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2015 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 169
BY SENATOR MARTINY
TOURISM. Authorizes a levy of an optional hotel assessment by a tourism organization
upon its hotel members and provides for treating such assessment as a surcharge to hotel
guests. (8/1/15)
1 AN ACT
2 To enact Chapter 4-A of Title 21 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be comprised
3 of R.S. 21:301 through 308, relative to hotels and lodging houses; to provide with
4 respect to optional assessments on hotels that are levied by a comprehensive
5 membership based tourism organization on its members that are operators of hotels
6 or motels located in the parish of Jefferson; to provide that hotel and income taxes
7 shall not apply to such surcharges; to provide for a hotel referendum to approve such
8 an optional assessment; to provide for enhancement of the sales and marketing
9 capabilities and other general purposes of the organization; to provide for the direct
10 or indirect benefit of growing the traveler economy; to provide for levying hotel
11 assessments as surcharges on hotel or motel folios; to provide for terms and
12 definitions; and to provide for related matters.
13 Notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published.
14 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
15 Section 1. Chapter 4-A of Title 21 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950,
16 comprised of R.S. 21:301 through 308, is hereby enacted to read as follows:
17 CHAPTER 4-A. JEFFERSON PARISH HOTEL SURCHARG E FOR
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1 TOURISM PROMOTION
2 §301. Legislative findings
3 The legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
4 (1) There is a direct correlation between the amount of funds spent on
5 destination-based marketing, sales and promotion of a locality and an increase
6 in the number of conventions, meetings, visitors, occupancy of hotels, retail sales
7 of food, beverages, and other items, admissions to cultural and other
8 entertainment venues, collections of related state and local sales and use taxes,
9 job creation and a resulting general economic vitality of the traveler economy
10 and related businesses in the locality.
11 (2) It is in the state's public interest and vital to the welfare of the state's
12 economy to facilitate and encourage cooperating public-private partnerships for
13 the enhancement and expansion of the traveler economy and to provide for
14 increased hotel occupancy, tourism, economic development and job creation in
15 Jefferson Parish.
16 §302. Purpose
17 This Chapter is enacted for the purpose of facilitating the collection and
18 use of private sector originated supplementary funds to market and promote
19 Jefferson Parish as a traveler destination and to provide for increased economic
20 activity within its traveler economy, including increased number of conventions,
21 meetings, visitors, hotel occupancy, food, beverage, and other retail sales,
22 tourism, including cultural and family tourism, job creation and other economic
23 development and related purposes through optional, self-generated, private-
24 sector hotel self-assessment program.
25 §303. Definitions
26 For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the
27 following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
28 (1) "Assessed hotel" means a person operating a hotel and required to
29 pay a hotel assessment pursuant to this Chapter and, until the hotel assessment
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1 is first levied, any person operating a hotel authorized to vote in the
2 referendum.
3 (2) "Hotel" means any establishment engaged in the business of
4 furnishing or providing rooms intended or designed for dwelling, lodging, or
5 sleeping purposes to transient guests where such establishment consists of ten
6 or more guest rooms but does not include any hospital, convalescent or nursing
7 home or sanitarium, or any hotel-like facility operated by or in connection with
8 a hospital or medical clinic providing rooms exclusively for patients and their
9 families.
10 (3) "Hotel assessment" means any hotel assessment that is: (a) levied
11 under this Chapter by a tourism organization on its members that are operators
12 of hotels located in Jefferson Parish; (b) calculated by reference either to room
13 occupancy or room sales; and (c) for the general purposes of the organization,
14 or otherwise for the direct or indirect benefit of the tourism industry and
15 economic development, for sales, marketing and promotion, and for driving and
16 hosting tourism growth and visitors.
17 (4) "Operator of a hotel" means the person in whose name the
18 occupational license for the hotel is issued by the city.
19 (5) "Person" means an individual, public entity, firm, corporation,
20 partnership, limited liability company, trust, association, or any other business
21 entity or juridical person, whether operating on a for-profit or nonprofit basis.
22 (6) "Referendum" means any vote by assessed hotels by mailed ballot of
23 measures proposed by the tourism organization in accordance with the
24 provisions of this Chapter.
25 (7) "Surcharge" means any charge in addition to the daily room charge
26 for services to a hotel guest that is required to be paid in order to occupy a room
27 and any hotel assessment that is passed through to hotel guests as a charge on
28 the guest folio. Surcharge does not include charges for food and beverages,
29 Internet access, spa access or other goods or services sold at the hotel unless the
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1 payment for the goods or services is required in connection with the use of the
2 hotel room.
3 (8) "Tourism organization" means any private nonprofit corporation
4 domiciled in Jefferson Parish that is a nationally accredited comprehensive
5 membership based organization engaged in destination sales and marketing,
6 visitor support and other tourism related activities including the Jefferson
7 Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc.
