[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 1]
This Part shall be known as the "Hopewell Township Local Services Tax Ordinance."
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 2]
For purposes of this Part, the following definitions shall apply:
The Local Tax Enabling Act, 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq., as amended by Act 7 of 2007.
The person or entity appointed or designated by the Township to collect the local services tax pursuant to this Part.
The aggregate annual rate of the local services tax levied by both the Township and the South Eastern School District.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
This term shall have the same meaning as is given in Division I of § 13 of the Act.
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 § 13 of the Act.
Any employee or other person who is subject to, or exempt from, the tax imposed by this Part.
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., 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 Part.
Any person who is subject to the tax imposed by this Part.
Hopewell Township, York County, Pennsylvania.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 3]
The Board of Supervisors of the Township hereby enacts and levies the tax in the amount of $42 per year on each person whose place of employment is within the Township.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 4]
This tax shall be imposed on a calendar year basis.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 5]
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: First, the political subdivision in which the person maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed; second, the political subdivision in which the person resides and works, if such a tax is levied by that political subdivision; and third the political subdivision in which the person is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 6]
1.
It is the intent of this Part that no person shall pay more than $42 on this tax in any calendar year, excluding any such tax paid to the South Eastern School District or other school district. 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 § 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.
2.
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 § 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 any local services tax paid by the taxpayer in another political subdivision, but in no event shall exceed the tax as fixed by the Township for the calendar year in which the refund was sought.
3.
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 $42, 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.
4.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to any local services tax paid to the South Eastern School District.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 7]
1.
The following persons shall be exempt from the tax:
A.
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.
B.
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 100% permanent disability.
C.
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.
2.
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 § 2(e)(1) of the Act.
3.
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.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 8]
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 Part 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 § 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.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 9]
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.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 10]
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 11]
1.
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 Part 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 and 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.
2.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Part, 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 §§ 2, 2(e) and 2(f)(9) of the Act.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 12]
1.
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 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 § 22.6 of the Act.
E.
Any other uses permitted by law.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 13; as amended by Ord. 2016-1, 1/4/2016]
1.
Subject to the limitations of § 24-211, and of the Act, any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated or permitted the violation of any provision of this Part, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, shall pay a judgment of not more than $600 plus all court costs. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or payable until the date of the determination of a violation by a magisterial district judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure, at which time, in addition to any penalties, the violator shall be liable for any attorney's fees and costs incurred by the Township. Each day that a violation continues or each section of this Part which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate violation.
2.
In addition to the penalties in Subsection 1, 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.
3.
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 Part, and to initiate and prosecute on its behalf any summary criminal actions pursuant to Subsection 1, and any other legal actions or remedies as authorized in Subsection 2.
[Ord. 2007-4, 11/1/2007, § 14; as amended by Ord. 2016-1, 1/4/2016]
The Township specifically adopts for purposes of this Part the costs and fees associated with the collection of delinquent taxes as approved by the Board of Supervisors by resolution from time to time.