Windsor Municipal Code Art. 2 General

For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of twelve (12%) percent of the rent charged by the operator. The tax constitutes a debt owed by the transient to the Town, which is extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the Town. 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 by the transient or the operator.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 2; Ord. No. 2003-173 § 2; Ord. No. 2008-248 § 1)

No tax levied by this chapter shall be imposed upon:

a. Any person as to whom, or any occupancy as to which, it is beyond the power of the Town to impose the tax herein provided;

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

c. Any officer or employee of a foreign government who is exempt by reason of express provision of Federal law or international treaty.

No exemption shall be granted except upon a claim therefor made at the time rent is collected and under penalty of perjury upon a form prescribed by the Tax Administrator.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 3)

Each operator shall collect the tax imposed by this chapter to the same extent and at the same time as the rent is collected from every transient. The amount of tax shall be separately stated from the amount of the rent charged, and each transient shall receive a receipt for payment from the operator.

Hosting platforms shall be responsible for collecting all applicable taxes imposed by this section. The hosting platform shall be considered an agent of the host for purposes of tax collections and remittance responsibilities, and shall have the same responsibilities as an operator as set forth in this section.

No operator of a hotel or hosting platform 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 by this chapter.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 4)

(Ord. No. 2023-379, § 9, 6-21-2023)

In order that the Town will have an accurate record of parties collecting transient occupancy tax, each hotel operator will be required to register as hereinafter provided.

a. Prior to commencing business and annually thereafter during the month of January of each year, each operator of any hotel renting occupancy to transients shall register such hotel with the Tax Administrator and obtain from him/her an annual registration certificate to be at all times posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. Registration shall be on a calendar year basis, i.e., from January 1 through December 31, or balance of calendar year in the instance of a midyear registration. Such annual registration certificate shall, among other things, state the following:

1. Name and address of the hotel.

2. Name of the operator.

3. Name and address of owners.

4. Registration certificate number and date issued.

b. Failure to register prior to commencement of business or failure to re-register in the month of January in any year of continued operation, as above provided, shall be a misdemeanor.

c. The registration certificate shall not be transferable, and shall be returned to the Tax Administrator upon sale of property or cessation of business along with the final remittance of transient taxes due.

d. The operator named on the face of this registration certificate shall be responsible to collect from transients the transient occupancy tax and remitting such tax to the Tax Administrator. This certificate does not authorize any person to conduct any unlawful business or to conduct any lawful business in an unlawful manner, not 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 in this Town.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 5)

Each operator shall, on or before the last day of the month following the close of each calendar quarter, or at the close of any shorter reporting period which may be established by the Tax Administrator, make a return to the Tax Administrator, on forms provided by him/her, of the total rents charged and received and the amount of tax collected for transient occupancies. At the time the return is filed, the full amount of the tax charged, or should have been charged, whichever is greater, shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator. The Tax Administrator may establish shorter reporting periods for any certificate holder if he/she deems it necessary in order to insure collection of the tax and he/she may require further information in the return. Returns and payments are due immediately upon cessation of business for any reason. All taxes collected by operators pursuant to this chapter shall be held in trust for the account of the Town until payment thereof is made to the Tax Administrator. The Tax Administrator reserves the right to perform or have performed an audit of the operator's records and any deficiency will be subject to penalty of ten (10%) percent plus the tax deficiency plus interest.

(Ord. No. 2003-173 §§ 3 and 4; Ord. No. 92-05 § 6)

a. Original Delinquency. Any operator who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter within the time required shall pay a penalty of ten (10%) percent of the amount of the tax in addition to the amount of the tax.

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

c. Fraud. If the Tax Administrator determines that the nonpayment of any remittance due under this chapter is due to fraud, a penalty of twenty-five (25%) percent of the amount of the tax shall be added thereto in addition to the penalties stated in paragraphs a. and b. of this subsection.

d. Interest. In addition to the penalties imposed, any operator who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter shall pay interest at the rate of one and one-half (1-½%) percent per month on the unpaid balance of the tax, including penalties, from the date on which the remittance first became delinquent until paid.

e. Penalties Merged with Tax. Every penalty imposed and such interest as accrues under the provisions of this article shall become a part of the tax required by this chapter to be paid.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 7)

If any operator shall fail or refuse to collect the tax levied by this chapter and to make, within the time provided in this chapter, any report and remittance of such tax or any portion thereof required by this chapter, the Tax Administrator shall proceed in such manner as he/she may deem best to obtain facts and information on which to base his/her estimate of the tax due. As soon as the tax imposed by this chapter and payable by any operator who has failed or refused to collect the same and to make such report and remittance, he/she shall proceed to determine and assess against such operator the tax, interest and penalties provided for by this chapter. In case 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 assessed to his/her last known place of address.

Such operator may within ten (10) days after the serving or mailing of such notice make application in writing to the Tax Administrator for a hearing on the amount assessed. If 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 application is made, the Tax Administrator shall give not less than five (5) day's written notice, in the manner prescribed herein, 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 herein, of such determination and the amount of such tax, interest and penalties. The amount determined to be due shall be payable after fifteen (15) days unless an appeal is taken as provided in Section 2-3-250.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 8)

It shall be the duty of every operator liable for the collection and payment to the Town of any tax imposed by this chapter to keep and preserve, for a period of five (5) years, all records that may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax as he/she may have been liable for the collection of payments to the Town under this chapter. As a minimum, the records deemed necessary for this determination shall be a chronological cash journal showing tax and room rate separately, or other comparable means of summarizing the operator's monthly or quarterly review, supported by room registrations, which may, with reasonable effort, be identified with the review summary. These records shall be available, at all times, for inspection by the Town Tax Administrator. Performance of an audit does not waive the Town's right to any tax or the five (5) year requirement of preserving records.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 9)

a. Whenever the amount of any tax, interest or penalty imposed by or under this chapter has been overpaid or paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the Town under this chapter, it may be refunded as provided in paragraphs b. and c. of this section; provided that 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 (3) years of the date of payment. The claim shall be on forms furnished by the Tax Administrator.

b. An 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, that 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 or paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the Town by filing a claim in the manner provided in subsection a. of this subsection, 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 under the provisions of this subsection unless the claimant establishes his/her right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 10)

Any tax required to be paid by any transient under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a debt owed by the transient to the Town. Any such tax collected by an operator which has not been paid to the Town shall be deemed a debt owed by the operator to the Town. Any person owing money to the Town under the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to an action brought in the name of the Town for the recovery of such amount.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 11)

Any operator aggrieved by any decision of the Tax Administrator with respect to the amount of the tax imposed by this chapter and interest and penalties, if any, may appeal to the Town Council by filing a notice of appeal with the Town Clerk within fifteen (15) days of the serving or mailing of the determination of tax due as provided by Section 2-3-230. The Town Council shall fix a time and place for hearing such appeal, and the Town Clerk shall give notice in writing to such operator at his/her last known place of address. The findings of the Town Council shall be final and conclusive and shall be served upon the appellant in the manner prescribed in Section 2-3-230 for service of notice of hearing. Any amount found to be due shall be immediately due and payable upon the service of notice.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 12)

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any operator or other person who fails or refuses to register as required in 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, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any person required to made, render, sign or verify any report or claim who makes any false or fraudulent report of claim with intent to defeat or evade the determination of any amount due required by this chapter to be made, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable as aforesaid.

(Ord. No. 92-05 § 13)