[Adopted 3-1-1972 by Ord. No. 3-1-72; amended in its entirety 11-19-2008 by Ord. No.
2008-2[1] (Ch. 91, Art. IV, of the 1988 Code)]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided that the authorization to prepare and adopt regulations or forms as required by this article or the Local Tax Enabling Act, specifically those set out in §§ 212-25A and B and 212-26B, shall be effective five days after enactment of this article. All other provisions of this article shall be effective January 1, 2009.
This article shall be known as "The East Manchester Township
Local Services Tax Ordinance."
For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall
apply:
The Local Tax Enabling Act, 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq.,
as amended by Act 7 of 2007.[1]
The person or entity appointed or designated by the Township
to collect the local services tax pursuant to this article.
The aggregate annual rate of the local services tax levied
by both the Township and the Northeastern School District.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
This term shall have the same meaning as is given in Division
I of Section 13 of the Act.[2]
Any person who, as a result of his or her employment or occupation,
is subject to this tax or to an exemption.
This term shall have the same meaning as is given in Division
I of Section 13 of the Act.[3]
Any employee or other person who is subject to, or exempt
from, the tax imposed by this article.
The place in which the person maintains his or her principal
office or is principally employed, as determined pursuant to the Local
Tax Enabling Act, 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq.,[4] which shall be determined as of the day the taxpayer first
becomes subject to the tax during any calendar year.
The United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard,
or Air Force Reserve, or the Pennsylvania Army or Air National Guard.
The local services tax adopted and levied by this article.
Any person who is subject to the tax imposed by this article.
East Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township hereby enacts and levies
the tax in the amount of $52 per year on each person whose place of
employment is within the Township.
This tax shall be imposed on a calendar-year basis.
In the event that any person is engaged in more than one occupation,
that is, concurrent employment, or in an occupation which requires
him or her to work in more than one political subdivision during the
calendar year, then the priority of claims to collect this tax shall
be in the following order:
A.
First,
the political subdivision in which the person maintains his or her
principal office or is principally employed;
B.
Second,
the political subdivision in which the person resides and works, if
such a tax is levied by that political subdivision; and
C.
Third
the political subdivision in which the person is employed and which
imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
A.
It is the intent of this article that no person shall pay more than
$52 on this tax in any calendar year, irrespective of the number of
municipalities within which such person may be employed or the number
of municipalities collecting the local services tax. In the event
that, prior to his or her employment in the Township in any calendar
year, an employee has previously paid a local services tax in any
other political subdivision, then the employer shall refrain from
withholding the tax, so long as the employee provides a recent pay
statement from a principal employer whether within or outside of the
commonwealth that includes the name of the employer, the length of
the payroll period, and the amount of the local services tax withheld,
and a statement from the employee that the pay statement is from the
employee's principal employer and that the employee will notify other
employers of a change in the principal place of employment within
two weeks of its occurrence. Forms for such notification shall be
the same as those prepared by DCED, as required by Section 2(f)(9)(v)
of the Act. It shall be the responsibility of the employer and the
employee to provide such form properly completed to the Township or
its collection agent.
B.
In the event that a person's employer within the Township withholds
this tax, and the person has previously paid a local services tax
in another political subdivision pursuant to this section, then, upon
written request of the taxpayer, pursuant to regulations adopted by
the Township pursuant to Section 2(f)(9)(vii) of the Act, the Township
or its collection agent shall refund such overpayment, except that
the Township shall only be required to provide refunds for overpaid
amounts that exceed $1. Refunds made within 75 days of the refund
request or within 75 days after the last day the employer is required
to remit the tax for the last quarter of the calendar year, whichever
is last, shall not be subject to interest. The amount of the refund
shall be limited to the amount of any local services tax paid by the
taxpayer in another political subdivision, but in no event shall exceed
the amount of this tax as fixed by the Township for the calendar year
in which the refund was sought.
C.
In the event that a person has in any calendar year previously paid
a local services tax in another political subdivision, but such tax
was less than $52, then the taxpayer shall be liable for the difference
between the tax actually paid in the other political subdivision and
the amount due for this tax to the Township.
A.
The following persons shall be exempt from the tax:
(1)
Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all sources
within the Township is less than $12,000 in the calendar year in which
the tax is levied.
(2)
Any person who served in any war or armed conflict in which the United
States was engaged, and is honorably discharged or released under
honorable circumstances from active service, if, as a result of military
service, the person is blind, paraplegic, or a double or triple amputee,
or has a service-connected disability declared by the United States
Veterans' Administration or its successor to be a one-hundred-percent
permanent disability.
(3)
Any person who serves as a member of a reserve component of the armed
forces and is called to active duty at any time during the taxable
year.
B.
