[Adopted 11-18-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-10]
This article shall be known as the "Millcreek Township Local
Services Tax Ordinance."
The following words and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context or language clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning:
The person, public employee or private agency designated
by the political subdivision to collect and administer the tax herein
imposed.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Compensation, as this term is defined in the Local Tax Enabling
Act, the Act of Dec. 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, as amended (53 P.S. § 6924.501).[1]
An individual, partnership, association, limited liability
corporation, limited liability partnership, corporation, governmental
body, agency or other entity employing one or more persons on a salary,
wage, commission or other compensation basis, including a self-employed
person.
Indicates the singular and plural number, as well as male,
female and neuter genders.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the corporate limits of the Township of Millcreek.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession,
or other activity, as this term is defined in the Local Tax Enabling
Act, the Act of Dec. 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, as amended (53 P.S. § 6924.501).[2]
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, earned on
or performed within the corporate limits of the Township of Millcreek
for which compensation is charged or received; whether by means of
salary, wages, commission or fees for services rendered.
The area within the corporate limits of the Township of Millcreek,
Erie County, Pennsylvania.
The local services tax at the rate fixed in § 129-18 of this article.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any year;
a calendar year.
A.
For specific revenue purposes, an annual tax is hereby levied and
assessed, commencing January 1, 2009; upon the privilege of engaging
in an occupation with a primary place of employment within the Township
of Millcreek during the tax year. Each natural person who exercises
such privilege for any length of time during any tax year shall pay
the tax for that year in the amount of $52, assessed on a pro rata
basis, in accordance with the provisions of this section. This tax
may be used solely for the following purposes as the same may be allocated
by the Board of Supervisors from time to time:
(1)
Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical services,
police services and/or fire services;
(2)
Road construction and/or maintenance;
(3)
Reduction of property taxes; or
(4)
Property tax relief through implementation of a homestead and farmstead
exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A § 8584 (relating
to homestead property exclusion).
B.
The Township shall use no less than 25% of the funds derived from
the tax for emergency services. This tax is in addition to all other
taxes of any kind or nature heretofore levied by the Township. The
tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for each calendar year,
irrespective of the number of political subdivisions within which
a person may be employed.
A.
Exemption. Any person whose total earned income and net profits from
all sources within the political subdivision is less than $12,000
for any calendar year in which the tax is levied is exempt from the
payment of the tax for that calendar year. In addition, the following
persons are exempt from payment of the tax:
(1)
Any person who has 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
quadruple amputee or has a service-connected disability declared by
the United States Veterans' Administration or its successor to be
a total one-hundred-percent disability.
(2)
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. For the purposes of this subsection, "reserve component of the
armed forces" shall mean the United States Army Reserve, United States
Navy Reserve, United States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Coast
Guard Reserve, United States Air Force Reserve, the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard or the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
B.
Procedure to claim exemption.
(1)
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax
may annually file an exemption certificate with the Township and with
the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects
to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the
political subdivision of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for
which the exemption certificate is filed. In the event the Township
utilizes a tax collection officer, it shall provide a copy of the
exemption certificate to that officer.
(2)
Employers shall ensure that the exemption certificate forms are readily
available to employees at all times and shall furnish each new employee
with a form at the time of hiring. The exemption certificate form
shall be the uniform form provided by the political subdivision.
(3)
The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all
the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within
the Township for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee
is requesting to be exempted from the tax.
(4)
Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the Township or except as required by Subsection B(5) of this section, the employer shall not withhold the tax from the person during the calendar year or the remainder of the calendar year for which the exemption certificate applies.
(5)
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax, 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 political subdivision equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year or that the person is otherwise ineligible for the tax exemption for that calendar year, or upon an employer's payment to the person of earned income within the Township in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year, an employer shall withhold the local services tax from the person under Subsection B(6) of this section.
(6)
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year under Subsection B(5) of this section, the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar year. The employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification under Subsection B(5) of this section, a lump sum equal to the amount of tax that was not withheld from the person due to the exemption claimed by the person under this subsection, 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 that calendar year shall be the same amount withheld for other employees. In the event the employment of a person subject to withholding of the tax under this subsection is subsequently severed in that calendar year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due, and the Township may pursue collection under this article.
