Levy and collection; disposition of funds.

(a) This section shall only be applicable to portions of Houston County outside the corporate limits of the City of Dothan.

(b) There is levied and imposed, in addition to all other taxes of every kind now imposed by law, a privilege or license tax upon every person, firm, or corporation engaging in the business of renting or furnishing any room or rooms, lodging, or accommodations to transients in any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, or any other place in which rooms, lodgings, or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration, in an amount of six percent of the charge for the room, rooms, lodgings, or accommodations, including the charge for use or rental of personal property and services furnished in the room; provided, however, that there is exempted from the tax authorized to be levied under this section any rentals or services taxed under Division 1, commencing with Section 40-23-1, Article 1, Chapter 23, Title 40. This tax shall not apply to rooms, lodgings, or accommodations supplied for a period of 30 continuous days or more in any one place.

(c) The tax authorized to be levied shall be collected as provided by the Houston County Commission.

(d) The six percent tax collected pursuant to this section shall be distributed in the following manner:

(1) Tax collected within the corporate limits of any town or municipality or within any cooperative district established under Chapter 99B of Title 11, located outside of the corporate limits of any town or municipality shall be distributed with one-third of the revenue from the tax distributed to the town, municipality, or district for the promotion of tourism and economic development and related costs and two-thirds of the revenue from the tax distributed to the county general fund.

(2) Any other tax collected in the unincorporated areas of the county shall be distributed to the county general fund.

(e) Fifty percent of the revenue distributed to the Houston County General Fund shall be equally split between the Dothan Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce to promote economic development and tourism. The remaining 50 percent shall be retained in the county general fund to be used for costs associated with tourism and economic development in Houston County including, but not limited to, infrastructure development and maintenance and for law enforcement.

(Act 2009-350, p. 673, §§1-5.)