Section 351.021. Levying excise taxes on lodging transactions

(A) The resolution of the county commissioners creating a convention facilities authority, or any amendment or supplement to that resolution, may authorize the authority to levy one or both of the excise taxes authorized by division (B) of this section to pay the cost of one or more facilities; to pay principal, interest, and premium on convention facilities authority tax anticipation bonds issued to pay those costs; to pay the operating costs of the authority; to pay operating and maintenance costs of those facilities; and to pay the costs of administering the excise tax.

(B) The board of directors of a convention facilities authority that has been authorized pursuant to resolution adopted, amended, or supplemented by the board of county commissioners pursuant to division (A) of this section may levy, by resolution adopted on or before December 31, 1988, either or both of the following:

(1) Within the territory of the authority, an additional excise tax not to exceed four per cent on each transaction. The excise tax authorized by division (B)(1) of this section shall be in addition to any excise tax levied pursuant to section 5739.08 or 5739.09 of the Revised Code, or division (B)(2) of this section.

(2) Within that portion of any municipal corporation that is located within the territory of the authority or within the boundaries of any township that is located within the territory of the authority, which municipal corporation or township is levying any portion of the excise tax authorized by division (A) of section 5739.08 of the Revised Code, and with the approval, by ordinance or resolution, of the legislative authority of that municipal corporation or township, an additional excise tax not to exceed nine-tenths of one per cent on each transaction. The excise tax authorized by division (B)(2) of this section may be levied only if, on the effective date of the levy specified in the resolution making the levy, the amount being levied pursuant to division (A) of section 5739.08 of the Revised Code by each municipal corporation or township in which the tax authorized by division (B)(2) of this section will be levied, when added to the amount levied under division (B)(2) of this section, does not exceed three per cent on each transaction. The excise tax authorized by division (B)(2) of this section shall be in addition to any excise tax that is levied pursuant to section 5739.08 or 5739.09 of the Revised Code, or division (B)(1) of this section.

(C)

(1) The board of directors of a convention facilities authority that is located in an eligible Appalachian county; that has been authorized pursuant to resolution adopted, amended, or supplemented by the board of county commissioners pursuant to division (A) of this section; and that is not levying a tax under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section may levy within the territory of the authority, by resolution adopted on or before December 31, 2005, an additional excise tax not to exceed three per cent on each transaction. The excise tax authorized under division (C)(1) of this section shall be in addition to any excise tax levied pursuant to section 5739.08 or 5739.09 of the Revised Code.

As used in division (C)(1) of this section, "eligible Appalachian county" means a county in this state designated as being in the "Appalachian region" under the "Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965," 79 Stat. 4, 40 U.S.C. App. 403, and having a population less than eighty thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census.

(2) Division (C)(2) of this section applies only to a convention facilities authority located in a county with a population, according to the 2000 federal decennial census, of at least one hundred thirty-five thousand and not more than one hundred fifty thousand and containing entirely within its boundaries the territory of a municipal corporation with a population according to that census of more than fifty thousand. The board of directors of such a convention facilities authority, by resolution adopted on or before November 1, 2009, may levy within the territory of the authority an excise tax on transactions by which lodging by a hotel is or is to be furnished to transient guests at a rate not to exceed three per cent on such transactions for the same purposes for which a tax may be levied under division (B) of this section. The resolution may be adopted only if the board of county commissioners of the county, by resolution, authorizes the levy of the tax. The resolution of the board of county commissioners is subject to referendum as prescribed by sections 305.31 to 305.41 of the Revised Code. If, pursuant to those procedures, a referendum is to be held, the board's resolution does not take effect until approved by a majority of electors voting on the question. The convention facilities authority may adopt the resolution authorized by division (C)(2) of this section before the election, but the authority's resolution shall not take effect if the board of commissioners' resolution is not approved at the election. A tax levied under division (C)(2) of this section is in addition to any tax levied under section 5739.09 of the Revised Code.

(D) The authority shall provide for the administration and allocation of an excise tax levied pursuant to division (B) or (C) of this section. All receipts arising from those excise taxes shall be expended for the purposes provided in, and in accordance with this section and section 351.141 of the Revised Code. An excise tax levied under division (B) or (C) of this section shall remain in effect at the rate at which it is levied for at least the duration of the period for which the receipts from the tax have been anticipated and pledged pursuant to section 351.141 of the Revised Code.

(E) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, the levy of an excise tax on each transaction pursuant to sections 5739.08 and 5739.09 of the Revised Code does not prevent a convention facilities authority from levying an excise tax pursuant to division (B) or (C) of this section.

(F) A convention facilities authority located in a county with a population greater than eighty thousand but less than ninety thousand according to the 2010 federal decennial census that levies a tax under division (B) of this section may amend the resolution levying the tax to allocate a portion of the revenue from the tax for support of tourism-related sites or facilities and programs operated by the county or a municipal corporation within the county in which the authority is located or for the purpose of leasing lands for county fairs, erecting buildings for county fair purposes, making improvements on a county fairground, or for any purpose connected with the use of a county fairground or with the management thereof by the county in which the authority is located. The revenue allocated by the authority for such purposes in a calendar year shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total revenue from the tax in the preceding calendar year.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 06-21-2002; 06-30-2005