C.
Refunds.
(1)
The Township, in consultation with the Collector and DCED, shall
establish procedures for the processing of refund claims for any tax
paid by any person who is eligible for exemption, which procedures
shall be in accord with provisions of the general municipal law relating
to refunds of overpayments and interest on overpayments.
(2)
Refunds made within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days after
the last day the employer is required to remit the tax for the last
quarter of the calendar year, whichever is later, shall not be subject
to interest.
(3)
No refunds shall be made for amounts overpaid in a calendar year
that do not exceed $1.
(4)
The Township or the Collector shall determine eligibility for exemption
and provide refunds to exempt persons.
A.
Each employer within the Township, as well as those employers situated
outside the Township but who engage in business within the Township,
is hereby charged with the duty of collecting the tax from each of
his employees engaged by him or performing for him within the Township
and making a return and payment thereof to the Collector. Further,
each employer is hereby authorized to deduct this tax for each employee
in his, her or its employ, whether said employee is paid by salary,
wage or commission and whether or not all such services are performed
within the Township.
B.
A person subject to the tax shall be assessed by the employer a pro
rata share of the tax for each payroll period in which the person
is engaging in an occupation. The pro rata share of the tax assessed
on the person for a payroll period shall be determined by dividing
the rate of the tax levied for the calendar year by the number of
payroll periods established by the employer for the calendar year.
For purposes of determining the pro rata share, an employer shall
round down the amount of the tax collected each payroll period to
the nearest one-hundredth of a dollar.
C.
Collection of the tax shall be made on a payroll-period basis for each payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation, except as provided in Subsection E of this section. For purposes of this section, "combined rate" shall mean the aggregate annual rate of the tax levied by the school district and the municipality.
D.
No person shall be subject to the payment of the local services tax
by more than one political subdivision during each payroll period.
E.
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer shall refrain from
withholding the tax if the employee provides a recent pay statement
from a principal employer that includes the name of the employer,
the length of the payroll period and the amount of the tax withheld
and a statement from the employee that the pay statement is from the
employee's principal employer and the employee will notify other employers
of a change in principal place of employment within two weeks of its
occurrence. The employee's statement shall be provided on the form
approved by DCED.
F.
The tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for each calendar
year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions within
which a person may be employed. The political subdivision shall provide
a taxpayer a receipt of payment upon request by the taxpayer.
G.
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 taxes 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. Further, an employer shall not be liable for payment of the local services tax in an amount exceeding the amount withheld by the employer if the employer complies with the provisions of § 129-18B and this section of this article and remits the amount so withheld in accordance with this article.
H.
Employers shall be required to remit the local services taxes 30
days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year.
A.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return showing a computation
of the tax on forms to be supplied to the employer by the Collector.
B.
If an employer fails to file the return and pay the tax, whether
or not the employer makes collection thereof from the salary, wages
or commissions paid by him or her to an employee, except as provided
hereafter in this article, the employer shall be responsible for the
payment of the tax in full as though the tax had been originally levied
against the employer.
In each tax year, each employer shall use his, her or its employment
records to determine the number of employees from whom such tax shall
be deducted and paid over to the Collector as of the end of each calendar
quarter. Such tax shall be paid over on or before the 30th day following
the end of each calendar quarter of each such tax year.
Each self-employed individual who performs services of any type
or kind or engages in any occupation or profession within a primary
place of employment within the political subdivision shall be required
to comply with this article and pay the pro rata portion of the tax
due to the Collector on or before the 30th day following the end of
each calendar quarter.
A.
The situs of the tax shall be the place of employment on the first
day the person becomes subject to the tax during each payroll period.
In the event a person is engaged in more than one occupation, that
is, concurrent employment, or an occupation which requires the person
working in more than one political subdivision during a payroll period,
the priority of claim to collect the local services tax shall be in
the following order:
(1)
First, the political subdivision in which a person maintains his
or her principal office or is principally employed;
(2)
Second, the political subdivision in which the person resides and
works if the tax is levied by that political subdivision;
(3)
Third, the political subdivision in which a person is employed and
which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
B.
In case of dispute, a tax receipt of the taxing authority for that
calendar year declaring that the taxpayer has made prior payment constitutes
prima facie certification of payment to all other political subdivisions.
