[Adopted as Ch. 77, Art. I, of the 1971 Code]
A tax to provide revenue for general Township
purposes be and the same is hereby levied, assessed and imposed upon
the privilege of attending or engaging in the amusements within the
Township of Marple, in accordance with the following.
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Marple Township Amusement Tax Ordinance."
A.Â
AMUSEMENT
ASSOCIATION
ESTABLISHED PRICE
PERSON
PLACE OF AMUSEMENT
PRODUCER
SECRETARY
TOWNSHIP
TREASURER
Definitions. The following words or phrases, when
used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in
this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different
meaning:
All manner and forms of entertainment including, among others,
theatrical or operatic performances, concerts, moving picture shows,
vaudeville, circus, carnival and sideshows, all forms of entertainment
at fairgrounds and amusement parks, athletic contests, including wrestling
matches, boxing and sparring exhibitions, football and baseball games,
skating, golfing, tennis, hockey, bathing, swimming, archery, shooting,
riding, dancing, rowing, bowling, billiards, pool and all other forms
of diversion, sport, recreation or pastime, shows, exhibitions, contests,
displays and games and all other methods of obtaining admission charges,
donations, contributions or monetary charges of any character from
the general public or a limited or selected number thereof, directly
or indirectly, in return for other than tangible property or specific
personal or professional services.
Any partnership, limited partnership or other forms of unincorporated
enterprise owned by two or more persons.
Regular monetary charges of any character whatsoever, including
donations, contributions and dues or membership fees (periodical or
otherwise) fixed and enacted, or in any manner received by producers,
as herein defined, from the general public or a limited or selected
number thereof, directly or indirectly for the privilege to attend
or engage in any entertainment or amusement, provided, that when such
entertainment or amusement is conducted at any place where the charge
for admission is wholly or in part included in the price paid for
refreshment, service or merchandise, the amounts paid for admission
to such amusement shall be deemed to be 50% of the amount paid for
refreshment service and merchandise.
Every natural person, copartnership, association or corporation;
whenever used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, or
both, the term "person" as applied to copartnerships as associations
shall mean the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations,
the officers thereof.
Any place, indoors or outdoors, within the Township, where
the general public or a limited or selected number thereof may, upon
payment of an established price, attend or engage in any amusement,
as herein defined, including, among others, theaters, opera houses,
moving picture houses, amusement parks, studio, arenas, baseball parks,
skating rinks, circus or carnival tents or grounds, fairgrounds, social,
sporting, athletic, riding, gun or country clubs, riding academies,
golf courses, golf driving ranges, miniature golf courses, bathing
and swimming places, dance halls, tennis courts, archery, rifle or
shotgun ranges, bowling alleys, pool and billiard parlors, roof gardens,
cabarets, nightclubs and other restaurants where amusements or entertainment
is provided, and other like places.
Any person, as herein defined, conducting any place of amusement,
as herein defined, where the general public or a limited or selected
number thereof may, upon the payment of an established price, attend
or engage in any amusement.
The Secretary of the Township of Marple.
The Township of Marple, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
The Treasurer of the Township of Marple.
B.Â
Usage. The singular shall include the plural, and
the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
On and after the effective date of this article
it shall be unlawful for any producer to continue to conduct or thereafter
to begin to conduct any form of amusement at any permanent or temporary
place of amusement, or any itinerant form of amusement, within the
Township, unless an amusement permit or permits shall have been issued
to him as hereafter prescribed and the tax herein imposed paid in
accordance with the provisions herein made.
Every producer desiring to continue to conduct
or hereafter to begin to conduct any amusement within the Township
shall file an application for a permanent, temporary or itinerant
amusement permit or permits, as the case may be, with the Secretary.
Every application for such permit or permits shall be made upon a
form prescribed, prepared and furnished by the Secretary and shall
set forth the name under which the producer conducts or intends to
conduct a permanent, temporary or an itinerant form of amusement and
such other information as the Secretary may require.
If the producer has or intends to have more
than one place of amusement within the Township, he shall state the
location of each such place and, in the case of an itinerant form
of amusement, the date and the length of time such amusement is to
be conducted at each place.
In the case of an application for a permit for
a temporary place of amusement, the producer shall state the name
and address of the owner, lessee or custodian of the premises upon
which such amusement is to be conducted.
