Okaloosa County BOCC — July 15, 2014 — reading text

consideration for the lease or rental, and it shall be collected from the lessee, tenant or customer at the time of payment of the consideration for such lease or rental. (d) The person receiving the consideration for such rental or lease shall receive, account for, and remit the tax to the board of county commissioners (the "board") at the same time and in the manner provided for persons who collect and remit taxes under Section 212.03, Florida Statutes. The same duties and privileges imposed by Chapter 212, Florida Statutes, upon dealers in tangible property, respecting the collection and remission of tax, the making of returns, the keeping of books, records and accounts, the payment of a dealer's credit, and compliance with the rules of the Okaloosa County Tax Collector (the "tax collector") in the administration of said chapter shall apply to and be binding on all 2 Packet Pg. 43  persons who are subject to the provisions of this article; provided, however, the tax collector may authorize a quarterly payment when the tax remitted by the dealer for the preceding quarter did not exceed $25.00. (e) The tax collector shall keep records showing the amount of taxes collected, which records shall be open to the public during the regular office hours of the tax collector, subject to the provisions of Section 213.053, Florida Statutes. (f) Collections received by the tax collector, less costs of administration of this article, shall be paid on a monthly basis, to the board for use by the county in accordance with the provisions of this article and shall be placed in the county tourist development trust fund. (g) The tax collector is authorized to employ persons and incur other expenses necessary to administer this article. (h) The tax collector may promulgate such rules and may prescribe and publish such forms as may be necessary to effectuate the purpose of this article. (i) The tax collector shall perform the enforcement and audit functions associated with the collection and remission of this tax, including, without limitation, the following: (1) a. For the purpose of enforcing the collection of the tax levied by this article, the tax collector is hereby specifically authorized and empowered to examine at all reasonable hours the books, records, and other documents of all dealers, or other persons charged with the duty to report or pay a tax under this article, in order to determine whether they are collecting the tax or otherwise complying with this article. b. In the event such dealer refuses to permit such examination of its books, records, or other documents by the tax collector as aforesaid, such dealer is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in Sections 775.082, 775.083, or 775.084, Florida Statutes. The tax collector shall have the right to proceed in circuit court to seek a mandatory injunction or other appropriate remedy to enforce his right against the offender, as granted by this section, to require an examination of the books and records of such dealer. (2) a. Each dealer, as defined in this article, shall secure, maintain, and keep for a period of three years, a complete record of rooms or other lodging, leased or rented by the dealer, together with gross receipts from such sales, and other 3 Packet Pg. 44  pertinent records and papers as may be required by the tax collector for the reasonable administration of this article; and all such records which are maintained in this state shall be open for inspection by the tax collector at all reasonable hours at such dealer's place of business located in the county. b. Any dealer who maintains such books and records at a point outside the county must make such books and records available for inspection by the tax collector. Any dealer subject to the provisions of this article who violates these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in Sections 775.082, 775.083, or 775.084, Florida Statutes. (3) a. The tax collector shall send written notification, at least 30 days prior to the date an auditor is scheduled to begin an audit. The tax collector is not required to give 30 days prior notification of a forthcoming audit in any instance in which the taxpayer requests an emergency audit. b. Such written notification shall contain: 1. The approximate date on which the auditor is scheduled to begin the audit. 2. A reminder that all of the records, invoices, and related documentation must be made available to the auditor. 3. Any other requests or suggestions the tax collector may deem necessary. c. Only records, receipts, invoices, and related documentation which are available to the auditor when such audit begins shall be deemed acceptable for the purposes of conducting such audit. (4) All taxes collected under this article shall be remitted to the board of county commissioners, attention: Finance officer. (5) a. In addition to criminal sanctions, the tax collector is empowered, and it shall be his duty, when any tax becomes delinquent or is otherwise in jeopardy under this article, to issue a warrant for the full amount of the tax due, or estimated to be due, with the interest, penalties, and cost of collection, directed to all and singular sheriffs of the state, and shall record the warrant in the public records of the county, and thereupon the amount of the warrant shall become a lien on any real or personal property of the taxpayer in the same manner as a recorded judgment. 4 Packet Pg. 45  b. The tax collector may issue a tax execution to enforce the collection of taxes imposed by this article and deliver it to the sheriff. The sheriff shall then proceed in the same manner as prescribed by law for executions and shall be entitled to the same fees for his services in executing the warrant to be collected. c. The tax collector may also have a writ of garnishment to subject any indebtedness due to the delinquent dealer by a third person in any goods, money, chattels, or effects of the delinquent dealer in the hands, possession, or control of the third person in the manner provided by law for the payment of the tax due. Upon payment of the execution, warrant, judgment, or garnishment, the tax collector shall satisfy the lien of record within 30 days. (j) Tax revenues may be used only in accordance with the provisions of Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes. (k) Three percent of the tax collected herein shall be retained by the tax collector for costs of administration. The remainder of the tax shall be deposited in the county tourist development trust fund on a monthly basis. Sec. 20-72. Tourist development plan. (a) Revenue projections. The tax revenues pursuant to this section for the next fiscal year and thereafter until amended by the board shall be used to fund the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Plan, which is hereby adopted as follows: The anticipated annual revenues to be produced by the tourist development tax as identified herein in parenthesis for each budget category is provided as an annual total based on past collection trends projected forward. The projected revenues are estimates and may vary from those identified herein. The amounts shown have already been reduced by the costs of administration retained by the tax collector. (b) Taxing district boundaries. The geographic area included within the county's sub-district is depicted on Exhibit A, as attached hereto and incorporated herein. (c) County tourist development plan. The county hereby determines that the tourist development plan for the sub-district shall be comprised of the following broad goals and objectives and makes the following findings of fact: 5 Packet Pg. 46 (1) Tourism promotion. The tourism related economy within Okaloosa County generates significant direct and indirect revenue to businesses within the community. Accordingly, tourism is essential to a healthy economy and is a driving force in the growth of business development and increased employment opportunities for county residents. The county has worked diligently on the development and maintenance of quality advertising, sales, marketing and public relations initiatives for the sub-district which presents a consistent and positive brand for the area. This branding is essential to the development of this section of the economy and the county will work towards the development and implementation of unified marketing campaigns. These campaigns will be monitored and analyzed by the tourist development council (the "council"), the director and tourist development department staff with, at a minimum, quarterly reports provided to the board. Within the guidelines set forth herein, the campaigns shall be conducted with funding levels designed to achieve maximum positive promotional exposure to potential visitors to the sub-district. The primary objective for the campaigns shall be the maintenance of consistent positive "branding" which consists of image and name recognition and the further development of "year round business" to encompass group and leisure business. The support for a variety of special events and sponsorships is another productive means to further the development of year round business and bolster image and name recognition for the sub-district. Funds may be allocated on an annual basis, as approved by the board, for support of special events and sponsorships in accordance with procedures provided in the adopted tourist development council bylaws and tourist development department operation and procedures manual. The development of a visible support community for local production of film and advertising projects may also be a productive means to further maintain a consistent positive "branding" of both the sub-district and the county overall. Funds may be allocated to support such projects. The county determines that continuing maintenance efforts to keep the beaches, waterways, access ways and other recreational and eco-tourism facilities within the sub-district ("tourist destination facilities"), clean, attractive and safe for public usage are important to the image and marketing of the primary asset of the sub-district and may include a mechanical beach cleaning program for all Gulf beaches within the sub-district outside of those owned or controlled by the federal government. This also includes the maintaining of the aesthetics of access 6 Packet Pg. 47  corridors within the sub-district so as to provide a consistent positive branding for the area. The