[1]
Editor's Note: Ordinance No. 1033, adopted April 9, 1990, added to Ch. 8 provisions designated as Art. VIII, §§ 8-134—8-142. In order to conform to established Code format, and in order to provide for the possible future expansion of Art. VII without point-numbering, the editor, at his discretion, has renumbered these provisions as §§ 8-144—8-152. The original numbers of these provisions have been retained in the history notes following each section and in the Code Comparative Table at the back of this volume to facilitate tracking by the user.
[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(8-142), 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