[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Kiryas
Joel as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-20-1978 by L.L. No. 2-1978]
Pursuant to the authority granted by § 5-530 of the Village
Law of the State of New York, a tax equal to 1% of its gross income from and
after the first day of January, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, is hereby imposed
upon every utility doing business in the Village of Kiryas Joel which is subject
to the supervision of the State Department of Public Service, which has a
gross income for the 12 months ending December 31 in excess of $500, except
motor carriers or brokers subject to such supervision under Article 3-B of
the Public Service Law; and a tax equal to 1% of its gross operating income
from and after the first day of January nineteen hundred seventy-nine, is
hereby imposed upon every other utility doing business in the Village of Kiryas
Joel which has a gross operating income for the 12 months ending December
31 in excess of $500; which taxes shall have application only within the territorial
limits of the Village of Kiryas Joel and shall be in addition to any and all
other taxes and fees imposed by any other provision of law. Such taxes shall
not be imposed on any transaction originating or consummated outside of the
territorial limits of the Village of Kiryas Joel, New York, notwithstanding
that some act be necessarily performed with respect to such transaction within
such limits.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes receipts received in or by reason of any sale, conditional
or otherwise (except sales hereinafter referred to with respect to which it
is provided that profits from the sale shall be included in gross income),
made or service rendered for ultimate consumption or use by the purchaser
in the Village of Kiryas Joel, including cash, credits and property of any
kind or nature (whether or not such sale is made or such service is rendered
for profit), without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the
property sold, the cost of the materials used, labor or services or other
costs, interest or discount paid or any other expense whatsoever; also profits
from the sale of securities; also profits from the sale of real property growing
out of the ownership or use of or interest in such property; also profit from
the sale of personal property (other than property of a kind which would properly
be included in the inventory of the taxpayer if on hand at the close of the
period for which a return is made); also, receipts from interest, dividends
and royalties derived from sources within the Village of Kiryas Joel other
than such as are received from a corporation, a majority of whose voting stock
is owned by the taxpaying utility, without any deduction therefrom for any
expenses whatsoever incurred in connection with the receipt thereof, and also
profits from any transaction (except sales for resale and rentals) within
the Village of Kiryas Joel whatsoever; provided, however, that the words "gross
income" shall include, in the case of a utility engaged in selling telephony
or telephone service, only receipts from local exchange service wholly consummated
within the Village of Kiryas Joel, and in the case of a utility engaged in
selling telegraphy or telegraph service, only receipts from transactions wholly
consummated within the Village of Kiryas Joel.
Includes receipts received in or by reason of any sale, conditional
or otherwise, made for ultimate consumption or use by the purchaser of gas,
electricity, steam, water, refrigeration, telephony or telegraphy, or in or
by reason of the furnishing for such consumption or use of gas, electric,
steam, water, refrigerator, telephone or telegraph service in the Village
of Kiryas Joel, including cash, credits and property of any kind or nature,
without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold,
the cost of materials used, labor or services or other costs, interest or
discount paid, or any other expenses whatsoever.
Persons, corporations, companies, associations, joint-stock associations,
copartnerships, estates, assignee of rents, any person acting in a fiduciary
capacity or any other entity and persons, their assignees, lessees, trustees
or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever, or by any other means, except
the state, municipalities, political and civil subdivisions of the state or
municipality and public districts.
Includes every person subject to the supervision of the State Department
of Public Service, except persons engaged in the business of operating or
leasing sleeping and parlor railroad cars or of operating railroads other
than street surface, rapid transit, subway and elevated railroads, and also
includes every person (whether or not such person is subject to such supervision)
who sells gas, electricity, steam, water, refrigeration, telephony or telegraphy,
delivered through mains, pipes or wires, or furnished gas, electric, steam,
water, refrigerator, telephone or telegraph service, by means of mains, pipes
or wires; regardless of whether such activities are the main business of such
person or are only incidental thereto, or of whether use is made of the public
streets.
Every utility subject to tax under this Article shall keep such records
of its business and in such form as the Treasurer of the Village of Kiryas
Joel may require, and such records shall be preserved for a period of three
years, except that the Treasurer of said village may consent to their destruction
within that period or may require that they be kept longer.
Every utility subject to tax hereunder shall file annually, on or before
the 25th day of March a return for the 12 calendar months preceding such return
date or any portion thereof for which the tax imposed hereby is effective;
provided, however, that in lieu of the annual return required by the foregoing
provisions, any utility may file quarterly, on or before March 25th, June
25th, September 25th and December 25th, a return for the three calendar months
preceding each such return date, and in case of the first such return, for
all preceding calendar months during which the tax imposed hereby was effective.
