You pay 2 percent on a car rental and 8.5 percent is added to the cost of your hotel room. If you live in a high-rise, you get charged $.01 per square foot. Why? Because they can. Have a vacant lot? Fork over $160, down from $300 in 2012. A family child-care license is $50, and the city charges 1.21 percent on the assessed value of any property used for business.