A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE Camden COUNTY TO LEVY A ROOM OCCUPANCY AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TAX and to authorize Hyde County to levy a prepared food tax.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Part I.  Camden County Occupancy Tax
SECTION 1.  Occupancy tax. (a)  Authorization and Scope. – The Camden County Board of Commissioners may levy a room occupancy tax of up to six percent (6%) of the gross receipts derived from the rental of any room, lodging, or accommodation furnished by a hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, or similar place within the county that is subject to sales tax imposed by the State under G.S. 105‑164.4(a)(3). This tax is in addition to any State or local sales tax. This tax does not apply to accommodations furnished by nonprofit charitable, educational, or religious organizations when furnished in furtherance of their nonprofit purpose.
SECTION 1.(b)  Administration. – A tax levied under this section shall be levied, administered, collected, and repealed as provided in G.S. 153A‑155. The penalties provided in G.S. 153A‑155 apply to a tax levied under this section.
SECTION 1.(c)  Distribution and Use of Tax Revenue. – Camden County shall, on a quarterly basis, remit the net proceeds of the occupancy tax to the Camden Tourism Development Authority. The Authority shall use at least two‑thirds of the funds remitted to it under this subsection to promote travel and tourism in Camden County and shall use the remainder for tourism‑related expenditures.
The following definitions apply in this subsection:
(1)	Net proceeds. – Gross proceeds less the cost to the county of administering and collecting the tax, as determined by the finance officer, not to exceed three percent (3%) of the first five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) of gross proceeds collected each year and one percent (1%) of the remaining gross receipts collected each year.
(2)	Promote travel and tourism. – To advertise or market an area or activity, publish and distribute pamphlets and other materials, conduct market research, or engage in similar promotional activities that attract tourists or business travelers to the area; the term includes administrative expenses incurred in engaging in these activities.
(3)	Tourism‑related expenditures. – Expenditures that, in the judgment of the Camden Tourism Development Authority, are designed to increase the use of lodging facilities, meeting facilities, and convention facilities in a county by attracting tourists or business travelers to the county. The term includes tourism‑related capital expenditures.
SECTION 2.  Tourism Development Authority. – (a)  Appointment and Membership. – When the board of commissioners adopts a resolution levying a room occupancy tax under this act, it shall also adopt a resolution creating a county Tourism Development Authority, which shall be a public authority under the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act. The resolution shall provide for the membership of the Authority including the members' terms of office, and for the filling of vacancies on the Authority. At least one‑third of the members must be individuals who are affiliated with businesses that collect the tax in the county and at least three‑fourths of the members must be individuals who are currently active in the promotion of travel and tourism in the county. The board of commissioners shall designate one member of the Authority as chair and shall determine the compensation, if any, to be paid to members of the Authority.
The Authority shall meet at the call of the chair and shall adopt rules of procedure to govern its meetings. The Finance Officer for Camden County shall be the ex officio finance officer of the Authority.
SECTION 2.(b)  Duties. – The Authority shall expend the net proceeds of the tax levied under this act for the purposes provided in Section 1 of this act. The Authority shall promote travel, tourism, and conventions in the county, sponsor tourist‑related events and activities in the county, and finance tourist‑related capital projects in the county.
SECTION 2.(c)  Reports. – The Authority shall report quarterly and at the close of the fiscal year to the board of commissioners on its receipts and expenditures for the preceding quarter and for the year in such detail as the board may require.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 153A‑155(g) reads as rewritten:
"(g)	This section applies only to Anson, Brunswick, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Camden, Carteret, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Durham, Granville, Madison, Montgomery, Nash, New Hanover, Pender, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly, Transylvania, Tyrrell, Vance, and Washington Counties, and to the Township of Averasboro in Harnett County."
Part ii.  hyde County meals tax
SECTION 4.  Authorization. – The Hyde County Board of Commissioners may, by resolution, levy a prepared food tax of up to one percent (1%) of the sales price of prepared food sold within the county at retail for consumption on or off the premises by a retailer subject to sales tax under G.S. 105‑164.4(a)(1). This tax is in addition to State and local sales tax. Before adopting a resolution under this section, the board of commissioners must give at least 10 days' public notice of its intent to adopt the resolution and must hold a public hearing on the issue of adopting the resolution.