If the producer is an association or a corporation,
the application shall state the names and addresses of the principal
officers thereof and any other information prescribed by the Secretary
for purposes of identification.
The application shall be signed and verified
by certificate, under the penalties of perjury, by the producer if
a natural person and, in the case of an association, by a member or
partner thereof and, in the case of a corporation, by an executive
officer thereof or some person specifically authorized by the corporation
to sign the application, to which shall be attached the written evidence
of his authority.
[Amended 12-23-1981 by Ord. No. 81-23]
The applicant, at the time of making application,
shall pay to the Secretary a permit fee as follows:
A.Â
For a temporary permit, good for one day only: as
set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
B.Â
For a permanent permit, good for each calendar year:
as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
C.Â
For an itinerant permit, good for three months: as
set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
Upon approval of the application and the payment
of any permit fee or fees herein required, the Secretary shall grant
and issue to each producer an annual, temporary or itinerant amusement
permit for each place of amusement within the Township set forth in
the application.
Amusement permits shall not be assignable and
shall be valid only for the persons in whose names issued and for
the conduct of amusements at the places designated therein and shall
at all times be conspicuously displayed at the places for which issued.
All permits for permanent places of amusement
shall expire on the 31st day of December next succeeding the date
upon which they are issued, unless sooner suspended, surrendered or
revoked for cause by the proper authorities of the Township.
Permits for temporary places of amusement or
for forms of itinerant amusement shall expire at the time specified
therein.
The producer of an itinerant form of amusement
shall notify the Secretary promptly of any change in the original
contemplated itinerary, either as to date or time of the conduct of
the amusement of each place.
Whenever any permit issued under the provisions
of this article is defaced, destroyed or lost, the Secretary may issue
a duplicate permit to the holder thereof upon the payment of a fee
as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
The Secretary may suspend an amusement permit
whenever he finds that the holder thereof has failed to comply with
any of the provisions of this article. Upon the suspension of any
amusement permit, the Secretary shall request the holder thereof to
surrender immediately all permits or duplicates thereof which have
been issued to him, and the holder shall promptly surrender all such
permits to the Secretary as directed. A producer whose permit has
been suspended, upon request made in writing within 10 days after
such suspension, shall be entitled to a hearing before the Board of
Commissioners on or before the next regular meeting. After such hearing,
the Board of Township Commissioners shall either rescind the order
of suspension, for good cause appearing therefor, shall continue the
suspension or shall revoke the permit.
[Amended 12-23-1981 by Ord. No. 81-23]
A tax to provide revenue for general Township
purposes is hereby levied, assessed and imposed upon the admission
fee or privilege to attend or engage in any amusement within the Township
at the rate of $0.015 for each $0.20 or fraction thereof of the established
price charged for the general public or a limited or selected group
thereof by any producer for such privilege, which shall be paid by
the person acquiring such privilege.
In the case of persons (except bona fide employees
of a producer) or municipal or state officers on official business
admitted free or at a reduced rate to any place of amusement at a
time when and under circumstances where an established price is charged
to other persons, the tax imposed by this article shall be computed
on the established price charged to such other persons of the same
class for the same or similar accommodations to be paid by the persons
so admitted.
In the case of persons having the permanent
use of boxes or seats in any place of amusement, or a lease for the
use of such box or seat in such place of amusement, the tax imposed
by this article shall be computed on the established price for which
a similar box or seat is sold for each performance or exhibition at
which the box or seat is used or reserved by or for the lessee or
holder, such tax to be paid by the lessee or holder.
Producers shall collect the tax imposed by this
article and shall be liable to the Township as agents thereof for
the payment of the same to the Treasurer, as hereinafter provided
in this article.
Where permits are obtained for conducting amusements
by persons who are not the owners, lessees or custodians of the places
where the amusements are to be conducted, or where the amusement is
permitted by the owner, lessee or custodian of any place to be conducted
without the procurement of a permit or permits required by this article,
the tax imposed by this article shall be paid by the owner, lessee
or custodian of such place where such amusement is held or conducted,
unless paid by the producer conducting the amusement.