A person seeking exemption from the tax pursuant to this section
may annually file an exemption certificate with the Township and with
his or her employer affirming that he or she reasonably expects to
receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the
Township of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption
certificate is filed. The exemption certificate shall have attached
to it a copy of all of the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms
from employment within the Township for the year prior to the year
for which the exemption is requested. Upon receipt of the exemption
certificate and until notified otherwise by the Township, the employer
shall not withhold the tax from the person for the calendar year,
or the remainder of the calendar year, for which the exemption certificate
applies. The exemption certificate shall be on a form prepared by
DCED, pursuant to Section 2(e)(1) of the Act.
C.
For any person who claims an exemption pursuant to this section,
upon notification to an employer by the person or by the Township
that the person has received earned income and net profits from all
sources within the Township equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that
calendar year, or that the person is otherwise ineligible for the
exemption for that calendar year, or upon an employer's payment to
the person of earned income within the Township of $12,000 or more
in that calendar year, the employer shall withhold the tax from the
person for the remainder of the calendar year, and shall withhold
from the person, for the first payroll period after receipt of the
notification or after the person equals or exceed $12,000 in earned
income, a lump sum equal to the amount of the tax not previously withheld
in the current calendar year due to the exemption, plus the per payroll
amount due for that first payroll period. The amount of tax withheld
per payroll period for the remaining payroll periods in the calendar
year shall be the same amount withheld for other employees.
It shall be the duty of every employer within the Township,
or every employer of a person whose place of employment as defined
in this article is the Township, to collect this tax from and on behalf
of each such person whose place of employment is the Township from
the employee in the manner set forth in Section 2(f)(9)(i) of the
Act, which is by a pro rata share of the tax for each payroll period
in which the employee is engaging in an occupation. The pro rata share
of the tax assessed on a person shall be determined by dividing the
combined rate of the tax levied for the calendar year by the number
of payroll periods established by the employer for the calendar year,
or, in the case of a person who becomes employed after the beginning
of the calendar year, by the number of payroll periods remaining in
the calendar year. In the event that the employment of a person is
subsequently severed, the person shall be liable for any outstanding
balance of the tax due to the Township for that calendar year, which
the Township may collect as permitted by law.
The Township hereby designates the York Adams Tax Bureau (YATB)
as its collection agent for this tax. YATB's current mailing address
is: 1415 North Duke Street, P.O. Box 15627, York, PA 17405-0156.
A.
It shall be the responsibility of every employer of every taxpayer
whose place of employment is in the Township to collect and remit
said taxes to the Township's collection agent by no later than 30
days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year. Nothing in
this section or this article is intended, or shall be construed, to
relieve any taxpayer whose place of employment is the Township from
the responsibility and liability for the payment of this tax. In the
event that any such taxpayer's employer fails to collect or remit
such tax to the Township or its collection agent, then it shall be
the responsibility of the taxpayer to do so.
B.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, no employer shall
be held liable for failure to withhold the tax or for the payment
of the withheld tax money to the Township if the failure to withhold
the tax arises from incorrect information submitted by the employee
as to the employee's place or places of employment, the employee's
principal office, or where the employee is principally employed. An
employer shall also not be liable for payment of the tax in an amount
exceeding the amount withheld by the employer if the employer complies
with the provisions of Sections 2, 2(e), and 2(f)(9) of the Act.
The Township's Board of Supervisors shall, in their sole discretion,
determine the use of the revenues generated by this tax, except that
the use shall be limited to one or more of the following purposes
and amounts:
A.
Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical, police
and/or fire services; provided, however, that at least 25% of the
funds derived from the tax shall be used for this purpose;
B.
Road construction and/or maintenance;
C.
Reduction of property taxes;
D.
Property tax relief in the event that the Township implements a homestead
and farmstead exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter 85,
Subchapter F (relating to homestead property exclusion), and Section
22.6 of the Act;
E.
Any other uses permitted by law.
A.
Subject to the limitations of § 212-30 and of the Act, any person, employee, employer, partnership, corporation, or any other entity, which violates any of the provisions of this article shall commit a summary offense, and, upon conviction thereof by a Magisterial District Judge (formerly known as District Justice), shall be subject to a fine of up to $1,000 for each tax which is due pursuant to this article, together with the tax and all costs of collection, and in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 90 days.
B.
In addition to the penalties in Subsection A, the Township and its collection agent shall be entitled to any and all civil remedies available by law for the collection of such tax, and shall be entitled to all costs of collection, as approved by the Township from time to time by resolution. The Township and its collection agent are further authorized to collect this tax by any other lawful means available to them, whether in law or equity.
C.
The Township specifically authorizes its collection agent to act on its behalf and as its agent to collect all such taxes pursuant to this section and this article, and to initiate and prosecute on its behalf any summary criminal actions pursuant to Subsection A and any other legal actions or remedies as authorized in Section B.
The Township specifically adopts for purposes of this article the costs and fees associated with the collection of delinquent taxes as approved by Article VIII, Collection of Delinquent Taxes and Related Fees, as amended and codified at § 212-52 et seq. of the Code, which are in effect on the effective date of this article. Such fees may be amended, or new fees established, by the Board of Supervisors by resolution from time to time.
