[Adopted 11-28-2000 by Ord. No. 141; amended in its entirety 12-15-2004 by Ord. No. 169]
The provisions of the Open Space Lands Act, Act 153 of 1996, 32 P.S. 5001 et. seq., as hereafter amended, supplemented, modified or reenacted by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Additionally, the provisions of Section 6913 of the Local Tax Enabling Act, P.L. 1257, No. 511, December 31, 1965, 53 P.S. § 6901-24 (1982), as hereafter amended, supplemented, modified or reenacted by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania,[1] are incorporated herein by reference thereto; except to the extent that options are provided in said Section 6913, this article designates the option selected, and except as and where hereinafter specifically provided otherwise.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
A. 
A tax for the purpose of purchasing interest in real property for the purpose of securing open space pursuant to the Open Space Lands Act, Act 153 of 1996, 32 P.S. § 5001 et. seq., of .250% (an increase over the current rate of .125%) is hereby imposed on:
(1) 
Salaries, wages, commissions and other compensation earned or paid on or after January 1, 2005, by residents of West Rockhill Township; and on
(2) 
The net profits earned on or after January 1, 2005, of businesses, professions or other activities conducted by such residents.
B. 
The tax levied under Subsection A(1) of this section shall relate to and be imposed upon salaries, wages, commissions and other compensation paid by an employer or on their behalf to any person who is employed by or renders services to them. The tax levied under Subsection A(2) of this section will relate to and be imposed on the net profits of any business, profession or enterprise carried on by any person as owner or proprietor, either individually or in an association with some other person or persons.
A. 
Every taxpayer whose net profits are subject to the tax imposed by this article shall file a declaration of their net profits for the current year and shall pay the tax due thereon in annual installments, all as provided in Section 6913, III.A.(1)(I), of the Local Tax Enabling Act, or estimated net profits for the current year and shall pay the tax due thereon in quarterly installments, all as provided in Section 6913, III.A.(1)(ii) of the Local Tax Enabling Act.
B. 
Every taxpayer whose earnings are subject to the tax imposed by this article shall make and file final returns and to the officer the balance of the tax due, as provided in Section 6913, III.B. of the Local Tax Enabling Act.
C. 
Every taxpayer whose earnings are not subject to collection at the source, shall file with the officer quarterly returns and shall pay quarter-annually the amount of tax shown as due on such returns all as provided in Section 6913, III.B.(2) of the Local Tax Enabling Act.
D. 
The officer is hereby authorized to provide by regulation, subject to the approval of the West Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors, that the return of an employer or employers, showing the amount of tax deducted by said employer or employers from the salaries, wages or commissions of any employee, and paid by him or them to the officer shall be accepted as the return required of any employee whose sole income, subject to the tax or taxes under this article, is such salary, wages or commissions.
Every employer having an office, factory, workshop, branch, warehouse, or other place of business within West Rockhill Township who employs one or more persons, other than domestic servants, for a salary, wage, commission or other compensation, shall register with the officer, deduct the tax imposed by this article on the earned income of their employee or employees and shall make and file quarterly returns and final returns and pay quarterly to the officer the amount of taxes deducted, all as provided in Section 6913, IV. of the Local Tax Enabling Act.
The earned Income Tax Officer shall be the same person or corporation appointed by the Board of Supervisors of West Rockhill Township to collect the existing general revenue earned income tax.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest at the rate of 6% per annum on the amount of said tax, and an additional penalty of 1/2% of the amount of the unpaid tax for each month or fraction thereof which the tax remains unpaid shall be added and collected. Where suit is brought for recovery of any such tax, the person liable therefore shall, in addition, be liable for the costs of collection and the interest and penalties herein imposed.
A. 
Any person who fails, neglects or refuses to make any declaration or return required by this article, any employer who fails, neglects or refuses to register or to pay the tax deducted from his employees, or fails, neglects, or refuses to deduct or withhold the tax from his employees, any person who refuses to permit the officer or any agent designated by him to examine his books, records, and papers and any person who knowingly makes any incomplete, false or fraudulent return, or attempts to do anything whatsoever to avoid the full disclosure of the amount of their net profits or earned income in order to avoid the payment of the whole or any part of the tax imposed by this article, shall, upon conviction therefor before any Magisterial District Judge, or court of competent jurisdiction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $500 for each offense, and costs, and in default of payment, to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding 30 days.
B. 
Any person who divulges any information which is confidential under the provisions of this article, shall, upon conviction therefore, before any Magisterial District Judge or court of competent jurisdiction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $500 for each offense, and costs, and in default of payment, to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding 30 days.
C. 
The penalties imposed under this section shall be in addition to any other penalty imposed by any other section of this article or any other ordinance:
D. 
The failure of any person to receive or procure forms required for making the declaration or returns required by this article shall not excuse them from making such declaration or return.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, except that this article shall be construed as a supplement to the existing ordinance of West Rockhill Township proposing an additional earned income tax for open space purposes.
If any sentence, clause, section or part of this article is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections, or parts of this article. It is hereby declared as the intent of the Board of Supervisors of West Rockhill Township that this article would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included therein.
This article shall become effective January 1, 2005, and it shall continue on a calendar year basis, thereafter, without annual reenactment.