THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY MOUL AND TALLMAN, MAY 24, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM AND RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MAY 24, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), entitled,

as amended, "An act relating to counties of the first, third,

fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth classes; amending,

revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating

thereto; relating to imposition of excise taxes by counties,

including authorizing imposition of an excise tax on the

rental of motor vehicles by counties of the first class; and

providing for regional renaissance initiatives," in fiscal

affairs, further providing for authorization of three per

centum hotel tax in certain counties of the sixth class.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1770.7 of the act of August 9, 1955

(P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code, amended or added

December 22, 2000 (P.L.1019, No.142) and July 5, 2005 (P.L.38,

No.12), is amended to read:

Section 1770.7.  Authorization of [Three] Five Per Centum

Hotel Tax.--(a)  The county commissioners of any county of the

sixth class having a population under the 1990 Federal Decennial

Census in excess of 78,250 residents, but less than 79,000

residents, and any county of the fifth class which as a result

of the 1990 Federal Decennial Census was such a county of the

sixth class and as a result of the 2010 Federal Decennial Census

is reclassified as a county of the fifth class, may impose a

hotel tax not to exceed [three] five per centum of the

consideration received by each operator of a hotel within the

county from each transaction of renting a room or rooms to

transients. The tax shall be collected by the operator from the

patron of the room or rooms and paid over to the county as

herein provided.

(b)  The provisions of subsection (b.1) notwithstanding, 

county commissioners may by ordinance impose requirements for

keeping of records, the filing of tax returns and the time and

manner of collection and payment of tax. The county

commissioners may also impose by ordinance penalties and

interest for failure to comply with recordkeeping, filing,

collection and payment requirements.

(b.1)  Each operator of a hotel within a county that imposes

the tax authorized under this section shall submit to a review

of hotel tax revenue. The review shall be conducted by the

county commissioners and shall consist, at a minimum, of

determining the total amount of consideration received by the

operator from transactions of renting a room or rooms to

transients during the period of review and the total amount of

hotel tax revenue collected. The county commissioners or their

duly authorized agents shall conduct the review of each operator

at least twice every twelve months and shall bear the costs of

the review.

(c)  The [county commissioners of each county shall designate

the entity or agency responsible to collect and to enforce the

collection of the tax on their behalf. All revenues received

from the tax shall be deposited into a special fund which is to

be established by the county's legally sanctioned and duly

designated Tourist Promotion Agency (TPA). The] treasurer of

each county that imposes the tax authorized under this section

shall collect the tax and deposit the revenues received from the

tax in a special fund established for that purpose. Subject to

the deduction of the administrative fee authorized by subsection

(e.2), the disposition of the revenues from the TPA hotel tax

fund shall be as follows: [seventy-five per centum of all

revenues received per annum shall be used by the TPA for the

promotion, advertising and marketing of tourism and special

events and for administrative costs. Twenty-five per centum of

all revenues received per annum shall be used by the county

commissioners for the purpose of economic development, historic

preservation and grants to local municipalities having police

departments. Any fees for administering the collection and

distribution of the tax shall be negotiated by the TPA and the

county commissioners.]

(1)  Seventy-five per centum of all revenues received per

annum shall be used by the county's recognized TPA for the

promotion, advertising and marketing of tourism and special

events and for administrative costs.

(2)  Twenty-five per centum of all revenues received per

annum shall be distributed as follows:

(i)  Fifty per centum shall be used by the county

commissioners for the purposes of economic development and

historic preservation.

(ii)  Fifty per centum shall be used by the county

commissioners for grants to municipalities that:

(A)  have a municipal police department employing at least

two full-time police officers assigned to law enforcement duties

who work a minimum of two hundred days per year; or

(B)  are a member of a regional police department that

provides full-time police services to the municipality pursuant

to an agreement or contract.

[(d)  The treasurer of each county electing to impose the tax

authorized under this section shall collect the tax and deposit

the revenues received from the tax in a special fund established

for that purpose.]

