This tax shall be known as the "Utility User's Tax of the City of Waterford."
(Ord. 83-1 §1, 1983)
The purpose of this chapter is to impose a utilities tax to generate revenue to fund municipal operations and to establish a reasonable reserve.
(Ord. 83-1 §2, 1983; Ord. 85-3 §1, 1985)
The following words and phrases whenever used in this chapter shall be construed as defined in this section.
shall mean any domestic or foreign, corporation, firm, association, syndicate, joint stock company, partnership of any kind, joint venture, club, Massachusetts business or common law trust, society or individual.
shall mean the city of Waterford.
shall have the same meanings as defined in Sections 234, 218, 222, and 241, respectively, of the Public Utilities Code of the state of California as said sections existed on January 1, 1983. "Electrical corporation" shall be construed to include any municipality, special district, private person or franchised agency engaged in the selling or supplying of electrical power to a service user.
shall mean the finance director or the city manager of the city.
shall mean a person required to collect and remit a tax imposed by this chapter.
shall mean a person required to pay a tax imposed by this chapter.
shall mean a calendar month.
(Ord. 83-1 §3, 1983)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as imposing a tax upon any person when imposition of such tax upon that person would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or that of the state of California.
(Ord. 83-1 §4, 1983)
All of the taxes imposed by this chapter shall be at the following rate:
A.
Six percent of the charges for utility services provided within the city by any telephone corporation, electrical corporation, gas corporation and water corporation.
(Ord. 83-1 §5, 1983; Ord. 86-8 §2, 1986)
A.
There is imposed a tax on the amounts paid for any intrastate telephone services by every person in the city using such services. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the percentage rate set forth in Section 13.08.050 of the charges made for such services and shall be paid by the person paying for such services.
B.
As used in this section, the term "charges" shall not include charges for services paid for by inserting coins in coin-operated telephones except that where such coin-operated service is furnished for a guaranteed amount, the amounts paid under such guarantee plus any fixed monthly or other periodic charge shall be included in the base for computing the amount of tax due; nor shall the term "charges" include charges for any type of service or equipment furnished by a service supplier subject to public utility regulation during any period in which the same or similar services or equipment are also available for sale or lease from persons other than a service supplier subject to public utility regulation; nor shall the words "telephone communication services" include land mobile services or maritime mobile services as defined in Section 2.1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as said section existed on January 1, 1983. The term "telephone communication services" refers to that service which provides access to a telephone system and the privilege to telephonic quality communications with substantially all persons having telephone stations which are part of such telephone system. The telephone user's tax is intended to, and does, apply to all charges billed to a telephone account having a situs in the city, irrespective of whether a particular communication service originates and/or terminates within the city.
C.
The tax imposed by this section shall be collected from the service user by the person providing the intrastate telephone communication services. The amount of the tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of the following month.
D.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, the tax imposed under this section shall not be imposed upon any person for using intrastate telephone communication services to the extent that the amounts paid for such services are exempt from or not subject to the tax imposed under Division 2, Part 20 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code.
(Ord. 83-1 §6, 1983)
A.
There is imposed a tax upon every person in the city using electrical energy in the city. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the percentage rate set forth in Section 13.08.050 of the charges made for such energy and shall be paid by the person paying for such energy. "Charges," as used in this section, shall include charges made for: (1) metered energy, and (2) minimum charges for service, including customer charges, service charges, demand charges, standby charges, and annual and monthly charges.
B.
As used in this section, the term "using electrical energy" shall not be construed to mean the storage of such energy by a person in a battery owned or possessed by him or her for use in an automobile or other machinery or device apart from the premises upon which the energy was received; provided, however, that the term shall include the receiving of such energy for the purpose of using it in the charging of batteries; nor shall the term include the mere receiving of such energy by an electric public utility or governmental agency at a point within the city, for resale; or the use of such energy in the production or distribution of water by a public utility or governmental agency.
C.
The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person supplying such energy. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of the following month. Remittance of tax may be predicted on a formula based upon the payment pattern of the supplier's customers.
(Ord. 83-1 §7, 1983)
A.
There is imposed a tax upon every person in the city, other than a gas corporation or electrical corporation, using in the city gas which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the percentage rate set forth in Section 13.08.050 of the charges made for such gas and shall be paid by the person paying for such gas.
B.
There shall be excluded from the base on which the tax imposed in this section is computed: (1) charges made for gas which is to be resold and delivered through mains or pipes; (2) charges made for gas sold for use in the generation of electrical energy or for the production or distribution of water by a public utility or governmental agency; and (3) charges made by a gas public utility for gas used and consumed in the conduct of the business of gas public utilities.
C.
The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person selling the gas. The amount collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of the following month.
(Ord. 83-1 §8, 1983)
A.
There is imposed a tax upon every person in the city using water which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the percentage rate set forth in Section 13.08.050 of the charges made for such water and shall be paid by the person paying for such water.
B.
There shall be excluded from the base on which the tax imposed in this section is computed charges made for water which is to be resold and delivered through mains or pipes; and charges made by a municipal water department, public utility or a county or municipal water district for water used and consumed by such department, utility or district in the conduct of the business of such department, utility or district.
C.
The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person supplying the water. The amount collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of the following month.
