[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-134), 4-9-1990]
Plymouth Township Council recognizes that the Pennsylvania Legislature
has imposed a "Host Municipality Benefit Fee" under Act 101 upon the
operator of each municipal waste landfill or resource recovery facility
which has a valid permit from the department of environmental resources
as of September 28, 1988, or which receives on or after September
28, 1988, a new permit or a permit that results in additional capacity
from said department under the Solid Waste Management Act of General
Assembly of July 7, 1980, PoL. 380, No. 97 (Act 97). It is, therefore,
the purpose of this article to implement the requirement of the host
municipality benefit fee by establishing the rate and timing of the
host municipality benefit fee payments; providing for collection and
enforcement of the fee; require each operator required to pay the
fee to keep records; permit the operators of municipal waste landfills
and resource recovery facilities subject to this fee to collect the
fee as a surcharge, and establish penalties for the violation of this
article.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-135), 4-9-1990]
The definitions set forth in Act 97, and the definitions set
forth in Act 101, are incorporated herein by reference as though fully
set forth at length.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-136), 4-9-1990]
(a) Imposition of fee. A fee to be known as the "Plymouth Township Host
Municipality Benefit Fee" is hereby imposed upon the operator of each
municipal waste landfill and/or resource recovery facility located
in Plymouth Township that has a valid permit as of September 28, 1988,
or that receives or has received a new permit or a permit that results
in additional capacity from the department of environmental resources
under Act 97 after September 28, 1988. Said fee shall be paid to Plymouth
Township as host municipality. In the event that such landfill or
facility is located within the boundaries of both Plymouth Township
and an adjacent municipality, the fee hereby imposed shall be apportioned
among the respective municipalities according to the percentage of
the permitted area located in each.
(b) Amount of fee. The fee imposed is one dollar ($1.00) per ton of weighed
solid waste or one dollar ($1.00) per three (3) cubic yards of volume-measured
solid waste for all solid waste received at a landfill or facility.
Any amounts paid by an operator to Plymouth Township as a host municipality
pursuant to a pre-existing agreement shall serve as a credit against
the fee imposed by this section.
(c) Reservation of municipal option. Nothing in this article shall prevent
Plymouth Township from receiving a higher fee than that set forth
above, or from receiving the fee in a different form or at different
times than provided in this article, if Plymouth Township and the
operator of the municipal waste landfill or resource recovery facility
so agree in writing.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-137), 4-9-1990]
(a) Quarterly payment. The fee imposed by this article shall be paid
directly to Plymouth Township in quarterly payments by each operator
subject to this article. The fee shall be paid on or before the twentieth
day of April, July, October and January for the three (3) months ending
the last day of March, June, September and December.
(b) Quarterly reports. Payment of the fee shall be accompanied by a form
prepared and furnished by the department of environmental resources
and completed by the operator of the subject facility. The form shall
state the weight or volume of solid waste received by the landfill
or facility during the payment period and provide any other information
deemed necessary by such department to carry out the purposes of this
article. The form shall be signed by the operator. A copy of the form
shall be sent to the department of environmental resources at the
same time that the fee and the form are sent to Plymouth Township.
(c) Timeliness of payment. An operator shall be deemed to have made a
timely payment of the host municipality benefit fee if all of the
following are met:
(1)
The enclosed payment is for the full amount owed pursuant to
this article and Act 101, and no further action by Plymouth Township
is required for collection.
(2)
The payment is accompanied by the required form and such form
is complete and accurate.
(3)
The letter transmitting the payment that is received by Plymouth
Township is post-marked by the United States Postal Service on or
prior to the final day on which the payment is to be received.
(d) Discount. Any operator that makes a timely payment of the host municipality
benefit fee as provided in this article shall be entitled to credit
and apply against the fee payable by him a discount of one (1) percent
of the amount of the fee collected by him.