(d.1)  Grants under subsection (c)(2)(ii) shall be

distributed to municipalities in proportion to the number of

hotel rooms within the municipality as a percentage of the total

number of hotel rooms in municipalities with police departments

under subsection (c)(2)(ii) as compiled by the recognized TPA

and certified by the county commissioners. Grants shall be used

for police and law enforcement purposes. Any portion of a grant

not used for police and law enforcement purposes shall be

returned to the county for the purposes of subsection (c)(2)(i).

(e)  The tax year for a tax imposed under this section shall

run concurrently with the calendar year.

(e.1)  An audited report on the income and expenditures

incurred by a tourist promotion agency receiving any revenues

from the tax authorized under this section shall be submitted

annually by the tourist promotion agency to the county

commissioners.

(e.2)  The county may deduct and retain an administrative fee

from the taxes collected under this section. The administrative

fee established by the county may not exceed in any tax year the

lesser of:

(1)  four and one-half per centum of all taxes collected

under this section; or

(2)  ninety-five thousand dollars ($95,000), which amount

shall be adjusted biannually, beginning two years after the

effective date of this subsection, by the percentage growth in

the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.

(e.3)  Revenue collected from the fee imposed under

subsection (e.2) shall be used for the following purposes:

(1)  Defraying the costs associated with the collection and

administration of the tax.

(2)  Defraying the costs of the review required under

subsection (b.1).

(f)  As used in this section, the following words and phrases

shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:

"Consideration."  Receipts, fees, charges, rentals, leases,

cash, credits, property of any kind or nature, or other payment

received by operators in exchange for or in consideration of the

use or occupancy by a transient of a room or rooms in a hotel

for any temporary period.

"Hotel."  A hotel, motel, inn, guest house or other structure

which holds itself out by any means, including advertising,

license, registration with an innkeepers' group, convention

listing association, travel publication or similar association

or with a government agency, as being available to provide

overnight lodging or use of facility space for consideration to

persons seeking temporary accommodation; any place which

advertises to the public at large or any segment thereof that it

will provide beds, sanitary facilities or other space for a

temporary period to members of the public at large; or any place

recognized as a hostelry. The term does not include any portion

of a facility that is devoted to persons who have an established

permanent residence or a college or university student residence

hall.

"Occupancy."  The use or possession or the right to the use

or possession by any person other than a permanent resident of

any room in a hotel for any purpose or the right to the use or

possession of the furnishings or to the services accompanying

the use and possession of the room.

"Operator."  An individual, partnership, nonprofit or profit-

making association or corporation or other person or group of

persons who maintain, operate, manage, own, have custody of or

otherwise possess the right to rent or lease overnight

accommodations in a hotel to the public for consideration.

"Patron."  A person who pays the consideration for the

occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel.

"Permanent resident."  A person who has occupied or has the

right to occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel as a patron or

otherwise for a period exceeding thirty consecutive days.

"Room."  A space in a hotel set aside for use and occupancy

by patrons, or otherwise, for consideration, having at least one

bed or other sleeping accommodation in a room or group of rooms.

"Tourist Promotion Agency (TPA)."  An organization, agency or

corporation designated to be such by the board of commissioners

as of January 1, 2000, of the county in which the tax is

imposed. The TPA shall be duly established, designated and

recognized as the county's TPA in accordance with and pursuant

to the act of [April 28, 1961 (P.L.111, No.50), known as the

"Tourist Promotion Law."] July 4, 2008 (P.L.621, No.50), known

as the "Tourism Promotion Act."

"Transaction."  The activity involving the obtaining by a

transient or patron of the use or occupancy of a hotel room from

which consideration is payable to the operator under an express

or an implied contract.

"Transient."  An individual who obtains accommodation in a

hotel by means of registering at the facility for the temporary

occupancy of a room for the personal use of the individual by

paying a fee to the operator.

Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.