Illinois § 5

§ 5.

Definitions. As used in this Act: "Benefit zone" means a zone (i) located within a district, (ii) established by the governing body of the district based upon the degree of benefit derived from the services to be provided within the zone, and (iii) in which the governing body may impose unique transaction charges based on the degree of benefit intended to be provided. "Business owner" means a hotel owner or the hotel owner's representative. "Clerk" means the clerk of a governing body or, if the governing body has no clerk, the individual designated as the clerk by the governing body. "District" means a tourism preservation and sustainability district created under this Act. "Governing body" means the legislative body of a governmental unit that establishes a district by resolution of intent and ordinance under this Act. "Governmental unit" means a municipality, county, or township located in whole or part within the district. "Hotel" means any building or buildings in which the public may, for consideration, obtain living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations that will benefit from a district's services or improvements. "Hotel" includes, but is not limited to, inns, motels, tourist homes or courts, lodging houses, rooming houses, retreat centers, conference centers, and hunting lodges. "Hotel" does not include a short-term rental. "Improvement" means the acquisition, construction, installation, or maintenance of any tangible property that has an estimated useful life of 5 years or more and that is reasonably related to the enhancement of tourism. "Local tourism and convention bureau" means either a unit of local government or a nonprofit corporation (i) that has as its sole purpose the promotion of tourism; (ii) that is operating with a paid, full-time staff; (iii) that receives local hotel or motel tax receipts from one or more municipalities or counties; (iv) that represents one or more municipalities or counties; and (v) that either is recognized by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as a certified local tourism and convention bureau or has been in legal existence as a nonprofit corporation for a minimum of two years before contracting with a governmental unit to implement services and improvements in a district. "Services" means marketing, promotions, sales efforts, events, and other activities that are reasonably related to the enhancement of tourism. "Short-term rental" means a single-family dwelling or a residential dwelling unit in a multi-unit apartment structure, condominium, cooperative, timeshare, or similar joint property ownership arrangement that is rented for a fee for less than 30 consecutive days. "Short-term rental" includes a dwelling unit rented for business travel or recreation. "Tourism" means travel by either State residents or out-of-state visitors traveling away from home overnight in paid accommodations or on day trips to places away from the resident's or visitor's home. "Transaction charge" means a special charge that is imposed upon a hotel in a district that is either a fixed dollar or percentage rate per hotel room per night. (Source: P.A. 102-1127, eff. 2-10-23.)