Opinion ID: 6329940
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the resort-area tax

Text: {¶ 8} The General Assembly enacted the resort-area tax in 1993. Am.Sub.H.B. No. 327, 145 Ohio Laws, Part III, 5409, 5410-5411. The resort-area tax replaced an earlier “island tax” that this court had held to be unconstitutional. See Put-In-Bay Island Taxing Dist. Auth. v. Colonial, Inc., 65 Ohio St.3d 449, 605 N.E.2d 21 (1992). Under the current resort-area tax, a municipality or township may declare itself to be a resort area and then impose the resort-area tax as a stated percentage of gross business receipts only if the following three criteria are satisfied: (1) According to statistics published by the federal government based on data compiled during the most recent decennial census of the United States, at least sixty-two per cent of total housing units in the municipal corporation or township are classified as “for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use”; (2) Entertainment and recreation facilities are provided within the municipal corporation or township that are primarily intended to provide seasonal leisure time activities for persons other than permanent residents of the municipal corporation or township; (3) The municipal corporation or township experiences seasonal peaks of employment and demand for government services as a direct result of the seasonal population increase. R.C. 5739.101(A). If these criteria are met, a municipal corporation or township “may levy an excise tax on vendors for the privilege of making sales in, or transporting persons or property to or from, the municipality or township.” Kelleys Island Caddy Shack, Inc. v. Zaino, 96 Ohio St.3d 375, 2002-Ohio-4930, 775 N.E.2d 489, ¶ 1; see also R.C. 5739.101(B). 4 January Term, 2022 {¶ 9} R.C. 5739.101 through 5739.104 address administrative aspects of the resort-area tax, including (1) the filing of returns with the tax commissioner and the requirement that the state distribute the tax proceeds to the appropriate political subdivisions, R.C. 5739.102, and (2) the process for issuing refunds of taxes that were paid illegally or erroneously or that were paid based on an illegal or erroneous assessment, R.C. 5739.104.