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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Ord 899 1973-03-26 1 I I '" ,. " . . . ,.". ORDINANCE NUMBER~ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH IMPOSING A TELEPHONE, GAS AND ELECTRICITY USERS TAX AND AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 22 of the Code of the City of Seal Beach is hereby amended by adding an Article VIII to read as follows: ARTICLE VIII - UTILITY USERS TAX Sec. 22-60: Definitions. The following words and phrases whenever used in this Article shall be construed as defined in this section. (a) "Person" shall mean all domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint stock companies, partnerships of every kind, joint ventures, clubs, Massachusetts business or common law trusts, societies and individuals. (b) "Month" shall mean a calendar month. (c) "Service User" shall mean a person required to pay a tax imposed under the provisions of this Article. Sec. 22-61: Constitutional Exemptions. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as imposing a tax upon any p~rson when imposition of such tax upon that person would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or that of the State of California. Sec. 22-62: Telephone Users Tax. (a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the City of Seal Beach using intrastate telephone communication services in the City of Seal Beach. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five per cent (5%) of the charges made for such services and shall be paid by the person paying for such services. (b) As used in this section, the term "charges" shall not include charges for services paid for by inserting coins in coin-operated telephones except that where such coin-operated telephone service is furnished for a guaranteed amount, the amounts paid under such guarantee plus any fixed monthly or other periodic charge shall be included in the base for computing the amount of tax due; nor shall the term "telephone communication services" include land mobile services or maritime mobile services as defined in Section 2.1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (c) The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person providing the intrastate telephone communication services. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the Director of Finance on or before the 20th day of the following month. (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the tax imposed under this section shall not be imposed upon any person for using intrastate telephone communications services to the extent that the amounts paid for such services are exempt from or not subject to the tax imposed under Section 4251 of Title 26 of the United States Code. . of .~: . ," .. .. , .. ..; ~. r '. '"C" " .- . . , . 1 1 I . . ' Ordinance Number " " ',- Sec. 22-63: Electricity Use~ Tax. (a) There is hereby imposed a tax upo~ every person in the City of Seal Beach using electrical energy in the City of Seal Beach. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five per cent (5%) of the charges made for such energy and shall be paid by the person paying for such energy. "Charges," as used in this section, shall include charges made for (1) metered energy, and (2) minimum charges for service, including customer charges, service charges, demand charges, standby charges and annual and monthly charges. (b) As used in this section, the term "using electrical energy" shall not be construed to mean the storage of such energy by a person in a battery owned or possessed by him for use in an automobile or other machinery or device apart from the premises upon which the energy was received, provided, however, that the term shall include the receiving of such energy for the purpose of using it in the charging of batteries; nor shall the term include the mere receiving of such energy by an electrical public utility or govern- mental agency at a point within the City of Seal Beach for resale; or the use of such energy in the production or distribution of water by a public utility or a governmental agency. (c) The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person supplying such energy. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the Director of Finance on or before the 20th day of the following month. Sec. 22-64: Gas Users Tax. - - (a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the City of Seal Beach using in the City gas which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five per cent (5%) of the charge made for such gas and shall be paid by the person paying for such gas. (b) There shall be excluded from the basis on which the tax imposed in this section is computed charges made for gas which is to be resold and delivered through mains or pipes; charges made for gas sold for use in the generation of electrical energy or for the production or distribution of water by a public utility or government agency and charges made by a gas public utility for gas used and consumed in the conduct of the business of gas public utilities. (c) The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person selling the gas. The amount collected in one month shall be remitted to the Director of Finance on or before the 20th day of the fol- lowing month. Sec. 22-65: Purpose. The taxes imposed hereinabove are established solely as revenue measures. The revenues generated thereby shall be deposited in the general fund of the City and may be expended for any proper municipal purpose. Sec. 22-66: Penalty. (a) Taxes collected from a service user which are not remitted to the Director of Finance on or before the due dates provided in this Article are delinquent. (b) Penalties for delinquency in remittance of any tax collected or any defi ci ency determi nati on, shalla ttach and be pa i d by the person requi red to collect and remit at the rate of fifteen per cent (15%) of the total tax collected or imposed herein. (c) Every penalty imposed under the provisions of this section shall become a part of the tax required to be remitted. . - 2 - 1 1 I Ord~nance Number ~ '- Sec. 22-67: Actions to Collect. Any tax required to be paid by a service user under the provisions of this Article shall be deemed a debt owed by the service user to the City. Any such tax coll~cted from a service user which has not been remitted to the Director of Finance shall be deemed a debt owed to the City by the person required to collect and remit. Any person owing money to the City under the provisions of this Article shall be liable to an action brought in the name of the City for the recovery of such amount. Sec. 22-68: Duty to Collect - Procedures. The duty to collect and remit the taxes imposed by this Article shall be performed as