[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Osceola 4-13-2004
by Ord. No. 04-05. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Pursuant to § 66.0615, Wis. Stats., a tax is
imposed on the privilege and service of furnishing, at retail, rooms or lodging
to transients by hotel keepers, motel operators and other persons furnishing
accommodations that are available to the public, irrespective of whether membership
is required for the use of the accommodations. Such tax shall be at the rate
of three percent of the gross receipts from such retail furnishing of rooms
or lodgings collected on or after October 1, 2004. Such tax shall not be subject
to the selective sales tax imposed by § 77.52(2)(a)1, Wis. Stats.
The proceeds of such tax collected shall be deposited in a separate nonlapsing
account and appropriated by the Village of Osceola as follows:
(1)
Seventy percent dedicated to tourism promotion and development
for the Village of Osceola. The allocation and distribution shall be made
based on an annual budget approved by the Finance Committee and the Village
Board. The Village may use either of the following methods for administering
the funds:
(a)
The Village Board will manage and award grants for community
groups who need financial assistance with marketing or development of Village
of Osceola events geared to increase overnight stays in the Village.
(b)
The Village may contract for the development and production
of advertising efforts, promotional materials, guidebooks, Web site and other
materials and for services deemed necessary to promote the Village of Osceola
as a tourism destination.
(c)
The Village may contract for services with one or more
tourism entities as necessary to carry out its responsibilities for tourism
and development. The cost of providing staff support and administrative oversight
of said contracts shall come from the 70% set aside for tourism promotion.
(2)
The balance of the 30% to the Village of Osceola to underwrite
the cost of maintaining the infrastructure and programs which support the
tourism industry in the Village.
(3)
In order to defray the cost of collecting the room tax,
any person, business, or other entity collecting and remitting the tax approved
by this section shall be entitled to a collection fee of 2% of the tax so
collected. The collection fee shall be itemized on the tax return and shall
be retained from the amount collected and remitted.
B.
Registration required. Every person furnishing rooms or lodging under Subsection A above shall register each business entity with the Treasurer. The registration shall be signed by the owner if a sole proprietor and, if not a sole proprietor, by the person authorized to act on behalf of such sellers.
C.
Issuance of certificate of registration. After compliance with Subsection B above by the applicant, the Treasurer shall grant and issue to each applicant a separate certificate for each business entity within the City. Such certificate is not assignable and is valid only for the person in whose name it is issued and for the transaction of business at the place designated therein. It shall at all times be available for inspection at the place for which issued.
The room tax imposed by § 175-1 for each calendar quarter is due and payable and must be received in the office of the Village Treasurer at the Village Hall on or before the last business day of the month next succeeding the calendar quarter for which it is imposed. The business entity collecting the tax shall be entitled to retain 2% of the amount collected as reimbursement for its costs and efforts in the collection of the tax and the report requirements of this chapter. The remainder shall be considered the "net" as used in this chapter.
A.
Quarterly room tax returns. A return shall be filed with
the Treasurer on or before the same date on which such tax is due and payable.
Such return shall be on a form provided by the Village and shall show the
gross receipts of the preceding calendar quarter from such retail furnishing
of rooms or lodging, illustrating and indicating thereon any exemption from
an imposed room tax, billed to the state and/or its departments or agencies,
the amount of taxes imposed for such period, and such other information as
the Treasurer deems necessary, provided it is directly related to the tax.
B.
Annual room tax return. Every person required to file
such quarterly returns shall also file an annual calendar year return on a
form provided by the Village, which shall be due and filed as part of the
quarterly return for the fourth quarter of each calendar year. The annual
return shall summarize the quarterly returns, reconcile and adjust for errors
in the quarterly returns, and shall contain certain such additional information
as the Treasurer requires, provided it is directly related to the tax. All
annual returns shall be signed by the persons required to file a return, or
his or her duly authorized agent. The Treasurer may, for good cause, extend
the time for filing any return, but in no event longer than one month from
the filing date.