SECTION 5.  Definitions. – The definitions in G.S. 105‑164.3 apply in this act. In addition, the term "net proceeds" means gross proceeds less the cost to the county of administering and collecting the tax.
SECTION 6.  Exemptions. – The prepared food tax does not apply to the following sales of prepared food:
(1)	Prepared food served to residents in boarding houses and sold together on a periodic basis with rental of a sleeping room or lodging.
(2)	Retail sales exempt from taxation under G.S. 105‑164.13.
(3)	Retail sales through or by means of vending machines.
(4)	Prepared food served by a retailer subject to the local occupancy tax if the charge for the prepared food is included in a single, nonitemized sales price together with the charge for rental of a room, lodging, or accommodation furnished by the retailer.
(5)	Prepared food furnished without charge by an employer to an employee.
(6)	Retail sales by grocers or by grocery sections of supermarkets or other diversified retail establishments other than sales of prepared food in the delicatessen or similar departments of the grocer or grocery section.
SECTION 7.  Collection. – Every retailer subject to the tax levied under this act shall, on and after the effective date of the levy of the tax, collect the tax. This tax shall be collected as part of the charge for furnishing prepared food. The tax shall be stated separately on the sale document and shall be paid by the purchaser to the retailer as trustee for and on account of the county. The tax shall be added to the sales price and passed on to the purchaser instead of being borne by the retailer. The county shall design, print, and furnish to all appropriate businesses and persons in the county the necessary forms for filing returns and instructions to ensure the full collection of the tax.
For the convenience of retailers, the county shall determine the amount to be added to the sales price of sales subject to the prepared food tax. The amounts shall be set forth in a bracket system and distributed to each retailer responsible for collecting the prepared food tax. The use of the bracket system does not relieve the retailer from the duty of collecting and remitting an amount equal to the prepared food tax.
SECTION 8.  Administration. – The county shall administer a tax levied under this Part. A tax levied under this Part is due and payable to the county finance officer in monthly installments on or before the 20th day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues. Every person, firm, corporation, or association liable for the tax shall, on or before the 20th day of each month, prepare and render a return on a form prescribed by the county. The return shall state the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from sales upon which the tax is levied.
A return filed with the county finance officer under this Part is not a public record and may not be disclosed except in accordance with G.S. 153A‑148.1.
SECTION 9.  Refunds. – The county shall refund to a nonprofit or governmental entity the prepared food tax paid by the entity on eligible purchases of prepared food. A nonprofit or governmental entity's purchase of prepared food is eligible for a refund under this section if the entity is entitled to a refund under G.S. 105‑164.14 of the sales and use tax paid on the purchase. The time limitations, application requirements, penalties, and restrictions provided in G.S. 105‑164.14(b) and (d) apply to refunds to nonprofit entities; the time, limitations, application requirements, penalties, and restrictions provided in G.S. 105‑164.14(c), (d), and (e) apply to refunds to governmental entities. When an entity applies for a refund of the prepared food tax paid by it on purchases, it must attach to its application a copy of the application submitted to the Department of Revenue under G.S. 105‑164.14 for a refund of the sales and use tax on the same purchases. An applicant for a refund under this section shall provide any information required by the county to substantiate the claim.
SECTION 10.  Penalties. – The uniform meals tax penalty provisions of G.S. 153A‑154.1 apply to a tax levied under this Part.
SECTION 11.  Effective Date of Levy. – A tax levied under this Part shall become effective on the date specified in the resolution levying the tax. The date must be the first day of a calendar month and may not be before the first day of the second month after the date the resolution is adopted.
SECTION 12.  Repeal. – A tax levied under this Part may be repealed by a resolution adopted by the Hyde County Board of Commissioners. Repeal of a tax levied under this Part shall become effective on the first day of a month and may not become effective until the end of the fiscal year in which the repeal resolution is adopted. Repeal of a tax levied under this Part does not affect a liability for a tax that attached before the effective date of the repeal, nor does it affect a right to a refund of a tax that accrued before the effective date of the repeal.
part III.  Effective Date
SECTION 13.  This act is effective when it becomes law.