follows: (a) The tax shall be collected insofar as practicable at the same time as and along with the charges made in accordance with the regular billing practice. If the amount paid by a service user is less than the full amount of the charge and tax which has accrued for the billing period, a proportionate share of both the charge and the tax shall be deemed to have been paid. (b) The duty to collect tax from a service user shall commence with the beginning of the first regular billing period applicable to that person which starts on or after the operative date of this ordinance. Where a person receives more than one billing, one or more being for different periods than another, the duty to collect shall arise separately for each billing period. Sec. 22-69: Additional Powers and Duties of Director of Finance, etc. (a) The Director of Finance may make an assessment for taxes not paid or remitted by a person required to payor remit. A notice of the assessment which shall refer briefly to the amount of the taxes and penalties imposed and the time and place when such an assessment shall be submitted to the City Council for confirmation or modification. The Director of Finance shall mail a copy of such notice to the person selling the service and to the service user at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing and shall post such notice for at least five (5) days continuous prior to the date of the hearing at those places specified in Section 2-7.1 of this Code. Any interested party having any objections may appear and be heard at the hearing provided his objection is filed in writing with the Director of Finance prior to the time set for the hearing. At the time fixed for considering said assessment, the City Council shall hear the same together with any objection filed as aforesaid and thereupon may confirm or modify said assessment by motion. (b) Whenever the Director of Finance determines that a service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the tax owed by him from the amounts remitted to a person required to collect the tax, or that a service user has failed to pay the amount of the tax to such person for a period of two or more billing periods, or whenever the Director of Finance deems it in the best interest of the City, he may relieve such person of the obligation to collect taxes due under this Article from certain named service users for specified billing periods. The Director of Finance shall notify the service user that he has assumed responsibility to collect the taxes due for the stated periods and demand' payment of such taxes. The notice shall be served on the service user by handing it to him personally or by deposit of the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid thereon, addressed to the service user at the address to which billing was made by the person required to collect the tax; or, should the service user have changed his address, to his last known address. If a service user fails to remit the tax to the Director of Finance within fifteen (15) days from the date of the service of the notice upon him, which shall be the date of mailing if service is not accomplished in person, a penalty of twenty-five per cent (25%) of the amount of the tax set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but not less than $5.00. The penalty shall become part of the tax herein required to be paid. - 3 - . " I 1 I . , Ordi~anc~ Number " <- Sec. 22-71: Records. It shall be the duty of every person required to collect and remit to the City any tax im~osed by this Article to keep and preserve, for a period of three (3) yea~s, all records as may be neces- sary to determine the amount of such tax as 'he may have been 1 iabl e for the collection of and remittance to the Director of Finance, which records the Director shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times. Sec. 22-72: Refunds. (a) Whenever the amount of any tax has been overpaid or paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the Director of Finance under this Article it may be refunded as provided in this section. (b) A person required to collect and remit taxes imposed under this Article may claim a refund or take a credit against taxes collected and remitted the amount overpaid, paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received when it is established in a manner prescribed by the Director of Finance that the service user from whom the tax has been collected did not owe the tax; provided, however, that neither a refund nor a credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax so collected has either been refunded to the service user or credited to charges subsequently payable by the service user to the person required to collect and remit. (c) No refund shall be paid under the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto. Sec. 22-73: Violation; Misdemeanor. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable therefor by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment in the Orange County Jail for a period of not more than six (6) months or by both such fine and imprisonment. Sec. 22-74: Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Article or any part thereof is for any reason held to be unconstitutional such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Article or any part thereof. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, sub- section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespec- tive of the fact that anyone or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared unconstitutional. Sec. 22-75: Effective Date. The Article, inasmuch as it provides for a tax levy for the usual and current expenses of the City, shall take effect immediately except that the tax imposed by this Article shall become operative and be imposed as of May 1, 1973, or at the beginning of the first regular billing period on or after May 1, 1973, as provided in Section 22-68 hereof, whichever is later, and shall not apply prior to said date. Sec. 22-76: Certification. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance by the City Council and shall cause the same to be posted as required by law. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City o~;;al Beach, California, at a regular meeting thereof held on the-j/;Cffday OTd2:?__,aL- , 1973. ~uL ~~~ Mfl"yor , - 4 - . " Ordinance Number . ~ . . I STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS CITY OF SEAL BEACH ) I. Jerdys Weir, City Clerk of the City of Seal Beach, do hereby certify to the passage and adoption of the foregoing ordinaD~e by the ~ ~l at a meeting thereof held on the ~~~ day of d- . 1973, by the foll wing vote: J AYES: NOES: Councilmen ABSENT: Council men '11 AJJ11 / .;t, ~f td. ~ S WE , City Clerk 1 I