(e) Proof of timely payment. For purposes of this section, presentation
of a receipt indicating that the payment was mailed by registered
or certified mail on or before the due date shall be evidence of timely
payment.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-138), 4-9-1990]
(a) Interest. Any operator who fails to make a timely payment of the
host municipality benefit fee as provided by this article shall pay
interest on the unpaid amount due at the rate established pursuant
to Section 806 of the Act of April 9, 1929, (P.L. 343, No. 176), known
as the Fiscal Code, from the last day for timely payment to the date
paid.
(b) Additional penalty. In addition to the interest provided in paragraph
(a), if an operator fails to make a timely payment of the fee imposed
by this article, there shall be added to the amount of the fee actually
due five (5) percent of the amount of such fee, if a failure to file
a timely payment is for not more than one (1) month, with an additional
five (5) percent for each additional month or fraction thereof during
which such failure continues, not exceeding a penalty of twenty-five
(25) percent in the aggregate.
(c) Assessment notices. If Plymouth Township determines that any operator
of a municipal waste landfill or resource recovery facility has not
made a timely payment of the host municipality benefit fee, it will
send a written notice for the amount of the deficiency to such operator
within thirty (30) days from the date of determining such deficiency.
When the operator has not provided a complete and accurate statement
of the weight or volume of solid waste received at the landfill or
facility for the payment period, Plymouth Township may estimate the
weight or volume in its deficiency notice.
(d) Constructive trust. All host municipality benefits fees which are
collected by an operator and held by such operator prior to payment
to Plymouth Township shall constitute a trust fund for the benefit
of Plymouth Township, and such trust shall be enforceable against
such operator, its representatives, and any person receiving any part
of such fund without consideration or with knowledge that the operator
is committing a breach of the trust. However, any person receiving
payment of lawful obligations of the operator from such fund shall
be presumed to have received the same in good faith and without any
knowledge of the breach of trust.
(e) Manner of collection—Lien. All fees, fines, interests and penalties
under this article shall be collectable in any matter provided by
law for the collection of debts. If the person liable to pay any such
amount neglects or refuses to pay the same after demand, the amount,
together with interest and any costs that may accrue, shall be a judgment
in favor of Plymouth Township upon the property of such person, but
only after the same has been entered and judgment docketed of record
by the prothonotary of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Plymouth Township
may at any time transmit to the prothonotary certified copies of all
such judgments and it shall be the duty of the prothonotary to enter
and docket the same of record in his office, and to index the same
as judgments are indexed, without requiring the payment of costs as
a condition precedent to the entry thereof, as provided in Section
1709 of Act 101.
(f) Remedies cumulative. The remedies provided to Plymouth Township in
this section are in addition to and not in limitation of, any other
remedies provided at law or in equity.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-139), 4-9-1990]
Each operator that is required to pay the fee imposed by this
article shall keep daily records of all deliveries of solid waste
to the landfill or facility, including, but not limited to, the name
and address of the hauler, the source of the waste, the kind of waste
received, and the weight or volume of the waste. Such records shall
be maintained within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the operator
for no less than five (5) years, and shall be available to Plymouth
Township for inspection upon request.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-140), 4-9-1990]
The operator of any municipal waste landfill or resource recovery
facility subject to this article may collect the fee imposed hereby
as a surcharge upon any fee schedule established pursuant to law,
ordinance, resolution or contract for solid waste disposal or processing
operations at the landfill or facility. In addition, any person who
collects or transports solid waste subject to the fee imposed by this
article to a municipal waste landfill or resource recovery facility
may impose a surcharge on any fee schedule established pursuant to
law, ordinance, resolution or contract for the collection or transportation
of solid waste to the landfill or facility. The surcharge shall be
equal to the increase in processing or disposal fees at the landfill
or facility attributable to the fee imposed by this article. However,
interest and penalties on the fee as provided in this article may
not be collected as a surcharge.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-141), 4-9-1990]
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this article
shall be subject to the additional civil and criminal penalties imposed
by Act 97 and Act 101.
[Ord. No. 1033, § 1(8-142), 4-9-1990]
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to use or continue
to use land within the township as a municipal waste landfill or resource
recovery facility without complying with the provisions of this article