Every return shall state the gross income or gross operating income for the
period covered thereby. Returns shall be filed with the Treasurer of the Village
of Kiryas Joel on a form to be furnished by him for such purpose and shall
contain such other data, information or matter as he may require to be included
therein. The Treasurer of said village, in order to ensure payment of the
tax imposed, may require at any time a further or supplemental return, which
shall contain any data that may be specified by him, and he may require any
utility doing business in the Village of Kiryas Joel to file an annual return,
which shall contain any data specified by him, regardless of whether the utility
is subject to tax under this Article. Every return shall have annexed thereto
an affidavit of the head of the utility making the same, or of the owner or
of a copartner thereof, or of a principal officer of the corporation, if such
business is conducted by a corporation, to the effect that the statements
contained therein are true.
At the time of filing a return as required by this Article, each utility
shall pay to the Treasurer of the Village of Kiryas Joel the tax imposed by
this Article for the period covered by such return. Such tax shall be due
and payable at the time of filing the return or, if a return is not filed
when due, on the last day on which the return is required to be filed.
A.
In case any return filed pursuant to this Article shall
be insufficient or unsatisfactory to the Treasurer of the Village of Kiryas
Joel, and if a corrected or sufficient return is not filed within 20 days
after the same is required by notice from him, or if no return is made for
any period, the Treasurer of said village shall determine the amount of tax
due from such information as he is able to obtain and if necessary, may estimate
the tax on the basis of external indices or otherwise. He shall give notice
of such determination to the person liable for such tax. Such determination
shall finally and irrevocably fix such tax, unless the person against whom
it is assessed shall, within 30 days after the giving of notice of such determination,
apply to the Treasurer of said village for a hearing, or unless the Treasurer
of said village of his own motion shall reduce the same. After such hearing,
the Treasurer of said village shall give notice of his decision to the person
liable for the tax. Such decision may be reviewed by a proceeding under Article
78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules of the State of New York, if application
therefor is made within 90 days after the giving of notice of such decision.
An order to review such decision shall not be granted unless the amount of
any tax sought to be reviewed, with interest and penalties thereon, if any,
shall first be deposited with the Treasurer of the Village of Kiryas Joel
and an undertaking filed with him, in such amount and with such sureties as
a Justice of the Supreme Court shall approve, to the effect that, if such
proceeding be dismissed or the tax confirmed, the applicant will pay all costs
and charges which may accrue in the prosecution of such proceeding; or, at
the option of the applicant, such undertaking may be in sum sufficient to
cover the tax, interest, penalties, cost and charges aforesaid, in which event
the applicant shall not be required to pay such tax, interest and penalties
as a condition precedent to the granting of such order.
B.
Except in the case of a willfully false or fraudulent
return with intent to evade the tax, no assessment of additional tax shall
be made after the expiration of more than three years from the date of the
filing of a return; provided, however, that where no return has been filed
as required by this Article, the tax may be assessed at any time.
Any notice authorized or required under the provisions of this Article
may be given by mailing the same to the persons for whom it is intended, in
a postpaid envelope, addressed to such person at the address given by him
in the last return filed by him under this Article or, if no return has been
filed, then to such address as may be obtainable. The mailing of such notice
shall be presumptive evidence of the receipt of the same by the person to
whom addressed. Any period of time, which is determined according to the provisions
of this chapter by the filing of notice, shall commence to run from the date
of mailing of such notice.
Any person failing to file a return or a corrected return, or to pay
any tax or any portion thereof, within the time required by this Article,
shall be subject to a penalty of 5% of the amount of tax due, plus 1% of such
tax for each month of delay or fraction thereof, excepting the first month,
after such return was required to be filed on such tax became due; but the
Treasurer of the Village of Kiryas Joel, for cause shown, may extend the time
for filing any return and if satisfied that the delay was excusable, may remit
all or any portion of the penalty fixed by the foregoing provisions of this
section.
If, within one year from the payment of any tax or penalty, the payer
thereof shall make application for a refund thereof and the Treasurer of the
Village of Kiryas Joel or the court shall determine that such tax or penalty
or any portion thereof was erroneously or illegally collected, the Treasurer
of said village shall refund the amount so determined. For like cause and
within the same period, a refund may be so made on the initiative of the Treasurer
of said village. However, no refund shall be made of a tax or penalty paid
pursuant to a determination of the Treasurer of said village as hereinbefore
provided, unless the Treasurer of said village, after a hearing as hereinbefore
provided, or of his own motion, shall have reduced the tax or penalty or it
shall have been established in a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil
Practice Law and Rules of the State of New York that such determination was
erroneous or illegal. All refunds shall be made out of moneys collected under
this Article. An application for a refund, made as hereinbefore provided,
shall be deemed an application for the revision of any tax or penalty complained
of, and the Treasurer of said village may receive additional evidence with
respect thereto. After making his determination, the Treasurer of said village
shall give notice thereof to the person interested, and he shall be entitled
to an order to review such determination under said Article 78 of the Civil
Practice Law and Rules, subject to the provision hereinbefore contained relating
to the granting of such an order.
