[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Hopatcong 9-2-2009 by Ord. No. 31-2009. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Taxation — See Ch. 215.
It is the purpose of this article to implement the provision
of P.L. 2003, c. 114 (N.J.S.A. 40:48F-1), which authorizes the governing
body of a municipality to adopt an ordinance imposing a tax at a uniform
percentage rate not to exceed 3% on charges of rent for every occupancy
of a room or rooms in a hotel subject to taxation pursuant to Subsection
(d) of Section 3 of P.L. 1966, c. 40 (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3) which shall
be in addition to any other tax or fee imposed pursuant to statute
or local ordinance or resolution by any governmental entity upon the
occupancy of a hotel room.
There is hereby established a hotel and motel room occupancy
tax in the Borough of Hopatcong which shall be fixed at a uniform
percentage rate of 3% on charges of rent for every occupancy of a
hotel or motel room in the Borough of Hopatcong on or after January
1, 2009, of a room or rooms subject to taxation pursuant to Subsection
(d) of Section 3 of P.L. 1966, c. 40, N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3 (sales tax);
see also N.J.S.A. 40:48F-1 (regarding ninety-day implementation and
amendment requirements).
The hotel and motel room occupancy tax shall be in addition
to any other tax or fee imposed pursuant to statute or local ordinance
or resolution by any governmental entity upon the occupancy of a hotel
room.
The hotel and motel room occupancy tax authorized herein shall
not be imposed on the rent for an occupancy if the purchaser, user
or consumer is an entity exempt from the tax imposed on an occupancy
under the Sales and Use Tax Act pursuant to Subsection (a) of Section
9 of P.L. 1966, c. 30 (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-9).
The following words and terms, when used in this article, shall
have the following meanings pursuant to N.J.A.C. 18:24-3.2, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
A building or portion thereof which is regularly used and
kept open as such for the purpose of furnishing sleeping accommodations
and related services for pay to tourists, transients, or travelers.
It includes, but is not limited to, the following:
An apartment hotel or motel, bed-and-breakfast, motel, inn,
tourist home, tourist house or court, tourist cabin and club;
A boardinghouse or rooming house containing eight or more units;
and
Any other building or group of buildings in which sleeping accommodations are normally available to the public on a transient basis, excluding those properties that are registered as a short-term rental property or that satisfy the definition of a short-term rental property, as such term is defined in Chapter 189, entitled "Short-Term Rentals," of the Code of the Borough of Hopatcong.
[Amended 5-20-2020 by Ord. No. 9-2020]
Any portion of a building which is, or may be, rented or
leased separately to any individual or family.
The hotel and motel room occupancy tax shall be administered
in conformance with the requirements of P.L. 2003, c. 114:
A.
All taxes imposed by this article shall be paid by the purchaser.
B.
A hotel or motel establishment (hereinafter "vendor") shall not assume
or absorb any tax imposed by this article.
C.
A vendor shall not in any manner advertise or hold out to any person
or to the public in general, in any manner, directly or indirectly,
that the tax will be assumed or absorbed by the vendor, that the tax
will not be separately charged and stated to the customer, or that
the tax will be refunded to the customer.
D.
Each assumption or absorption by a vendor of the tax shall be deemed
a separate offense and each representation or advertisement by a vendor
for each day that the representation or advertisement continues shall
be deemed a separate offense.
E.
The penalty for violation of the foregoing provisions shall be up
to $1,500 for each offense.
The tax imposed by this article shall be collected on behalf
of the Borough by the person collecting the rent from the hotel or
motel customer. Each person required to collect the tax herein imposed
shall be personally liable for the tax imposed, collected or required
to be collected hereunder. Any such person shall have the same right
in respect to collecting the tax from a customer as if the tax were
a part of the rent and payable at the same time; provided that the
chief financial officer of the Borough shall be joined as a party
in any action or proceeding brought to collect the tax.
A.
Every person required to collect the hotel and motel tax shall, on
or before the 28th day of each month, forward to the Director of the
Division of Taxation in the New Jersey Department of the Treasury
(Director) the hotel and motel tax collected in the preceding month
and make and file a return for the preceding month with the Director.
B.
The return shall be filed on such form and containing such information
as the Director shall prescribe as necessary. The Director may permit
or require returns to be made covering other periods and upon any
dates as the Director may specify. Additionally, the Director may
require payments of tax liability at any intervals and based upon
any classifications as the Director may designate.
A copy of this article must be transmitted upon adoption or
amendment to the State Treasurer. An ordinance so adopted or any amendment
thereto shall provide that the tax provisions of the ordinance or
any amendment to the tax provisions shall take effect on the first
day of the first full month occurring 90 days after the date of transmittal
to the State Treasurer.