The room tax imposed hereunder shall be a continuing liability upon
the business entity or person upon whom it is imposed until paid in full.
Business successors shall be liable for any preceding calendar quarter for
which a return has not been filed and payment not received.
All unpaid taxes under this chapter shall bear interest at the rate
of 12% per annum from the due date of the return until the first day of the
month following the month in which the tax was paid.
Tax returns required hereunder and not timely filed shall be deemed
delinquent and shall be subject to a late filing fee of $10.
The Village Treasurer shall be responsible for the administration and
collection of the room tax. The Treasurer may, by field audit, determine the
tax required to be paid to the Village or the refund due to any person under
this section. The determination shall be made upon the basis of the facts
contained in the return being audited and upon any other information available
to the Treasurer. The Treasurer is authorized to examine and inspect the books,
records, memoranda and property of any person which are directly related to
the tax or which have a direct bearing upon the gross receipts upon which
the tax due, including state sales tax records, is determined in order to
verify the tax liability of that person or of another person. Nothing herein
shall prevent the Treasurer from making a determination of tax at any time.
If any person fails to timely file a return, as required by this chapter,
the Treasurer shall make an estimate of the amount of the gross receipts upon
which the tax is determined. Such estimate shall be made for the period for
which such person failed to make a return and shall be based upon any information
which is in the Treasurer's possession or may come into his or her possession
or such other information as may have a bearing upon the determination of
gross receipts. On the basis of this estimate, the Treasurer shall compute
and determine the amount required to be paid to the City, adding to the sum
thus arrived at a penalty equal to 10% thereof. Such determination may be
made for each quarterly period for which no return is filed. Such penalty
shall be due upon written notice to the business entity or person owing the
tax and shall not be in lieu of the tax due hereunder.
If a person files a false or fraudulent return with the intent in either
case to defect or evade the tax imposed by this chapter, a penalty of 50%
shall be added to the tax required to be paid, exclusive of interest and other
penalties.
Every person liable for the tax imposed by this chapter shall keep or
cause to be kept such records, receipts, invoices and other pertinent papers
for seven years in such form as to enable the Treasurer to determine the tax
due hereunder.
A.
All tax returns, schedules, exhibits, writings or audit
reports relating to such returns on file with the Village Treasurer are deemed
to be confidential, except the Village Treasurer may divulge their contents
to the following and no others:
B.
No person having an administrative duty under this section
shall make known in any manner the business affairs, operations or information
obtained by an investigation of records of any person on whom a tax is imposed
by this section, the amount or source of income, profits, losses, expenditures,
or any particular thereof set forth or disclosed in any return, or permit,
any return or copy thereof to be seen or examined by any person, except as
provided herein.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meaning given herein:
- HOTEL or MOTEL
- A building or group of buildings in which the public may obtain accommodations for a consideration, including, without limitation, such establishments as inns, motels, tourist homes, tourist houses or courts, lodging houses, summer camps, apartment hotels, resort lodges, campgrounds, cabins and any other building or group of buildings in which the accommodations are available to the public, except accommodations rented for a continuous period of more than one month and accommodations furnished by any hospital, sanitoriums, or nursing homes, rooming houses, or by corporations or associations organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes, provided that no part of the net earnings of such corporations and associations inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
- GROSS RECEIPTS
- Has the meaning as defined in § 77.51(4)(a), (b) and (c), Wis. Stats., insofar as applicable. Any federal and state tax-exempt transactions shall not be included in the definition of gross receipts.
- PERSON
- Shall include corporations, partnerships or other business entities.
- TRANSIENT
- Any individual residing for a continuous period of less than one month in a motel, hotel, or other furnished accommodations available to the public.
Any violation of, or noncompliance with, any of the provisions of this
chapter for which a penalty has not been prescribed herein shall subject the
violator to a forfeiture of not less than $50 nor more than $250, together
with the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment thereof to imprisonment
in the county jail until such forfeiture has been paid, but not to exceed
15 days. Each day of violation or noncompliance shall constitute a separate
offense.
