De Pere, WI Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

The De Pere Code of Ordinances imposes its room tax through Section 134-1, adopted under the authority of Wis. Stat. § 66.0615. Subsection (a) defines a 'customer' as any person residing for a continuous period of time less than one month in a hotel, motel or furnished accommodation available to the public, the class of guest the tax reaches. Subsection (b)(1) sets the rate: a tax on the privilege of furnishing, at retail, rooms or lodging to customers by hotel keepers, motel operators, lodging marketplaces, owners of short-term rentals and other persons furnishing public accommodations, at ten percent of gross receipts, regardless of whether the establishment requires membership to use its accommodations.

The tax attaches at the point of sale: it is collected from the customer when the bill is paid, and the operator, called the 'person responsible' in the ordinance, remits it to the city clerk on a monthly basis, or as the common council otherwise directs by resolution. Subsection (k) puts the city clerk in charge of administering the section and fixes the payment date at the 20th of the month following the month the tax was collected from the customer.

Every hotel and motel operator must also hold a room tax identification number issued by the city clerk under subsection (c), file monthly and annual returns under subsection (h), and keep records the clerk can inspect and audit under subsection (i).