All employers and self-employed individuals residing or having
their places of business outside of the political subdivision but
who perform services of any type or kind or engage in any occupation
or profession within the political subdivision do, by virtue thereof,
agree to be bound by and subject themselves to the provisions, penalties
and regulations promulgated under this article with the same force
and effect as though they were residents of the Township. Further,
any individual engaged in an occupation within the Township and an
employee of a nonresidential employer may, for the purpose of this
article, be considered a self-employed person, and in the event his
or her tax is not paid, the Township shall have the option of proceeding
against either the employer or employee for the collection of this
tax as hereinafter provided.
The failure or omission of any employer to deduct the tax or
remit the same to the Township shall not relieve any individual from
the payment of the tax.
A.
The Collector shall be appointed by resolution of the political subdivision.
It shall be the duty of the Collector to accept and receive payments
of this tax and to keep a record thereof showing the amount received
by him from each employer or self-employed person, together with the
date the tax was received.
B.
The Collector is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement
of this article and is hereby charged and empowered, subject to municipal
approval, to proscribe, adopt and promulgate rules and regulations
relating to any matter pertaining to the administration and enforcement
of this article, including provisions for the examination of payroll
records of any employer subject to this article, the examination and
correction of any return made in compliance with this article and
any payment alleged or found to be incorrect or as to which overpayment
is claimed or found to have occurred. Any person aggrieved by any
decision of the Collector shall have the right to appeal consistent
with the Local Taxpayers Bill of Rights under Act 50 of 1998 and such
process for appeal of such determinations as has been adopted by the
Board of Supervisors.
C.
The Collector is hereby authorized to examine the books and payroll
records of any employer in order to verify the accuracy of any return
made by an employer or, if no return was made, to ascertain the tax
due. Each employer is hereby directed and required to give the Collector
the means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
A.
In the event that any tax under this article remains due or unpaid
30 days after the due dates above set forth, the Collector may sue
for the recovery of any such tax due or unpaid under this article,
together with interest and penalty.
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest at the rate
of 6% on the amount of such tax shall be calculated beginning with
the due date of the tax and a penalty of 5% shall be added to the
flat rate of such tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is brought
for the recovery of this tax or other appropriate remedy undertaken,
the individual liable therefor shall, in addition, be responsible
and liable for the costs of collection, including but not limited
to attorneys' fees incurred by the Collector or the Township.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any return required by this article, or whoever refuses inspection of the books, records or accounts in his or her custody and control setting forth the number of employees subject to this tax who are in his, her or its employment, or whoever fails or refuses to file any return required by this article shall be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and costs of prosecution. The action to enforce the penalty herein prescribed may be instituted against any person in charge of the business of any employer who shall have failed or who refuses to file a return required by this article. Enforcement shall be in accordance with this section, Chapter 48, Enforcement and Collection Activities, Article I, Ordinance Enforcement, as amended, and Article II, Attorneys' Fees, as amended, of the Code of the Township of Millcreek (Ordinance No. 96-8, as amended, and Ordinance No. 96-9, as amended).
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to empower the
Township to levy and collect the tax hereby imposed on any occupation
not within the taxing power of the Township under the Constitution
of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
If the tax imposed by this article shall be held by any Court of
competent jurisdiction to be in violation of the Constitution of the
United States or of the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as
to any individual, such decision shall not affect or impair the right
to impose or collect said tax or the validity of the tax so imposed
on other persons or individuals as herein provided.
A.
The Board of Supervisors shall have authority to appoint one or more
persons or firms in its discretion to serve as Collector of the tax
imposed under this article; to terminate appointments of Collectors
when it believes to be necessary and appropriate; to authorize or
delegate to any officers or employees of the Township and/or the Collector
to take actions necessary and appropriate to effectuate this article;
to adopt forms and policies and to take all other actions necessary
or appropriate to implement this article and the local services tax
imposed by this article.
B.
Where the Board of Supervisors appoints one or more Collectors of
the tax, the Board of Supervisors shall have authority to assign to
said Collector(s) duties and authority established in this article.
The tax imposed by this article shall be effective on January
1, 2009, and all calendar years thereafter unless repealed or modified
by ordinance enacted by the Board of Supervisors.