8 §304. Levy of hotel assessments; use of proceeds
9 A. A tourism organization, under authority of its articles or bylaws, may
10 levy hotel assessments upon its hotel members in Jefferson Parish under this
11 Chapter for destination marketing, sales, public relations and for other matters
12 deemed by the tourism organization to benefit directly or indirectly economic
13 development, the traveler economy and tourism growth as shall be approved by
14 resolution of the board of directors of the tourism organization and ratified by
15 a vote of the assessed hotels in a referendum conducted in accordance with R.S.
16 21:306.
17 B. A hotel assessment proposed to be levied under this Chapter by a
18 tourism organization (1) shall be authorized by its board of directors or other
19 governing body by resolution that describes in general terms the hotel
20 assessment to be levied and includes a statement that the hotel assessment is to
21 be levied under this Chapter and (2) shall be approved in a referendum of the
22 assessed hotels as provided in R.S. 21:306.
23 C. A hotel operator shall not be liable for payment of a hotel assessment
24 under this Chapter for any time period in which it is not a member of the
25 tourism organization.
26 D. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an assessed hotel shall
27 place the hotel assessment as a mandatory surcharge on the folio and in so doing
28 shall comply with R.S. 21:305(C). Receipts from any such surcharge for hotel
29 assessments levied pursuant to this Chapter are not part of gross receipt or
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1 gross revenue for any purpose, including the calculation of hotel sales or
2 occupancy taxes, or state income taxes, and are not part of income pursuant to
3 any lease or operator agreement. Payment of the assessment to the tourism
4 organization shall not be taken as a deduction from income for state income tax
5 purposes.
6 E. Any hotel assessment levied and passed through to a guest as a
7 surcharge in accordance with this Chapter is an enforceable obligation of the
8 guest as and to the same extent as are daily room charges and other lawful
9 surcharges.
10 F. Procedures for collection of hotel assessments, interest charges and
11 penalties for delinquent remittance of hotel assessments to the tourism
12 organization or other matters incident to the hotel assessment shall be as
13 provided by resolution or in the bylaws of the tourism organization. The state,
14 the parish, and any and all of their agencies and political subdivisions may,
15 upon the request of a tourism organization, enter into a cooperative endeavor
16 agreement with the tourism organization for the collection of hotel assessments
17 on behalf of the tourism organization.
18 §305. Disclosure of surcharges
19 A. Rate schedules setting forth room charges and any surcharges as
20 required by this Chapter for hotels shall be posted or disclosed in all hotels as
21 required by applicable local ordinances.
22 B. Each operator of a hotel shall comply with applicable local
23 ordinances relating to furnishing a schedule of charges for the rental or use of
24 hotel rooms and shall include therein surcharges in effect for the following year,
25 a schedule of binding rates, applicable surcharges and length-of-stay
26 requirements.
27 C. An operator of a hotel shall place line itemization of any hotel
28 assessment for which the operator is responsible on the guest folio as a charge
29 to the guest immediately after, or included in, the itemization of hotel tax and
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1 occupancy tax. All hotel assessments to be passed through to guests as
2 surcharges shall be disclosed on all information or communication platforms of
3 the hotel in the same manner as are other surcharges and hotel and occupancy
4 taxes as required by applicable laws and regulations.
5 D. The provisions of this Chapter shall not supersede or limit the
6 authority of a tourism organization to levy assessments on its members under
7 the nonprofit corporation law or other applicable law and apply only to
8 assessments that are declared by resolution of the board of directors or other
9 governing body of the tourism organization to be made under this Chapter.
10 §306. Referendum
11 A. Any hotel assessment to be levied pursuant to this Chapter shall be
12 approved by a vote of the assessed hotels in a referendum conducted in
13 accordance with this Section. A referendum of all assessed hotels shall be called
14 by the president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, by
15 written notice mailed to all hotel operators identified by the tourism
16 organization as its members in accordance with such procedures as the tourism
17 organization may establish in its discretion. In any referendum, each assessed
18 hotel shall have a number of votes equal to the number of its hotel rooms as
19 shown on its occupational license. In any referendum, two-thirds of the votes
20 cast shall be required to approve or ratify any hotel assessment.
21 B. The written notice of the referendum shall include a description of any
22 proposed hotel assessment, including the effective date thereof, a ballot, and a
23 statement of the referendum period, which shall be not less than thirty days
24 from the date of the mailing of the notice and a ballot. Ballots may be delivered
25 to the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, or any other person
26 designated for the purpose of receiving, tabulating and counting ballots at any
27 time during the referendum period. The Greater New Orleans Hotel and
28 Lodging Association may, in its discretion, extend the referendum period not
29 more than fifteen additional days. At the close of the referendum period, the
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1 Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, or other person
2 designated for the purpose of receiving, tabulating and counting ballots shall
3 count and tabulate the ballots received during the referendum period. All
4 ballots shall be presumed to be valid. A notice of the results of the referendum
5 shall be mailed by the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, or
6 any other person designated for the purpose of receiving, tabulating and
7 counting ballots to the tourism organization and the assessed hotels.
