[Adopted 1-18-2000 by L.L. No. 1-2000 as Ch. 14 of the 2000 Code]
Pursuant to the authority granted by Article 5, § 5-530 of the Village Law of the State of New York, there is hereby imposed:
A. 
A tax equal to 1% of the gross income of every utility doing business in the Village (hereinafter referred to as "Village") which is subject to the supervision of the New York State Department of Public Service and which has an annual gross income in excess of $500.
B. 
A tax equal to 1% of the gross operating income of every other utility doing business in said Village which has an annual gross operating income in excess of $500.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
GROSS INCOME
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 the 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 Roslyn, New York, 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 profits 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 Roslyn, New York, 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 Roslyn, New York, 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 Roslyn, New York, and, in the case of a utility engaged in selling telegraphy or telegraph service, only receipts from transactions wholly consummated within the Village of Roslyn, New York.
GROSS OPERATING INCOME
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, refrigeration, telephone or telegraph service in the Village of Roslyn, New York, 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 service or other costs, interest, or discount paid, or any other expenses whatsoever.
PERSON
A person, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, copartnership, limited liability company, estate, assignee of rents, any person acting in a fiduciary capacity, or any other entity, including 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 and corporations and associations organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
UTILITY
Includes every person subject to the supervision of the State Department of Public Service, except persons engaged in the business of operating on the public highways of this state one or more omnibuses, having a seating capacity of more than seven persons, and 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 furnishes 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.
A. 
This article shall apply only within the territorial limits of the Village and not on any transaction originating or consummated outside of the territorial limits of the Village, notwithstanding that some act is necessarily performed with respect to a transaction within said limits, and shall be in addition to any and all other taxes.
B. 
The tax imposed by this article shall apply to all such subject income received on and after the effective date hereof.
All revenues resulting from the imposition of the tax imposed by 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.
The Village Clerk/Treasurer shall be the chief enforcement officer of this article and shall make and be responsible for all collections hereunder. He or she shall also have the power and authority to make any rules, regulations and directives, not inconsistent with law and subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Village, which, in his or her discretion, are reasonably necessary to facilitate the administration of this article and the collection of the taxes imposed hereby. Copies of all such rules, regulations and directives as may from time to time be promulgated shall be sent by registered or certified mail to all utilities by the Village Clerk/Treasurer subject to this article which register as such with the Village Clerk/Treasurer. All such rules, regulations and directives shall be deemed a part of this article.
Every utility subject to tax under this article shall keep such records of its business and in such form as the Village Clerk/Treasurer may require, and such records shall be preserved for a period of three years, except that the Village Clerk/Treasurer may consent to their destruction within that period or may require that they be kept longer.
A. 
Time of filing. Every utility subject to a tax hereunder shall file on or before January 25 and July 25 a return for the six calendar months next preceding each return date, including any period for which the tax imposed hereby or any amendment hereof is effective. However, any utility whose gross income or gross operating income for the aforesaid six-month period is less than $3,000 may file a return annually on July 25 for the 12 calendar months next preceding each return date, including any period for which the tax imposed hereby or any amendment hereof is effective. Any utility, whether subject to tax under this article or not, may be required by the Village Clerk/Treasurer to file an annual return.
B. 
Contents. Returns shall be filed with the Village Clerk/Treasurer on a form to be furnished for such purpose and shall contain such other data, information or matter as he or she may require to be included therein. The Village Clerk/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 him or her, and he or she may require any utility doing business in the Village of Roslyn to file a biannual return, which shall contain any data specified by him or her, irrespective of whether the utility is subject to tax under this article. Every return shall have annexed thereto an affidavit of the chief officer 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 Clerk/Treasurer 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.
Any utility failing to file a return or a corrected return or failing 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 or such tax became due, but the Village Clerk/Treasurer, if satisfied that the delay was excusable, may, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, waive all or any portion of such penalty.
The tax imposed by this article shall be charged against and be paid by the utility and may be added as a separate item to bills rendered by the utility to customers.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
In case any return filed pursuant to this article shall be insufficient or unsatisfactory to the Village Clerk/Treasurer, and if a corrected or sufficient return is not filed within 20 days after the same is required by notice from him or her, or if no return is made for any period, the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall determine the amount of tax due from such information as he or she is able to obtain and, if necessary, may estimate the tax on the basis of external indices or otherwise. He or she shall give notice of such determination to the person liable for such tax. Such determination shall finally and irrevocable fix such tax, unless the person against whom it is assessed shall, within 90 days after the giving of notice of such determination, apply to the Village Clerk/Treasurer for a hearing or unless the Village Clerk/Treasurer, of his or her own motion, shall reduce the same. After such hearing, the Village Clerk/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 Clerk/Treasurer or an undertaking filed with him or her in such amount and with such sureties as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York 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. Except in the case of wilfully 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.
If, within one year from the giving of notice of any determination or assessment of any tax or penalty, the person liable for the tax shall make application for a refund thereof and the Village Clerk/Treasurer or the court shall determine that such tax or penalty or any portion thereof was erroneously or illegally collected, the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall refund the amount so determined. For like cause and within the same period, a refund may be made on the initiative of the Village Clerk/Treasurer. However, no refund shall be made of a tax or penalty paid pursuant to a determination of the Village Clerk/Treasurer as hereinbefore provided unless the Village Clerk/Treasurer, after a hearing as hereinbefore provided or on his own motion, shall have reduced or amended the tax or penalty or it shall have been established in a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules that such determination was erroneous or illegal. 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 Clerk/Treasurer shall give notice thereof to the person interested and he shall be entitled to commence a proceeding to review such determination, in accordance with the provisions of the following section hereof.
Where any tax imposed hereunder shall have been erroneously, illegally or unconstitutionally collected and application for the refund thereof duly made to the Village Clerk/Treasurer and he or she has denied such refund, such determination shall be reviewable by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules; provided, however, that such proceeding is instituted within 90 days after the giving of the notice of such denial, that a final determination of tax due was not previously made and that an undertaking is filed with the Village Clerk/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 petitioner will pay all costs and charges which may accrue in the prosecution of such proceeding.
Whenever any person shall fail to pay any tax or penalty imposed by this article, the Village shall, upon the request of the Village Clerk/Treasurer, 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 Clerk/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 are made a lien.
In the administration of this article, the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall have power to make such reasonable rules and regulations, not inconsistent with law and with the approval of the Board of Trustees, 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.
Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for the Village Clerk/Treasurer or any agent, clerk or employee of the Village 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, 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. 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 Clerk/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 the return of any person who shall bring an 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. Notwithstanding any provisions of this article, the Village Clerk/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, and provided that such information is to be used for tax purposes only, and the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall, upon request, furnish the State Tax Commission with any information contained in such returns.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).