Article 21

Voted to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court for a special act in the form below, providing that the Town may assess a tax on commercial recreational activities; provided, however, that the General Court may make clerical or editorial changes of form only to the bill, unless the Board of Selectmen approve amendments to the bill before enactment by the General Court; and provided further that the Board of Selectmen hereby authorized to approve amendments which shall be within the scope of the general public objectives of this petition;

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:

SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Town of Charlemont may impose a recreation tax on the fee for service for guided and unguided commercial recreational activities within the town in the amount of three percent of the ticket price. Such tax shall be in addition to the amount of any sales tax imposed pursuant to chapter 64H of the General Laws. Upon each sale of a commercial recreational service under this act, the amount of tax collected by the vendor from the purchaser shall be stated and charged separately from the sales price and shown separately on any record thereof at the time the sale is made or on any evidence of sale used by the vendor. The vendor shall pay the recreation tax imposed under this section to the commissioner of revenue at the same time in the same manner as the sales tax due to the commonwealth.

                 (b) All sums received pursuant to this act shall be paid quarterly to the treasurer of the town of Charlemont by the state treasurer, upon certification of the commissioner of revenue.

SECTION 2. This act shall be submitted for acceptance to the qualified voters of the town of Charlemont at the next regular municipal election in substantially the form of the following question: "Shall an act passed by the general court in the year 2016, authorizing the town of Charlemont to establish a tax on commercial recreation services, be accepted?"

Town counsel shall prepare a fair and concise summary of the act, which shall appear below the ballot question. If a majority of votes cast in answer to the question is in the affirmative, section 1 shall take effect, but not otherwise.