A CHARTER ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF RUSSELL, KANSAS, EXEMPTING THE CITY FROM THE PROVISIONS OF K.S.A. 12-1696 THROUGH K.S.A. 12-1699 INCLUSIVE, WHICH RELATE TO THE LEVY OF A TRANSIENT GUEST TAX, TO THE MAXIMUM RATE THEREOF, AND TO THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH TRANSIENT GUEST TAX REVENUES MAY BE SPENT; AND PROVIDING SUBSTITUTE AND ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS OF THE SAME SUBJECT.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF RUSSELL, KANSAS, PURSUANT TO THE POWER VESTED IN IT BY ARTICLE 12, SECTION 5, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, THE CITY HEREBY ELECTS TO EXEMPT ITSELF FROM AND MAKE INAPPLICABLE TO THIS CITY AN ACT OF THE KANSAS LEGISLATURE THAT IS NON-UNIFORM IN APPLICATION.
Section 1. The City of Russell, Kansas, pursuant to the provisions of Section 5(c) of Article Twelve (12) of the constitution of the State of Kansas, hereby elects to exempt itself from the provisions of K.S.A. 12-1696 through K.S.A. 12-1699 inclusive and hereby provides substitute and additional provisions on the same subject as set forth herein.
A. Definitions. As used in this Charter Ordinance, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them herein:
1. "Accommodations broker" means any business which maintains an inventory of two or more rooms in one or more locations which are offered for pay to a person or persons for not more than 28 consecutive days.
2. "Activities"' mean planning, organizing, implementing, equipping, furnishing, staffing and managing of programs.
3. "Business" means any person engaged in the business of renting, leasing or letting living quarters, sleeping accommodations, rooms or a part thereof in connection with any motel, hotel or tourist court;
4. "Convention and Tourism Promotion and Development" means:
a. Activities designed to attract visitors into the community through marketing efforts, including advertising, directed to at least one of the five basic convention and tourism market segments consisting of group tours, pleasure travelers, association meetings and conventions, trade shows and corporate meetings and travel;
b. support of those activities and organizations which encourage increased lodging facility occupancy;
c. Contracting with one or more agencies, organizations, individuals or groups to promote conventions and tourism for the City;
d. Operating, maintaining, expanding and developing City facilities and public areas connected with conventions or tourism;
e. Making payments for principal or interest for bonds issued to construct convention, community or civic centers, parks, recreational or other public facilities or public amenities that may be used in connection with conventions or tourism;
f. Defraying the cost of providing municipal services to festivals, convention and tourism functions;
g. To defray the costs of providing municipal services for the operation, maintenance, repair, expansion and development of City facilities and signage used in part for convention and tourism including, but not limited to, the Deines Cultural Center, Duke Johnson Municipal Pool, Russell Municipal Golf Course, Historical Park with Visitor Center and public restrooms and all other City public parks and recreation facilities;
h. To assist with maintaining the City's downtown business district's landscape and street scape; and
i. To provide for the annual payment of the transient guest tax generated by a hotel, motel or tourist court in the City to the operator of the hotel, motel or tourist court, upon terms agreed to by the Governing Body of the City in exchange for the economic development investment generated by the hotel, motel or tourist court to the City.
5. "Hotel, motel or tourist court" means any structure or building which contains rooms furnished for the purposes of providing lodging, which may or may not also provide meals, entertainment or various other personal services to transient guests, and which is kept, used, maintained, advertised or held out to the public as a place where sleeping accommodations are sought for pay or compensation by transient or permanent guests and having more than two bedrooms furnished for the accommodation of such guests.
6. "Person" means an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, joint venture or other association of persons;
7. "Transient guest" means a person who occupies a room in a hotel, motel or tourist court for not more than 28 consecutive days;
B. The Governing Body of the City of Russell, Kansas, is hereby authorized to levy a transient guest tax at a rate not to exceed six percent (6%) upon the gross receipts derived from or paid by transient guests for sleeping accommodations, exclusive of charges for incidental services or facilities, in any hotel, motel or tourist court. The percentage of such tax shall be determined by the Governing Body and shall be specified in a council resolution authorizing the same.
C. Any transient guest tax levied pursuant to this charter ordinance shall be based on the gross rental receipts collected by any business or accommodations broker.
D. The transient guest taxes levied pursuant to this Charter Ordinance, and any amendment to the same, shall be paid by the consumer or user to the business or accommodations broker and it shall be the duty of each and every business or accommodations broker to collect from the consumer or user the full amount of any such tax, or an amount equal as nearly as possible or practicable to the average equivalent thereto. Each business and accommodation broker collecting any of the taxes levied hereunder shall be responsible for paying over the same to the City, and the City shall administer and enforce the collection of such taxes. To the extent the City timely and actually receives transient guest taxes from a third-party provider or platform (whether pursuant to a voluntary collection agreement or otherwise), then a business shall not be responsible for payment of transient guest taxes; provided, that to the extent transient guest taxes are not so timely or actually received, the business will remain responsible for payment of the transient guest taxes.
