A CHARTER ORDINANCE AMENDING CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. 14 RELATED TO EXPENDITURES FROM TRANSIENT GUEST TAX REVENUES

WHEREAS, Charter Ordinance No. 14 (and thereafter Charter Ordinance No. 17 and Charter No. 20) exempt the City from the requirements of K.S.A. 12-1697 (establishing a maximum rate of 2%) and K.S.A. 12-16,101 (requiring appointment of a committee for spending of funds), which statutes relate to authorized transient guest taxes; and

WHEREAS, the Governing Body believes that  --  in addition to its consideration and approval of specific allocation requests that may be presented to it throughout the year  --  additional flexibility is warranted so that allocations may be made as part of the Governing Body’s annual budgeting process, with review and approval of specific expenditures from the allocations to be performed throughout the year by the City Administrator and City Attorney to ensure the expenditures align with the authorized use of the transient guest tax revenue.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF DE SOTO, KANSAS:

Section 1.  The City of De Soto, Kansas, by virtue of the power vested in it by Article 12, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, hereby amends Section 3 of Charter Ordinance No. 14 (which amendments will supersede and replace previous amendments to Section 3 of Charter Ordinance No. 14  --  enacted via Charter Ordinances 17 and 20) to read as follows:

       In order to provide revenues to promote tourism and conventions, the Governing Body of the City of De Soto, Kansas, hereby authorizes a transient guest tax of six percent (6%)  upon the gross receipts derived from or paid by transient guests for sleeping accommodations, exclusive of charges for incidental services or facilities, in any hotel, motel or tourist court.  The transient guest tax revenues may be allocated by the Governing Body as part of its annual budgeting process, but any expenditures from such allocations will be reviewed and approved by the City Administrator and City Attorney to ensure they are for the purpose of funding economic development activities, promoting tourism and conventions, marketing efforts for the City, and/or community events or celebrations. All requested expenditures of the transient guest tax revenue, that are not specifically allocated in the adopted City budget, will be reviewed by the Governing Body and only approved if it is determined the expenditures are for the purpose of funding economic development activities, promoting tourism and conventions, marketing efforts for the City, and/or community events or celebrations.

Section 2.  All remaining Sections of Charter Ordinance No. 14 shall remain in full force and effect.

(11-01-2018)