Yuba County Municipal Code Ch. 5.30 Hotel/Motel Surcharge Tax

(Adopted by Ord. No. 1050; Repealed and Adopted new 5.30 by Ord. No. 1301)

Footnotes:

--- (3) ---

State Law reference— Hotel tax, Revenue and Taxation Code § 7280.

For the purposes of this Chapter, the following words and phrases shall, except where the context otherwise requires, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this Section:

(1) County means the County of Yuba, a political subdivision of the State of California.

(2) Hotel.

a. As used in this Chapter "hotel" means any structure, or any portion of any structure, which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy on a temporary basis for lodging or sleeping purposes. Such term includes any hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, bachelor hotel, lodginghouse, roominghouse, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, mobile home or house trailer at a fixed location, or other similar structure or portion thereof.

b. The term "hotel" does not include the following:

1. An organized camp, as that term is defined by Health and Safety Code § 18897.

2. The right of an owner of a timeshare estate in a room or rooms in a timeshare project, or the owner of a membership camping contract in a camping site at a campground, or the guest of the owner, to occupy the room, rooms, camping site, or other real property in which the owner retains that interest, as provided in Revenue and Taxation Code § 7280.

3. Any facilities operated by a local government entity.

4. Any campsite excluded from taxation pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code § 7282.

5. Sites in a privately owned campground or recreational vehicle park.

(3) Occupancy means the temporary use or possession or the right to the temporary use or possession of any one or more rooms, or portion thereof, in any hotel for lodging or sleeping purposes.

(4) Operator means the person who is 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 shall, however, be considered to be compliance by both.

(5) Person means 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.

(6) Rent means 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 and property and services of any kind or nature, without any deduction therefrom whatsoever.

(7) Tax Administrator means the Yuba County Tax Collector.

(8) Temporary means a consecutive period of 30 days or less.

(9) Transient means any person who obtains lodging in any hotel for a period of not more than 30 consecutive days. "Transient" does not include a person who has an agreement with the operator for a week-to-week or month-to-month tenancy, nor does it include a person who has an agreement with the operator for a day-to-day tenancy that has existed in excess of 30 days.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.010; Ord. No. 1301)

(a) For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of ten percent of the rent charged by the operator.

(b) Said tax constitutes a debt owed by the transient to the County which is extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the County. 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.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.020; Ord. No. 1301)

State Law reference— Hotel Occupancy tax authorized, Revenue and Taxation Code § 7280.

No tax levied by this Chapter shall be imposed upon:

(1) Any person as to whom, or any occupancy as to which, it is beyond the power of the County to impose the tax herein provided;

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

(3) 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.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.030; Ord. No. 1301)

State Law reference— Above exemptions authorized, Revenue and Taxation Code § 7280(e).

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 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 by this Chapter.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.040; Ord. No. 1301)

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

(1) 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 or 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 mid-year registration. Such Annual Registration Certificate shall, among other things, state the following:

a. Name and address of the hotel.

b. Name of the operator.

c. Name and address of owners.

d. Registration certificate number and date issued.

(2) 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.

(3) The Annual 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 tax is due.

(4) The operator named on the face of the Annual Registration Certificate shall be responsible to collect from transients the tax and to remit such tax to the Tax Administrator. This certificate does not authorize any person to conduct any unlawful 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 in this County.

(5) The Tax Administrator is authorized to collect a fee for issuance of the Annual Registration Certificate provided such a fee is adopted by the Yuba County Board of Supervisors.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.050; Ord. No. 1301)

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 or 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 collected shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator. The Tax Administrator may establish shorter reporting periods for any certificate holder if the Tax Administrator deems it necessary in order to insure collection of the tax. The Tax Administrator may also require the operator to provide additional 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 County until payment thereof is made to the Tax Administrator.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.060; Ord. No. 1301)

(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 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 30 days following the date on which the remittance first became delinquent shall pay a second delinquency penalty of ten percent of the amount of the tax in addition to the amount of the tax and the ten 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 25 percent of the amount of the tax shall be added thereto in addition to the penalties stated in Subsections (a) and (b) of this Section.

(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 1½ 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 Section shall become a part of the tax required by this Chapter to be paid.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.070; Ord. No. 1301)

(a) 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 or she may deem best to obtain 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 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, the Tax Administrator 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 a 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 at the operator's last known place of address.

(b) Such operator may within ten 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 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 said amount specified therein should not be fixed for such tax, interest and penalties.

(c) At such hearing, the operator may appear and offer evidence why such specified tax, interest and penalties should not be so fixed.

(d) After such hearing the Tax Administrator shall determine the proper tax to be remitted and shall thereafter give written notice to the operator 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 taken as provided in Section 5.30.120.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.080; Ord. No. 1301)

In addition to any other provision contained in this Chapter, the Yuba County Treasurer/Tax Collector is hereby authorized to collect taxes pursuant to the procedures authorized for the collection of delinquent unsecured taxes as set forth in Revenue and Taxation Code Div. 1, Pt. 5, Ch. 4, Art. 2 (Revenue and Taxation Code § 2951 et seq.).

