12.05.010 Definitions.
The following definitions apply in this chapter:
A. Occupancy means the right to the use or possession of any space in temporary lodging for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes for less than 30 days.
B. Occupant means the person with the right to occupancy or who is responsible for payment for the occupancy.
C. Operator means any person who receives rent from an occupant or a person paying an occupant’s rent.
D. Rent means the consideration paid or payable by an occupant for the occupancy of space in temporary lodging valued in money, goods, labor, credits, property, or other consideration. If a separate fee is charged for services, goods or commodities and the fee is optional, that fee is not included in rent. A guaranteed no-show charge based on the rate charged for the room is considered rent, but a cancellation fee is not rent. Examples of optional services may include, but are not limited to: pay-per-view movies, room service, long-distance telephone calls, use of an honor bar or parking. Optional charges require express permission of the occupant to incur the cost. If a group of rooms is booked or arranged at a negotiated rate, an additional charge is optional if the person acting for the group can avoid the charge for the group. Rent includes all fees and assessments based on the number of occupants, human and pets (including but not limited to cleaning, pet, smoking or recreational fees) for which payment is not optional to the occupant. If the operator offers a lodging package that includes something that is not associated with the actual lodging or is provided by a third party, the rent is the price of the package less the cost of the nonlodging portion of the package. If the operator charges room tax based on the total package price, the rent is the full amount of the package.
Because neither the operator nor the City can keep track of every transaction, whether particular charges are part of rent is based on the operator’s standard practices. When an operator’s practices would result in a specific fee being optional for some and not others, it will be treated as not optional for all.
Examples:
1. An operator charges $100.00 per night for a room. Occupants are provided a breakfast that is included in the per night fee. Occupants may also have lunch or dinner at the property and may charge the cost of these meals to their room. The rent is $100.00 per night because the breakfast is included in the room fee. The rent does not include any charges for optional meals purchased by occupants.
2. An operator charges $90.00 for a room and $10.00 for parking. If occupants are made aware of the parking charge and have the opportunity to avoid it before incurring the charge, the rent is $90.00. If they are not made aware of the charge for parking and not given the opportunity to avoid the charge, the rent is $100.00.
3.
a. An operator charges $100.00 for a room, but adds a mandatory three percent “resort fee” for use of hotel amenities. The rent is $103.00 because the resort fee charge is mandatory, not optional.
b. An operator adds a facilities charge to all bills but will drop the facilities charge if an occasional occupant objects on the basis that the occupant did not use the “facilities.” The facilities charge is part of the rent because it is imposed on occupants and is imposed on many who did not give permission to incur the cost.
4. A third-party tour company offers a package that includes both hotel and ski lift tickets for $130.00 and pays the operator $100.00 for the room. The rent is $100.00.
5. An operator charges $90.00 for a smoking room and $80.00 for a nonsmoking room, and charges a $100.00 penalty for smoking in a nonsmoking room. The rent for the smoking room is $90.00, but the $100.00 penalty imposed on improper use of the nonsmoking room is not part of the rent.
6. An operator charges a pet fee of $10.00 per night for all pets. The pet fee is part of the rent because it is based on occupancy of the room. If the operator charges a refundable pet deposit of $100.00, the deposit is not part of the rent, even if not refunded due to damages to the room.
7. A group reserves 50 rooms at $80.00 per room and also orders a daily newspaper at an additional $1.00 per room. The rent for each room is $80.00 per night because the person acting for the group could have avoided the $1.00 newspaper charge.
8. An online room wholesaler sells a room in a lodging facility for $130.00 to customers and pays the owner of the lodging facility $100.00. The rent is $130.00 because that is the amount paid by the customer and the wholesaler must collect the tax based on the $130.00 rent and report and remit the tax to the City, less the administration fee authorized by BC 12.05.035, unless the wholesaler has an approved tax collection and remission agreement, in which case the entity operating the facility will report and remit the tax to the City based on the full amount collected by the wholesaler, less the administration fee.
E. Tax Administrator means the Finance Director of the City of Bend.
F. Room tax means the tax payable by the occupant under this chapter.
G. Temporary lodging means:
1. Hotel, motel and inn dwelling units that are used for temporary overnight human occupancy;
2. Spaces used for overnight parking of recreational vehicles or placement of tents during periods of human occupancy; or
3. Houses, cabins, condominiums, apartment units or other dwelling units, or portions of any of these dwelling units that are used for temporary human occupancy.
H. Tax collection and remission agreement means a written agreement between a “transient lodging intermediary” as that term is used in State law and a person operating temporary lodging that requires the transient lodging intermediary to collect the tax imposed by this chapter, forward the full amount of the tax collected to the person operating the temporary lodging along with information as to the full amount of rent collected, and requires the person operating the temporary lodging to report the full amount of the rent paid and to remit the tax, less the authorized administration fee, to the City. A tax collection and remission agreement is not valid until approved by the City. [Ord. NS-2410, 2021; Ord. NS-2253, 2015; Ord. NS-2163, 2011]