E. Any tax levied and collected shall become due and payable by the business monthly, on or before the 25th day of the month immediately succeeding the month in which it is collected, with the first payment due and payable on or before the 25th day of the month specified in the resolution of the governing body which levies the tax. Each business shall make a true report to the City, on a form prescribed by the City Clerk, providing such information as may be necessary to determine the amounts to which any such tax shall apply for all gross rental receipts for the applicable month or months, which report shall be accompanied by the tax disclosed thereby. Records of gross rental receipts shall be kept separate and apart from the records of other retail sales made by a business in order to facilitate the examination of books and records as provided herein.
F. The City Clerk or the City's authorized representative shall have the right at all reasonable times during business hours to make such examination and inspection of the books and records of a business as may be necessary to determine the accuracy of such reports.
G. The City Clerk is hereby authorized to administer and collect any transient guest tax levied pursuant to this Charter Ordinance and to adopt such procedures as may be necessary for the efficient and effective administration and enforcement of the collection thereof. Whenever any business liable to pay any transient guest tax refuses or neglects to pay the same, the amount, including any penalty, shall be collected in the manner prescribed for the collection of the transient guest tax by the City's Code of Ordinances and amendments thereto. All of the taxes collected under the provisions of this Charter Ordinance shall be remitted by the City to the City Clerk. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the City Clerk shall deposit the entire amount in the City treasury, and the city treasurer shall credit 2% of all taxes so collected to the City general fund to defray the expenses of the department in administration and enforcement of the collection thereof. The remainder of such taxes shall be credited to the city's transient guest tax fund (known as the Tourism and Convention Fund, which fund is hereby established).
H. All such moneys received by the City Clerk or city treasurer and deposited to the Tourism and Convention Fund of the city shall only be expended for Convention and Tourism Promotion and Development purposes as defined hereinabove.
I. Interest and penalties for failure to pay or untimely payment of transient guest tax shall be as follows:
1. If any taxpayer shall fail to pay the tax levied pursuant to this Charter Ordinance, and amendments thereto, there shall be added to the unpaid balance of the tax, interest at the rate of one and a half percent (1.5%) per month from the date the tax was due until paid.
2. If any taxpayer due to negligence or intentional disregard fails to pay the tax due at the time required by or under the provisions of this Charter Ordinance, and amendments thereto, there shall be added to the tax a penalty in an amount equal to 10% of the unpaid balance of tax due. If any person fails to pay any tax, within sixty (60) days from the date the return or tax was due, except in the case of an extension of time granted by the city manager, there shall be added to the tax due an additional penalty equal to 25% of the amount of such tax. If any taxpayer, with fraudulent intent, fails to pay any tax or make, render or sign any return, or to supply any information, within the time required by or under the provisions of this Charter Ordinance, and amendments thereto, there shall be added to the tax an additional penalty in an amount equal to 50% of the unpaid balance of tax due. Penalty or interest applied under these provisions shall be in addition to the penalty added under any other provisions of this section.
3. If the failure of the taxpayer to comply with the provisions of this subsection I was due to reasonable causes and not willful neglect; the city manager may waive or reduce any of the penalties upon making a record of the reasons therefor.
4. For serious or repeated and/or continuous violations of any of the requirements of this Charter Ordinance, or for interference with the City staff performance of duties, any license to operate or conduct business as a hotel, motel, or tourist court may be suspended and/or permanently revoked after an opportunity for a hearing before the City Council has been provided. Prior to such action, the City Clerk shall notify the license holder in writing, stating the reasons for which the license is subject to suspension and advising that the license shall be temporarily suspended at the end of thirty (30) days following service of such a notice, unless a request for a hearing is filed with the City Clerk, by the license holder, within ten (10) days.
5. Hearings provided for in this Charter Ordinance shall be conducted by the City Council at a time and place designated by the City Council. Based upon the record of such hearing, the City Council shall make a finding and shall sustain, modify, or rescind any official notice or order considered in the hearing. A written report of the hearing decision shall be furnished to the license holder by the City Clerk.
6. In addition to all other penalties provided by this section., any person who willfully fails to pay any tax imposed under this Charter Ordinance, and amendments thereto, or who makes a false or fraudulent return, or fails to keep any books or records necessary to determine the accuracy of the person's reports, or who willfully violates any regulations of the City, for the enforcement and administration of the provisions of this Charter Ordinance, inclusive, and amendments thereto, or who aids and abets another in attempting to evade the payment of any tax imposed or who violates any other provision of this Charter Ordinance, inclusive, and amendments thereto, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $100.00 nor more than $1,000.00, or be imprisoned in the city/county jail for not less than one (1) month nor more than six (6) months, or be both so fined and imprisoned, in the discretion of the court.
Section 2. This Charter Ordinance revokes the ordinance identified as Charter Ordinance 20 on the same subject which Charter Ordinance never took effect.
(12-19-2023)