8 C. The costs of the referendum, in the first instance, shall be paid by the
9 tourism organization and shall be reimbursed from hotel assessments as
10 received.
11 §307. Liberal construction
12 This Chapter, being necessary for the welfare of the state, and the parish
13 and its residents shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof.
14 §308. Severability
15 The provisions of this Chapter are severable. It is intended that if any
16 provision of this Chapter should be adjudged invalid or unenforceable, then
17 such provision, shall be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity or
18 unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions of this Chapter.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Michael Bell.
DIGEST
SB 169 Engrossed 2015 Regular Session Martiny
Proposed law provides that there is a direct correlation between the amount of funds spent
on destination-based marketing, sales and promotion of a locality and an increase in the
number of conventions, meetings, visitors, occupancy of hotels, retail sales of food,
beverages and other items, admissions to cultural and other entertainment venues, collections
of related state and local sales and use taxes, job creation and a resulting general economic
vitality of the traveler economy and related businesses in the locality.
Proposed law provides that it is in the state's public interest and vital to the welfare of the
state's economy to facilitate and encourage cooperating public-private partnerships for the
enhancement and expansion of the traveler economy and to provide for increased hotel
occupancy, tourism, economic development and job creation in Jefferson Parish.
Proposed law provides that proposed law is enacted for the purpose of facilitating the
collection and use of private sector originated supplementary funds to market and promote
Jefferson Parish as a traveler destination and to provide for increased economic activity
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words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 169
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within its traveler economy, including increased number of conventions, meetings, visitors,
hotel occupancy, food, beverage and other retail sales, tourism, including cultural and family
tourism, new job creation and other economic development and related purposes through an
optional, self-generated, private-sector hotel self-assessment program.
Proposed law provides that for the purposes of proposed law, the following terms shall have
the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1)"Assessed hotel" means a person operating a hotel and required to pay an hotel
assessment pursuant to proposed law and, until the hotel assessment is first levied,
any person operating a hotel authorized to vote for in referendum.
(2)"Hotel" means any establishment engaged in the business of furnishing or providing
rooms intended or designed for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes to transient
guests where such establishment consists of ten or more guest rooms but does not
include 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)"Hotel assessment" means any hotel assessment that is: (a) levied under proposed
law by a tourism organization on its members that are operators of hotels located in
Jefferson Parish; (b) calculated by reference either to room occupancy or room sales;
and (c) for the general purposes of the organization, or otherwise for the direct or
indirect benefit of the tourism industry and economic development, for sales,
marketing and promotion, and for driving and hosting tourism growth and visitors.
(4)"Operator of a hotel" means the person in whose name the occupational license for
the hotel is issued by the parish.
(5)"Person" means an individual, public entity, firm, corporation, partnership, limited
liability company, trust, association, or any other business entity or juridical person,
whether operating on a for-profit or nonprofit basis.
(6)"Referendum" means any vote by assessed hotels by mailed ballot of measures
proposed by the tourism organization in accordance with the provisions of proposed
law.
(7)"Surcharge" means any charge in addition to the daily room charge for services to
a hotel guest that is required to be paid in order to occupy a room and any hotel
assessment that is passed through to hotel guests as a charge on the guest folio.
Surcharge does not include charges for food and beverages, Internet access, spa
access or other goods or services sold at the hotel unless the payment for the goods
or services is required in connection with the use of the hotel room.
(8)"Tourism organization" means any private nonprofit corporation domiciled in
Jefferson Parish that is a nationally accredited comprehensive membership based
organization engaged in destination sales and marketing, visitor support and other
tourism related activities including the Jefferson Convention and Visitors Bureau,
Inc.
Proposed law provides that a tourism organization, under authority of its articles or bylaws,
may levy hotel assessments upon its hotel members in Jefferson Parish pursuant to present
law for destination marketing, sales, public relations and for other matters deemed by the
tourism organization to benefit directly or indirectly economic development, the traveler
economy and tourism growth as shall be approved by resolution of the board of directors of
the tourism organization and ratified by a vote of the assessed hotels in a referendum
conducted in accordance with proposed law.
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Proposed law provides that a hotel assessment proposed to be levied pursuant to proposed
law by a tourism organization: (1) shall be authorized by its board of directors or other
governing body by resolution that describes in general terms the hotel assessment to be
levied and includes a statement that the hotel assessment is to be levied pursuant to proposed
law and (2) shall be approved in a referendum of the assessed hotels as provided in proposed
law.
Proposed law provides that a hotel operator shall not be liable for payment of a hotel
assessment under proposed law for any time period in which it is not a member of the
tourism organization.
