Ordinance - 1760ORDINANCE NO. 1760
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA AMENDING CHAPTER
21, ARTICLE III, OF THE WEST COVINA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING
• TO TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAXES.
The City Council of the City of West Covina does hereby ordain as follows:
Section 1. Section 21-44 of the West Covina Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
"Section 21-44. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, certain words and phrases are
defined and shall be construed as herein set forth unless it is apparent
from the context that a different meaning is intended.
Hotel means 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 includes 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 all for the temporary use of a transient
individual who remains as a guest of such establishment less than thirty
(30) days, but shall not include jails, hospitals, asylums, sanitariums,
orphanages, prisons, detention homes and similar buildings where human
beings are housed and detained under a legal restraint.
Occupancy means the use or possession, or the right to use or
possession of any room or rooms or portion thereof, in any hotel for
dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.
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 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 article and shall have the same duties and liabilities as his
principal. Compliance with the provisions of this article by either
the principal or the managing agent shall, however, be considered to
be compliance by both.
Register means such records, receipts, invoices and other pertinent
papers in s Iforms as the tax administrator may require which reflect
the name, home street and city of each and every guest or person renting
or occupying a room therein together with the number of each room assigned,
the time at which the room was rented, and the time at which the room
was vacated by the guest.
Rent means the consideration charged, whether or not received,
for the occupancy of space in a hotel valued 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.
Tax administrator means the finance officer of the city, or his
designee, who is charged with the administration of the tax.
•
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Transient means any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled
to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license
or other agreement for a period of less than thirty (30) consecutive
calendar days, counting portions of calendar days as full days. Any
• such person so occupying space in a hotel shall be deemed to be a transient
until the period of twenty-nine (29) days has expired. In determining
whether a person is a transient, uninterrupted periods of time extending
both prior and subsequent to the effective date of this article may
be considered."
Section 2. Section 21-49 of the West Covina Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
"Section 21-49. Reporting and remitting.
(a) Each operator on or before the last day of the month following
the close of each calendar month, commencing January 1, 1988, or at
the close of any shorter reporting period which may be established
by the tax administrator, shall make a return to the tax administrator,
on forms provided by him, 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 he deems it
necessary in order to insure collection of the tax and he may require
further information in the return.
(b) Returns and payments are due immediately upon cessation of
business for any reason. All taxes collected by operators pursuant
to this article shall be held in trust for the account of the city
until payment thereof is made to the tax administrator.
(c) If any operator liable for any amount under this Section,
sells out his or her business or quits the business, the operator's
successors or assignees shall withhold sufficient of the purchase price
to cover such amount until the former owner produces either a receipt
from the tax administrator showing that the taxes have been paid, or
a certificate stating that no amount is due.
(d) If the purchaser of a business fails to withhold the purchase
price as required, such purchaser becomes personally liable for the
payment of the amount required to be withheld by the purchaser to the
extent of the purchase price, valued in money.
(e) The tax administrator, or his authorized designee, in the
exercise of the duties imposed upon him under this article, shall have
the authority to perform audits of all relevant hotel records to ascertain
whether the provisions of this article have been complied with fully.
(f) If any person fails to furnish any information or records
required by this article upon demand by the tax administrator, the
tax administrator may issue a subpoena demanding that such person supply
the requested information or records. The subpoena shall specifically
identify the information or records sought, and indicate the place,
date, and time at which the information or records must be presented.
If any person fails to comply with a regularly issued subpoena, the
tax administrator may apply to the Superior Court for an order requiring
compliance with the subpoena.
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Section 3. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall certify
to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be
published in the manner prescribed by law.
•
ATTEST:
PASSED and APPROVED this 23rd day of
City C rk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS
CITY OF WEST COVINA )
November , 1987.
Mayor
I, Helene M. Mooney , City Clerk of the City of West Covina,
do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1760 was regularly introduced
and placed upon its first reading at the regular meeting of the City Council
on the 9th day of November , 1987. That, thereafter, said Ordinance
was duly adopted and passed at a regular meeting of the City Council on the 23rd
day of November , 1987, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Tennant, Bacon, Manners, Chappell
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Shearer
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney
•
City Clerk
CERTIFICATION
I, JANET BERRY, Deputy City Clerk of the City of West Covina, State
of California, do hereby certify that a true and accurate copy of
Ordinance No. was published, pursuant to law, in the San
• Gabriel Valley Tribune, a newspaper of general circulation published
and circulated in the City of West Covina.
Janet Berry, City Clerk
City of West Covina, Cal6rornia
DATED: s/.i'�4r