(Prior Code, § 5.30.085; Ord. No. 1301)

State Law reference— Authority to establish collection procedures for delinquent tax, Revenue and Taxation Code § 7283.

It shall be the duty of every operator liable for the collection and payment to the County of any tax imposed by this Chapter to keep and preserve, for a period of four years, all records that may be necessary to determine the amount of the tax the operator is liable to collect and remit to the County pursuant to this Chapter. As a minimum, the records deemed necessary for this determination shall be a chronological cash journal showing the tax and room rate separately or other comparable means of summarizing the operator's monthly or quarterly revenue, supported by room registrations, which may, with reasonable effort, be identified with the revenue summary. These records shall be available, at all times, for inspection by the County Tax Collector, Auditor-Controller or Assessor, including their designees and consultants employed for the purposes of auditing these records. Absent consent of the operator to voluntarily make the records available, these County officers shall obtain an inspection warrant from the Yuba County Superior Court. Performance of an audit does not waive the County's right to any tax or the four-year requirement of preserving records.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.090; Ord. No. 1301)

(a) Filing of claim. Whenever the amount of any tax, interest, or penalty has been overpaid or paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the County under this Chapter, the operator so paying may have such amount applied to subsequent taxes due or it may be refunded as provided in this Section if, within three years after the date of payment, the operator files with the Tax Collector in writing a claim therefor. In such claim the operator shall state, under penalty of perjury, the specific grounds and specific facts upon which the claim is founded. The claims shall be on forms furnished by the Tax Collector.

(b) Credit to operator. An operator may take as credit against subsequent taxes 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 Collector that the person from whom the tax was collected was not a transient and that 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) Refund to operator. When an operator establishes a right to a credit as provided in this Section and also shows to the satisfaction of the Tax Collector either that he or she no longer is operating a hotel in the unincorporated area of the County or will cease such operation before the credit can be applied, and files a proper claim therefor, in lieu of such credit the County shall refund to such operator the amount overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received.

(d) Refund to guest. A transient or other guest of a hotel may obtain a refund of taxes overpaid or paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the County by filing a claim in the manner provided herein, if the tax was paid by the transient or other guest directly to the Tax Collector, of if the transient or other guest has paid the tax to the operator, and establishes to the satisfaction of the Tax Collector that the transient or other guest has been unable to obtain a refund from the operator who collected the tax.

(e) Written records. A refund shall not be paid pursuant to this Section unless the claimant establishes his or her right thereto by written records showing that he or she is entitled thereto.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.100; Ord. No. 1274)

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

(Prior Code, § 5.30.110; Ord. No. 1301)

(a) 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 Board of Supervisors by filing a notice of appeal with the Clerk of the Board within 15 days of the serving or mailing of the determination of tax due as provided by Section 5.30.080. The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors shall fix a time and place for the Board of Supervisors to hear such appeal, and shall give notice of the hearing in writing to such operator at his/her last known place of address. The findings of the Board of Supervisors shall be final and conclusive and shall be served upon the appellant in writing within 30 days of said hearing. Any amount found to be due shall be immediately due and payable upon the service of notice of findings.

(b) The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors is authorized to charge and collect a fee to cover the cost associated with hearing the appeal provided such a fee is adopted by the Yuba County Board of Supervisors

(Prior Code, § 5.30.120; Ord. No. 1301)

(a) It shall be unlawful to violate any provision of this Chapter. Every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who:

(1) Fails or refuses to register as required by this Chapter;

(2) Fails or refuses to furnish any return required to be made, or fails or refuses to furnish other data required herein by the Tax Collector or tax Administrator;

(3) Renders a false or fraudulent return;

(4) If required by this Chapter to make, render, sign or verify any report or claim, makes any false or fraudulent report or claim with intent to defeat or evade the determination of any amount due;

(5) Collects the tax due pursuant to this Chapter from any transient and fails to pay the same to the County;

(6) Violates in any way any other provision of this Chapter.

(b) Violation of any provision of this Chapter is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(Prior Code, § 5.30.130; Ord. No. 1301)

State Law reference— Penalties for ordinance violations, Government Code § 25132, Penal Code § 19.

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, provision or portion of this Chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or provisions of this Chapter or their applicability to distinguishable situations or circumstances. In enacting this Chapter, it is the desire of the Board of Supervisors to validly regulate to the full measure of its legal authority in the public interest, and to that end, the Board of Supervisors declares that it would have adopted this Chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, provision, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions thereof might be declared invalid or unconstitutional in whole or in part, as applied to any particular situation or circumstances, and to this end the provisions of this Chapter are intended to be severable.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 23.