§338.210. City of Bunkie; hotel occupancy tax; authorization

A.(1) In addition to any other tax levied and collected, the governing authority of the city of Bunkie may levy and collect a tax upon the paid occupancy of hotel rooms located within the city. The hotel occupancy tax shall not exceed five percent of the rent or fee charged for such occupancy.

(2) The word "hotel" as used in this Section shall mean and include any establishment, public or private, engaged in the business of furnishing or providing rooms or overnight camping facilities intended or designed for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes to transient guests where such establishment consists of two or more guest rooms and does not encompass any hospital, convalescent, or nursing home or sanitarium, or any hotel-like facility operated by or in connection with a hospital or medical clinic providing rooms exclusively for patients and their families.

(3) The person who exercises or is entitled to occupancy of the hotel room shall pay the hotel occupancy tax at the time the rent or fee for occupancy is paid. "Person" as used herein shall have the same definition as that contained in R.S. 47:301(8).

B. The governing authority of the city of Bunkie shall impose the hotel occupancy tax by ordinance or resolution. The governing authority may adopt such ordinance or resolution only after a proposition authorizing the levy of the tax has been approved by a majority of the electors of the city voting at an election held for that purpose in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code. The governing authority may provide in the ordinance or resolution necessary and appropriate rules and regulations for the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the hotel occupancy tax.

C. The governing authority may enter into a contract, under terms and conditions it deems appropriate, including payment of a reasonable collection fee, with any public entity authorized to collect sales or use taxes for the collection of the hotel occupancy tax authorized by this Section. The hotel occupancy tax shall be in addition to all taxes levied upon the occupancy of hotel rooms located within the city.

D. Except as provided in Subsection C of this Section, the proceeds of the tax shall be deposited in the general fund of the city and shall be used solely for public purposes within the city.

Acts 2011, No. 230, §1, eff. June 27, 2011; Redesignated from R.S. 33:2740.18.5 pursuant to Acts 2011, No. 248, §4; Acts 2012, No. 390, §1, eff. May 31, 2012.