(Ord. 83-1 §9, 1983)
A.
Taxes collected from a service user which are not remitted to the tax administrator on or before the due dates provided in this chapter are delinquent.
B.
In addition to remitting the amount of the tax, any service supplier who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter within the time required, and upon ten day's written notice to the service supplier of its failure to remit, shall pay a penalty of ten percent of the amount of the tax.
C.
If the city clerk determines that the nonpayment by any service supplier of any remittance due under this chapter is due to fraud, a penalty of twenty-five percent of the amount of the tax shall be added thereto in addition to the penalties stated above.
(Ord. 83-1 §10, 1983)
Any tax required to be paid by a service user under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a debt owed by the service user to the city. Any such tax collected from a service user which has not been remitted to the tax administrator shall be deemed a debt owed to the city by the person required to collect and remit. Any person owing money to the city under the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to an action brought in the same of the city for the recovery of such amount.
(Ord. 83-1 §11, 1983)
The duty to collect and remit the taxes imposed by this chapter shall be performed as follows:
A.
The tax shall be collected insofar as practicable at the same time as and along with the charges made in accordance with the regular billing practices of the service supplier. Where the amount paid by a service user to a service supplier is less than the full amount of the charge and tax which has accrued for the billing period, a proportionate share of both the charge and the tax shall be deemed to have been paid except in those cases where a service user pays the full amount of the charges but notifies the service supplier of his or her refusal to pay the tax imposed on said charges.
B.
The duty to collect tax from a service user shall commence with the beginning of the first full regular billing period applicable to the service user where all charges normally included in such regular billing are subject to the provisions of this chapter. Where a person receives more than one billing, one or more being for different periods than another, the duty to collect shall arise separately for each billing period.
(Ord. 83-1 §12, 1983)
A.
The tax administrator shall have the power and duty, and is directed to enforce each and all of the provisions of this chapter.
B.
The tax administrator shall have power to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with provisions of this chapter for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing the payment collection and remittance of the taxes herein imposed. A copy of such rules and regulations shall be on file in the tax administrator's office.
C.
The tax administrator may make administrative agreements to vary the strict requirements of this chapter so that collection of any tax imposed here may be made in conformance with the billing procedures of a particular service supplier so long as said agreements result in collection of the tax in conformance with the general purpose and scope of this chapter. A copy of each such agreement shall be on file in the tax administrator's office.
(Ord. 83-1 §13, 1983)
A.
The tax administrator may make an assessment for taxes not remitted by a person required to remit.
B.
Whenever the tax administrator determines that a service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the tax owed by him or her from the amounts remitted to a person required to collect the tax, or that a service user has refused to pay the amount of the tax to such person, or whenever the tax administrator deems it in the best interest of the city, he or she may relieve such person of the obligation to collect taxes due under this chapter from certain named service users for specified billing periods.
C.
The service supplier shall provide the city with amounts refused along with the names, addresses and reasons of the service users refusing to pay the tax imposed under provisions of this chapter.
D.
The tax administrator shall notify the service user that he or she has assumed responsibility to collect the taxes due for the stated periods and demand payment of such taxes. The notice shall be served on the service user by handing it to him or her personally or by deposit of the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid thereon, addressed to the service user at the address to which billing was made by the person required to collect the tax; or, should the service user have changed his or her address, to his or her last known address. If a service user fails to remit the tax to the tax administrator within fifteen days from the date of the service of the notice upon him or her, which shall be the date of mailing if service is not accomplished in person, a penalty of twenty-five percent of the amount of the tax set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but not less than five dollars. The penalty shall become part of the tax herein required to be paid.
(Ord. 83-1 §14, 1983)
It shall be the duty of every person required to collect and remit to the city any tax imposed by this chapter to keep and preserve, for a period of three years, all records as may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax as he or she may have been liable for the collection of and remittance to the tax administrator, which records the tax administrator and/or any Waterford city councilperson shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.
(Ord. 83-1 §15, 1983)
A.
Whenever the amount of any tax has been overpaid, or paid more than once or has been errone-ously or illegally collected or received by the tax administrator under this chapter, it may be refunded as provided in this section.
B.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (A) of this section, a service supplier may claim a refund or take as credit against taxes collected and remitted the amount overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received when it is established that the service user from whom the tax has been collected did not owe the tax; provided, however, that neither a refund nor a credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax so collected has either been refunded to the service user or credited to charges subsequently payable by the service user to the person required to collect and remit. A service supplier that has collected any amount of tax in excess of the amount of tax imposed by this chapter and actually due from a service user, may refund such amount to the service user and claim credit for such overpayment against the amount of tax which is due upon any other monthly returns, providing such credit is claimed in a return dated no later than one year from the date the tax provided in this chapter is terminated.
C.
No refund shall be paid under the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his or her right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto.
D.
Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, whenever a service supplier, pursuant to an order of the California Public Utilities Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction, makes a refund to service users of charges for past utility services, the taxes paid pursuant to this chapter on the amount of such refunded service charges shall also be refunded to service users by the service supplier to the extent that the service supplier can claim credit for such refunded taxes against the amount of tax which is due up-on any other monthly returns. In the event this chapter is repealed, amounts of any refundable taxes will be borne by the city.
(Ord. 83-1 §16, 1983)