(a)(1) A municipality may, by ordinance, impose a surcharge on the admission charge for any event that is held at a facility located within the municipality. The amount of such surcharge shall not exceed five per cent of the amount of admission, except that the amount of such surcharge imposed on the facility described in subdivision (12) of subsection (a) of section 12-541 shall not exceed ten per cent of the amount of admission. The amount of any such surcharge shall be in addition to any tax otherwise applicable to such admission charge, except that no municipality may impose a surcharge on a facility pursuant to this section if (A) the municipality imposes a surcharge on such facility pursuant to section 12-579, or (B) all of the proceeds from the event inure exclusively to an entity which is exempt from federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code, provided such entity actively engages in and assumes the financial risk associated with the presentation of such event. Any municipal ordinance adopted pursuant to this section may exclude additional events or facilities from the surcharge imposed pursuant to this section.

(2) As used in this section, “admission charge” means the amount paid, whether in the form of a ticket price, license fee, skybox, luxury suite or club seat rental charge or purchase price, or otherwise, for the right or privilege to have access to a place or location where amusement, entertainment or recreation is provided, exclusive of any charges for instruction, and including any preferred seat license fee or any other payment required in order to have the right to purchase seats or secure admission to any such place or location. Places of amusement, entertainment or recreation (A) include, but are not limited to, theaters, auditoriums where lectures and concerts are given, amusement parks, fairgrounds, race tracks, dance halls, ball parks, stadiums, amphitheaters, convention centers, golf courses, miniature golf courses, tennis courts, skating rinks, swimming pools, bathing beaches, gymnasiums, auto shows, boat shows, camping shows, home shows, dog shows and antique shows, but (B) do not include motion picture shows.

(b) The surcharge shall be imposed on the facility at which such event takes place, and reimbursement for the surcharge shall be collected from the purchaser upon payment of the admission charge. The surcharge, when added to the admission charge, shall be a debt from the purchaser to the facility and shall be recoverable at law. The facility shall remit the total amount of all surcharges imposed pursuant to this section to the municipality in accordance with section 12-581. Any surcharge imposed pursuant to this section shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 226a in the same manner as a tax imposed pursuant to said chapter.

(May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3, S. 186; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 111.)

History: May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3 effective June 2, 2016; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 amended Subsec. (a) by designating existing provisions re surcharge on admission charge as Subdiv. (1), adding Subdiv. (2) redefining “admission charge”, and making technical and conforming changes, effective October 31, 2017.