Chapter 3.04
ADMISSION TAX
Sections:
3.04.030 Price required on ticket.
3.04.040 Payment and collection.
3.04.060 Temporary or transitory amusement.
3.04.070 Rules and regulations.
3.04.080 Penalty for violations.
3.04.010 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
“Place” includes, but is not restricted to, theaters, public dances, haunted houses, skating rinks, amphitheaters, auditoriums, stadiums, athletic pavilions and fields, baseball and athletic parks, circuses, sideshows, outdoor amusement parks, and such attractions as merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels, roller coasters, other carnival and circus rides, go-kart tracks and observation towers.
“Person” means any individual, receiver, assignee, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, corporation, company, joint stock company, association, society, or any group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, fraternal, nonprofit, or otherwise. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 1, 1943)
3.04.020 Imposition.
There is hereby levied and imposed upon every person (including children, without regard to age) who pays admission to any place, a tax in the amount of four percent of the admission charge; provided, however, that no admission charge shall be levied for persons admitted for any activity of any elementary or secondary school, church or religious organization, nonprofit tax exempt organization as described in Section 5.04.010(B)(6). (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 809 § 9, 1975: Ord. 516 § 1 (part), 1954: Ord. 433 § 2(a), 1943)
3.04.030 Price required on ticket.
The price (exclusive of the tax to be paid by the person paying for admission) at which every admission ticket or card is sold shall be conspicuously and indelibly printed or written on the face or back of that pare of the ticket which is to be taken up by the management of the place to which admission is gained; and it is unlawful for any person to sell any admission ticket or card on which the name of the vendor or the price is not so printed, stamped, or written, or to sell an admission ticket or card at a price in excess of the price printed, stamped, or written thereon. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 3, 1943. Formerly 3.04.060)
3.04.040 Payment and collection.
Every person receiving any payment for admissions on which a tax is levied under this chapter shall collect the amount of the tax imposed from the person making the admission payment. Whenever tickets are sold by a person outside of the city limits for an event located within the city limits, that person shall collect the admission tax imposed thereon. The tax required to be collected under this chapter shall be deemed to be held in trust by the person required to collect the same until paid to the finance director as herein provided. Any person required to collect the tax imposed under this chapter who fails to collect the same, or, having collected the same, fails to remit the same to the finance director in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure be the result of his own act or the result of acts or conditions beyond his control, shall nevertheless be personally liable to the city for the amount of such tax, and shall, unless the remittance be made as herein required, be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
The tax imposed by this chapter shall be collected at the time admission charge is paid by the person seeking admission to any place and shall be reported and remitted by the person receiving the tax to the finance director in monthly installments and remittances therefor on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the end of the month during which the tax was collected or received. Payment or remittance of the tax collected may be made by check, unless payment or remittance is otherwise required by the city treasurer, but payment by check shall not relieve the person collecting the tax from liability for payment and remittance of the tax to the finance director unless the check is honored and is in full and correct amount.
The person receiving any payment for admissions shall make out a return upon such forms and setting forth such information as the finance director may require, showing the amount of the tax upon admissions for which he is liable for the preceding monthly period, and shall sign and transmit the same to the city treasurer with a remittance for the amount; provided, that the finance director may in his discretion require verified annual returns from any person receiving admission payments setting forth such additional information as he may deem necessary to determine correctly the amount of tax collected and payable. Whenever any theater, circus, show, exhibition, entertainment or amusement makes an admission charge which is subject to the tax herein levied, and the same is of a temporary or transitory nature, of which the finance director shall be the judge, the finance director may require the report and remittance of the admission tax immediately upon the collection of the same, at the conclusion of exhibition, or at any conclusion of the series of performances or exhibitions, or at such other times as the finance director shall determine; and failure to comply with any requirement of the finance director as to report and remittance of the tax as required shall be a violation of this chapter. The books, records and accounts of any person collecting a tax herein levied shall, as to admission charges and tax collections, be at all reasonable times subject to examination and audit by the finance director. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 4, 1943. Formerly 3.04.070)
3.04.050 Business license.
Any person conducting or operating any place for entrance to which an admission charge is made shall, on a form prescribed by the finance director, make application to and procure from the finance director a business license. Such license, or duplicate original copies thereof to be issued by the finance director without additional charge, shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each ticket or box office where tickets of admission are sold. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 5, 1943. Formerly 3.04.080)
3.04.060 Temporary or transitory amusement.
Whenever a business license is obtained for the purpose of operating or conducting a temporary or transitory amusement, entertainment or exhibition by persons who are not the owners, lessees or custodians of the buildings, lots or places where the amusement is to be conducted, the tax imposed by this chapter shall be reported and remitted as herein provided by the owner, lessee or custodian, unless paid by the person conducting the place. The applicant for a business license for such purpose shall furnish with the application therefor the name and address of the owner, lessee or custodian of the premises, and such owner, lessee or custodian shall be notified by the finance director of the issuance of such license and the joint liability for collection and payment of such tax. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 6, 1943. Formerly 3.04.090)
3.04.070 Rules and regulations.
The finance director shall have power to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with the terms of this chapter for carrying out and enforcing the payment, collection, and remittance of the tax herein levied; a copy of such rules shall be kept by the finance director for public examination, and failure or refusal to comply with any such rules shall be deemed a violation of this chapter. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 7, 1943. Formerly 3.04.100)
3.04.080 Penalty for violations.
Each violation or failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense and shall subject the offender to a fine of not to exceed one thousand dollars, or to imprisonment not to exceed ninety days, or to both such fine and imprisonment. (Ord. 1632-09 § 1 (App. A)(part), 2009: Ord. 433 § 8, 1943. Formerly 3.04.110)