control, or owing by them. If the notice seeks to prevent the transfer or other disposition of a deposit in a bank or other credits or personal property in the possession or under the control of the bank, to be effective the notice shall be delivered or mailed to the branch or office of the bank at which the deposit is carried or at which the credits or personal property is held. If any person so notified makes a transfer or disposition of the property or debts required to be held pursuant to this section during the effective period of the notice to withhold, he or she shall be liable to the City to the extent of the value of the release up to the amount of the indebtedness owed by the taxpayer to the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

The Tax Administrator, for good cause, may extend for not to exceed one month the time for making any return or paying any amount required to be paid pursuant to this chapter. The extension may be granted at any time provided a request therefor is filed with the Tax Administrator within or prior to the period for which the extension may be granted. Any person to whom an extension is granted shall pay, in addition to the tax, interest at the rate of one percent per month, or fraction thereof, from the date on which the tax would have been due without the extension until the date of payment.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

It shall be unlawful for any person having an administrative duty pursuant to this chapter to make known in any manner whatever the business affairs, operations, or information obtained by an investigation of the records of any operator or any other person visited or examined in the discharge of his or her official duty, or the amount or source of income, profits, losses, or expenditures, or any particular thereof, set forth or disclosed in any return, or to knowingly permit any return, or copy thereof, or any abstract, or particular thereof, to be seen or examined by any person. Successors, receivers, trustees, executors, administrators, assignees, and guarantors, if directly interested, may be given information as to the items included in the amount of any unpaid tax or amounts of tax, penalties, and interest required to be collected.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)

(a) Except for the failure of an operator to pay to the Tax Administrator taxes collected pursuant to this chapter, which failure to pay shall be punishable as a felony pursuant to Section 424 of the Penal Code of the State, every violation of this chapter shall be a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not exceeding $500, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(b) If the offense is not otherwise punishable as set forth in subsection (a) of this section, any person wilfully failing to comply with, or knowingly violating, any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) Any operator or other person who wilfully fails or refuses to register as required by this chapter, or to furnish any return required to be made, or who fails or refuses to furnish a supplemental return or other data required by the Tax Administrator, or who renders a false or fraudulent return or claim shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person required to make, render, sign, or verify any report or claim who wilfully makes any false or fraudulent report or claim with intent to defeat or evade the determination of any amount due required by this chapter to be made shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Such misdemeanor shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(§ 1, Ord. 386-NS, eff. September 4, 1985)