5.20.160 Refund by written claim.
The amount of any tax, penalty, or interest may be refunded if it has been overpaid or paid more than once, or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the county under this chapter. A written claim for refund must be filed with the Tax Collector within three years of the date of payment stating, under penalty of perjury, the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded. The claim shall be on a form provided by the Tax Collector.
A. An operator may obtain a refund, or take as a credit against taxes collected and paid, the amount overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received, or when it is established in a manner prescribed by the Tax Collector that the person from whom the tax has been collected was not a transient or upon any other facts or circumstances the Tax Collector deems relevant. However, neither a refund nor a credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax so collected has either been refunded to the occupant or credited to rent subsequently payable by the occupant to the operator.
B. A transient may obtain a refund of taxes overpaid, or paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the county, but only when the tax was paid by the transient directly to the Tax Collector, or when the transient having paid the tax to the operator establishes to the satisfaction of the Tax Collector that the transient has been unable to obtain a refund from the operator who collected the tax.
C. No refund shall be paid under the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his right thereto by written records reasonably proving that the claimant is entitled to the refund. (Ord. 786, eff. 6/20/92; Ord. 377, eff. 10/7/71)