Proposed law provides that in addition to the right to resign from the tourism organization
as provided in the bylaws or other governing documents of the tourism organization, an
assessed hotel shall have the right to resign its membership in the tourism organization by
written notice given to the tourism organization within 30 days of the announcement of the
results of the referendum approving the hotel assessment and, for purposes of proposed law,
such resignation shall be effective as of the date of the referendum.
Proposed law provides that a hotel operator shall not be liable for payment of a hotel
assessment under proposed law during any time period in which it is not a member of the
tourism organization.
Proposed law provides that an assessed hotel shall place the hotel assessment as a mandatory
surcharge on the folio and in so doing shall comply with proposed law.
Proposed law provides that receipts from any hotel assessments levied pursuant to proposed
law are not part of gross receipts or gross revenue for any purpose, including the calculation
of hotel sales or occupancy taxes, or state income taxes, and are not part of income pursuant
to any lease or operator agreement.
Proposed law provides that payment of the assessment to the tourism organization shall not
be taken as a deduction from income for state income tax purposes.
Proposed law provides that any hotel assessment levied and passed through to a guest as a
surcharge in accordance with proposed law is an enforceable obligation of the guest as and
to the same extent as are daily room charges and other lawful surcharges.
Proposed law provides that procedures for collection of hotel assessments, interest charges
and penalties for delinquent remittance of hotel assessments to the tourism organization or
other matters incident to the hotel assessment shall be as provided by resolution or in the
bylaws of the tourism organization.
Proposed law provides that the state, the parish, and any and all of their agencies and
political subdivisions may, upon the request of a tourism organization, enter into a
cooperative endeavor agreement with the tourism organization for the collection of hotel
assessments on behalf of the tourism organization.
Proposed law provides that rate schedules setting forth room charges and any surcharges as
required by proposed law for hotels shall be posted or disclosed in all hotels as required by
applicable local ordinances.
Proposed law provides that each operator of a hotel shall comply with applicable local
ordinances relating to furnishing a schedule of charges for the rental or use of hotel rooms
and shall include therein surcharges in effect for the following year, a schedule of binding
rates, applicable surcharges and length-of-stay requirements.
Proposed law provides that an operator of a hotel shall place line itemization of any hotel
assessment for which the operator is responsible on the guest folio as a charge to the guest
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immediately after, or included in, the itemization of hotel tax and occupancy tax.
Proposed law provides that all hotel assessments to be passed through to guests as surcharges
shall be disclosed on all information or communication platforms of the hotel in the same
manner as are other surcharges and hotel and occupancy taxes as required by applicable laws
and regulations.
Proposed law provides that the provisions of proposed law shall not supersede or limit the
authority of a tourism organization to levy assessments on its members under the nonprofit
corporation law or other applicable law and apply only to assessments that are declared by
resolution of the board of directors or other governing body of the tourism organization to
be made under proposed law.
Proposed law provides that any hotel assessment to be levied pursuant to proposed law shall
be approved by a vote of the assessed hotels in a referendum conducted in accordance with
proposed law.
Proposed law provides that a referendum of all assessed hotels shall be called by the
president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, by written notice
mailed to all hotel operators identified by the tourism organization as its members in
accordance with such procedures as the tourism organization may establish in its discretion.
Proposed law provides that in any referendum, each assessed hotel shall have a number of
votes equal to the number of its hotel rooms as shown on its occupational license. In any
referendum, 2/3 of the votes cast shall be required to approve or ratify any hotel assessment.
Proposed law provides that the written notice of the referendum shall include a description
of any hotel assessment, including the effective date thereof, a ballot, and a statement of the
referendum period, which shall be not less than 30 days from the date of the mailing of the
notice and a ballot.
Proposed law provides that ballots may be delivered to the Greater New Orleans Hotel and
Lodging Association, or any other person designated for the purpose of receiving, tabulating
and counting ballots at any time during the referendum period. The Greater New Orleans
Hotel and Lodging Association may, in its discretion, extend the referendum period not more
than 15 additional days.
Proposed law provides that at the close of the referendum period, the Greater New Orleans
Hotel and Lodging Association, or other person designated for the purpose of receiving,
tabulating and counting ballots shall count and tabulate the ballots received during the
referendum period. All ballots shall be presumed to be valid.
Proposed law provides that a notice of the results of the referendum shall be mailed by the
Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, or any other person designated for the
purpose of receiving, tabulating and counting ballots to the tourism organization and the
assessed hotels.
Proposed law provides that the costs of the referendum, in the first instance, shall be paid
by the tourism organization and shall be reimbursed from hotel assessments as received.
Proposed law provides that proposed law shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes
of proposed law.
Proposed law provides that the provisions of proposed law are severable.
Effective August 1, 2015.
(Adds R.S. 21:301-308)
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