For the purpose of ascertaining the amount of
tax payable by the producers to the Township:
A.Â
Every producer, except as hereinafter provided, conducting
a place of amusement, shall on or before the 10th day of each month
transmit to the Secretary and Treasurer, on forms prescribed and prepared
by the Secretary, a report, under oath or affirmation, of the amount
of tax collected by him during the preceding month.
B.Â
Every producer conducting a temporary place of itinerant
form of amusement, promptly after each performance, shall file a report
with the Secretary and the Treasurer on forms prescribed by the Secretary,
and furnishing the information required therein.
C.Â
Every producer, at the time of making every report
required by this section, shall compute and pay to the Treasurer the
taxes collected by him and due to the Township during the period for
which the report is made; provided, however, that such producer may
deduct therefrom a two-percent discount if the report is filed and
the tax paid on or before the due date thereof.
The amount of all taxes imposed under the provisions
of this article shall, in the case of places of permanent amusement,
be due and payable on the 10th day of the next succeeding month, and
in the case of temporary or itinerant forms of amusement, it shall
be due and payable on the day the reports in such cases are required
to be made under this section, and all such taxes shall bear interest
at the rate of 1Â 1/2 of 1% per month, or fractional part of a
month, from the date they are due and payable, until paid.
If any producer shall neglect or refuse to make
any report and payment as herein required, an additional 10% of the
amount of the tax shall be added and collected.
All such taxes shall be recoverable as other
debts of like amount are now by law recoverable.
If the Secretary is not satisfied with the report
and payment of tax made by any producer under the provisions of this
article, he is hereby authorized and empowered to make a determination
of the tax due by such producer, based upon the facts contained in
the report, or upon any information within his possession, or that
shall come into his possession, and for this purpose the Secretary
and/or the Treasurer is authorized to examine the books, papers, tickets,
ticket stubs and records of any producer taxable under this article,
to verify the accuracy of any report or payment made under the provisions
hereof or to ascertain whether the taxes imposed by this article have
been paid.
If any producer shall neglect or refuse to make
any report and payment of tax required by this article, or if, as
a result of an investigation by the Secretary and/or Treasurer, a
report is found to be incorrect, the Secretary shall estimate the
tax due by such producer and determine the amount due by him for taxes,
penalties and interest thereon.
The Secretary is authorized and empowered to
prescribe, adopt and promulgate rules and regulations relating to
any matter or thing pertaining to the administrations and enforcement
of this article and the collection of the tax hereby imposed, subject
to the approval of the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Marple.
All taxes, interest and penalties received,
collected or recovered under the provisions of this article shall
be paid into the treasury of the Township of Marple for the use and
benefit of the Township of Marple.
The tax imposed by this article shall not apply
or be imposed upon the privilege to attend any amusement by a child
under the age of 12 years.
The tax imposed by this article shall not apply
to or be imposed upon the privilege to attend any amusement the proceeds
of which, after payment of reasonable expenses, inure:
A.Â
Exclusively to the benefit of religious, educational
and charitable institutions, societies or organizations, provided
that no part of the net earnings of the institutions, societies or
organizations inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or person.
B.Â
Exclusively to the benefit of organizations or persons
in the military or naval forces of the United States, or of National
Guard organizations, reserve officers' associations or organizations,
posts or organizations, or such posts or auxiliary units or societies
of such posts or organizations, or such posts, organizations, units
or societies organized in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and if
no part of their net earnings inure to the benefit of any private
shareholder or person.
C.Â
Exclusively to the benefit of organizations or associations
created and maintained for the purpose of benefiting employees of
any political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or their
dependents or heirs, or for the purpose of benefiting the members
or the dependents of, or the heirs of, members of police or paid or
volunteer fire departments of any political subdivision of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
In no event shall exemption be allowed under
this article unless the producer thereof shall comply with the provisions
of this article and the rules and regulations of the Township with
respect to the application for and approval of exemptions.
Any person, copartnership, association or corporation
who shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with any of the terms
or provisions of this article or of any regulation or requirement
pursuant thereto and authorized thereby shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution,
and in default of payment of such fine and costs by imprisonment for
not more than 30 days. Such fine imposed by this section shall be
in addition to any other penalty imposed by any other section of this
article.
The revenues collected under this article are
hereby appropriated as follows: equally among the Highway Department,
Sewer Department, Administrative Department, Police Department and
the construction or extension of public buildings and facilities.
