GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1993 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 472

SENATE BILL 501

 

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE AVERY COUNTY TO LEVY A ROOM OCCUPANCY AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TAX ON BUSINESSES IN THE COUNTY THAT ARE NOT SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL OCCUPANCY TAX AND TO SET THE MAXIMUM ROOM OCCUPANCY TAX RATE FOR ACCOMMODATIONS FURNISHED IN AVERY COUNTY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Occupancy tax.

(a)       Authorization and Scope.

The Avery County Board of Commissioners may by resolution, after not less than 10 days' public notice and after a public hearing held pursuant thereto, levy a room occupancy tax of up to three percent (3%) of the gross receipts derived from the rental of any room, lodging, or accommodation furnished by a hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, or similar place within the county that is subject to sales tax imposed by the State under G.S. 105-164.4(a)(3) and is not subject to a room occupancy tax levied by a municipality.  This tax is in addition to any State or local sales tax.  This tax does not apply to accommodations furnished by nonprofit charitable, educational, or religious organizations.  The occupancy tax rate payable on accommodations furnished within Avery County may not exceed six percent (6%).

(b)       Collection.

Every operator of a business subject to the tax levied under this section shall, on and after the effective date of the levy of the tax, collect the tax.  This tax shall be collected as part of the charge for furnishing a taxable accommodation.  The tax shall be stated and charged separately from the sales records, and shall be paid by the purchaser to the operator of the business as trustee for and on account of the county.  The tax shall be added to the sales price and shall be passed on to the purchaser instead of being borne by the operator of the business.  The county shall design, print, and furnish to all appropriate businesses and persons in the county the necessary forms for filing returns and instructions to ensure the full collection of the tax.  An operator of a business who collects the occupancy tax levied under this section may deduct from the amount remitted to the county a discount equal to the discount the State allows the operator for collecting State sales and use taxes.

(c)       Administration.

The county shall administer a tax levied under this section.  A tax levied under this section is due and payable to the county finance officer in monthly installments on or before the 15th day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues.  Every person, firm, corporation, or association liable for the tax shall, on or before the 15th day of each month, prepare and render a return on a form prescribed by the county.  The return shall state the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from rentals upon which the tax is levied.

A return filed with the county finance officer under this section is not a public record as defined by G.S. 132-1 and may not be disclosed except as required by law.

(d)       Penalties.

A person, firm, corporation, or association who fails or refuses to file the return required by this section is subject to the civil and criminal penalties set by G.S. 105-236 for failure to pay or file a return for State sales and use taxes.  The board of commissioners has the same authority to waive the penalties for a room occupancy tax that the Secretary of Revenue has to waive the penalties for State sales and use taxes.

(e)       Distribution and Use of Tax Revenue.

Avery County shall use at least two-thirds of the net proceeds of the occupancy tax revenue to promote travel and tourism in Avery County and shall spend the remainder on tourism-related expenditures.  The following definitions apply in this subsection:

(1)       Net proceeds. - Gross proceeds less the cost to the county of administering and collecting the tax, as determined by the finance officer, not to exceed seven percent (7%) of the amount collected.

(2)       Promote travel and tourism. - To advertise or market an area or activity, publish and distribute pamphlets and other materials, conduct market research, or engage in similar promotional activities that attract tourists or business travelers to the area; the term includes administrative expenses incurred in engaging in the listed activities.

(3)       Tourism-related expenditures. - Expenditures that are designed to increase the use of lodging facilities in a county or to attract tourists or business travelers to the county and expenditures incurred by the county in collecting the tax.  The term includes expenditures to construct, maintain, operate, or market a convention center and other expenditures that, in the judgment of the board of commissioners, will facilitate and support tourism.

(f)        Effective Date of Levy.

A tax levied under this section shall become effective on the date specified in the resolution levying the tax.  That date must be the first day of a calendar month, however, and may not be earlier than the first day of the second month after the date the resolution is adopted.

(g)       Repeal.

A tax levied under this section may be repealed by a resolution adopted by the Avery County Board of Commissioners.  Repeal of a tax levied under this section shall become effective on the first day of a month and may not become effective until the end of the fiscal year in which the repeal resolution was adopted.  Repeal of a tax levied under this section does not affect a liability for a tax that was attached before the effective date of the repeal, nor does it affect a right to a refund of a tax that accrued before the effective date of the repeal.


Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 23rd day of July, 1993.

 

 

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Dennis A. Wicker

President of the Senate

 

 

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Daniel Blue, Jr.

Speaker of the House of Representatives