[Adopted 9-22-1975 by L.L. No. 2-1975
as Ch. 25 of the 1975 Code]
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 March 1952 is hereby
imposed upon every utility doing business in the Village of Williston
Park, New York, which is subject to the supervision of the State Department
of Public Service and which has a gross income for 12 months ending
February 28 in excess of $500, and a tax equal to 1% of its gross
operating income from and after the first day of June is hereby imposed
upon every other utility doing business in the Village of Williston
Park which has a gross operating income for 12 months ending May 31
in excess of $500, which taxes shall have application only within
the territorial limits of the Village of Williston Park 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 Williston Park notwithstanding that some acts are necessarily
performed with respect to such transaction within such limits.
The terms used in this article shall have the
meanings provided in § 5-530 of the Village Law and § 186-a
of the Tax Law.
Every utility subject to tax under this article
shall keep such records of its business and in such form as the Village
Treasurer may require or as the Village Board may require, and such
records shall be preserved for a period of three years, except that
the Village Treasurer or the Village Board may consent to their destruction
within that period or may require that they be kept longer.
A.
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 September 25, December
25, March 25 and June 25, a return for the three calendar months preceding
each such return date and, in the 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.
B.
Returns shall be filed with the Village Treasurer
on a form to be furnished by the Treasurer for such purpose and shall
contain such other data, information or matter as the Treasurer may
require to be included therein.
C.
The Village Treasurer, in order to ensure payment
of the tax imposed, may require at any time a further or supplemental
return which contains any data that may be specified by the Treasurer,
and the Treasurer may require any utility doing business in the Village
of Williston Park to file an annual return which shall contain any
data specified by the Treasurer, regardless of whether the utility
is subject to tax under this article.
D.
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 the filing of a return as required
by this article, each utility shall pay to the Village of Williston
Park 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 Village Treasurer,
and if a corrected or sufficient return is not filed within 20 days
after the same is required by notice from the Treasurer, or if no
return is made for any period, the Village Treasurer shall determine
the amount of tax due from such information as the Treasurer is able
to obtain and, if necessary, may estimate the tax on the basis of
external indices or otherwise. The Treasurer 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 Village Treasurer for a hearing
or unless the Village Treasurer, of his or her own motion, shall reduce
the same.
B.
After such hearing, the Village Treasurer shall give
notice of his or her 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 be first deposited with the Village Treasurer and an
undertaking filed with the Treasurer, in such amount and with such
sureties as a Justice of the Supreme Court shall approve, to the effect
that if such proceeding is 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 a sum sufficient to cover the tax, interest, penalties,
costs 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.
C.
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
person for whom it is intended in a postpaid envelope addressed to
such person at the address given by him or her in the last return
filed by him or her 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 article by the giving of notice shall commence
to run from the date of mailing of such notice.
Any person failing to file a return or 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, but the Village Treasurer, 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.
A.
If, within one year from the payment of any tax or
penalty, the payer thereof shall make application for a refund thereof
and the Village Treasurer or the court shall determine that such tax
or penalty or any portion thereof was erroneously or illegally collected,
the Village Treasurer 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 Village Treasurer. However, no refund shall be made of a tax
or penalty paid pursuant to a determination of the Village Treasurer
as hereinbefore provided unless the Village Treasurer, after a hearing
as hereinbefore provided or of his or her own motion, shall have reduced
the tax or penalty or if 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.
B.
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 Village Treasurer shall give notice
thereof to the person interested, and he or she shall be entitled
to an order to review such determination under said Article 78 of
the Civil Practice Law and Rules of the State of New York, subject
to the provision hereinbefore contained relating to the granting of
such an order.
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.
Whenever any person shall fail to pay any tax
or penalty imposed by this article, the Village Attorney shall, upon
the request of the Village Board, bring an action to enforce payment
of the same. The proceeds of any judgment obtained in any such action
shall be paid to the Village Treasurer. 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.
In the administration of this article, the Village
Treasurer shall have power to make such reasonable rules and regulations,
not inconsistent with law, as may be necessary for the exercise of
his or her powers and the performance of his or her 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 or her 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 Village
Treasurer, or an agent, clerk or employee of the Village of Williston
Park, New York, 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 Williston
Park, New York, 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 or her duly authorized representative,
of a copy of any return filed by him or her or 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 Village
Treasurer may assist in the collection of such delinquent taxes, or
the inspection by the Village Attorney or other legal representative
of the Village of Williston Park, New York, 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
shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment
not exceeding one year, or both, and if the offender is an officer,
agent, clerk or employee of the Village of Williston Park, New York,
he or she shall be incapable of holding any office or employment for
the Village of Williston Park, New York, for a period of five years
thereafter.
D.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this article, the
Village Treasurer 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 Williston Park,
New York, and provided that such information is to be used for tax
purposes only, and the Village Treasurer shall, upon request, furnish
the State Tax Commission with any information contained in such returns.
All taxes and penalties received by the Village
Treasurer under this article shall be paid into the treasury of the
Village of Williston Park, New York, and shall be credited to and
deposited in the general fund of the Village.