Whenever any person shall fail to pay any tax or penalty imposed by
this Article, the attorney for the village shall, upon the request of the
Treasurer of the Village of Kiryas Joel, bring an action to enforce payment
of the same. The proceeds of any judgment obtained in any such action shall
be paid to the Treasurer of said village. Each such tax and penalty shall
be a lien upon the property of the person liable to pay the same, in the same
manner and to the same extent that the tax and penalty imposed by § 186-a
of the Tax Law is made a lien.
The tax imposed by this Article shall be charged against and be paid
by the utility and shall not be added as a separate item to bills rendered
by the utility to customers or others but shall constitute a part of the operating
costs of such utility.
In the administration of this Article, the Treasurer of the Village
of Kiryas Joel shall have power to make such reasonable rules and regulations,
not inconsistent with law, as may be necessary for the exercise of his powers
and the performance of his duties, and to prescribe the form of blanks, reports
and other records relating to the administration and enforcement of the tax,
to take testimony and proofs, under oath, with reference to any matter within
the line of his official duty under this Article and to subpoena and require
the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and documents.
A.
Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as
otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for the Treasurer of the Village
of Kiryas Joel, or any agent, clerk or employee of the Village of Kiryas Joel,
to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of gross income or gross
operating income, or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any return
under this Article. The officer charged with the custody of such returns shall
not be required to produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in
them in any action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the Village
of Kiryas Joel in an action or proceeding under the provisions of this Article
or on behalf of the State Tax Commission in an action or proceeding under
the provisions of the Tax Law of the State of New York, or on behalf of any
party to any action or proceeding under the provisions of this Article when
the returns or facts shown thereby are directly involved in such action or
proceeding; in either of which events the court may require the production
of, and may admit in evidence, so much of said returns or of the facts shown
thereby as are pertinent to the action or proceeding, and no more.
B.
Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery
to a person, or his duly authorized representative, of a copy of any return
filed by him, nor to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified
as to prevent the identification of particular returns and the items thereof
or the publication of delinquent lists showing the names of persons who have
failed to pay their taxes at the time and in the manner provided for by this
Article, together with any relevant information which in the opinion of the
Treasurer of said village may assist in the collection of such delinquent
taxes, or the inspection by the attorney for the village or other legal representatives
of the Village of Kiryas Joel of the return of any person who shall bring
action to set aside or review the tax based thereon, or against whom an action
has been instituted in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
C.
Any offense against the foregoing secrecy provisions
of this Article shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment
not exceeding, three months or both, and if the offender be an officer, agent,
clerk or employee of the Village of Kiryas Joel, he shall be dismissed from
office and shall be ineligible to hold any office or employment in the Village
of Kiryas Joel for a period of two years thereafter.
D.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this Article, the Treasurer
of said village may exchange with the chief fiscal officer of any city or
any other village in the State of New York information contained in returns
filed under this article, provided that such city or other village grants
similar privileges to the Village of Kiryas Joel, and provided that such information
is to be used for tax purposes only; and the Treasurer and said village shall,
upon request, furnish the State Tax Commission with any information contained
in such returns.
All taxes and penalties received by the Treasurer of the Village of
Kiryas Joel under this article shall be paid into the Treasury of the village
and shall be credited to and deposited in the general fund of the village.
Any cooperative, condominium, homesteading or rental project which receives
payments, grants or loans pursuant to Article XVIII of the Private Housing
Finance Law or any new construction project which receives payments, grants
or loans pursuant to Article XIX of the Private Housing Finance Law shall
be exempt from taxation pursuant to Real Property Tax Law § 421-e
as provided in this article.
Eligible projects, as set forth in § 129-15, shall be exempt from all of the taxes imposed by a municipality, whether a county, town or village, including those imposed by a school district, other than assessments for local improvements, for the period set forth in § 129-17. For purposes of this article, assessments for local improvements shall include, without limitation, taxes and assessments for improvements which are eligible for assessment pursuant to Village Law Article 22, entitled "Local Improvements."
The period of such exemption shall not exceed 20 years in the aggregate
after the initial taxable status date following completion of the project
wherein such exemption is effective. Such exemption shall not exceed:
A.
Such exemption shall cease if the eligible project ceases
to be subject to one or more provisions of Article XVIII of the Private Housing
Finance Law, pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph c of Subdivision 6-a
of § 1102 of the Private Housing Finance Law.
B.
Eligible projects shall enter an agreement with the village
which shall provide for the registration of all eligible projects and provide,
inter alia, for reports and information to be filed with the village prior
to January 1 of each year for which exemption is sought. Such agreement shall
provide that the village be notified immediately if the project ceases to
be eligible for exemption as provided herein. Upon certification by the village
of a project's eligibility, a copy of this article and such certification
for such project attested to by the Village Clerk may be filed with any assessing
unit wherein the project is located to effectuate the exemption.
The tax exemption authorized by this article shall be in addition to
any other tax exemption or abatement authorized by law.
