Note: Prior ordinance history: Ords. 1747 and 1659.
The tax imposed and levied by this Chapter is intended to provide
revenue for such general fund services as may be determined by the
City Council including, without limitation, police, fire, and emergency
services.
(Ord. 1765 § 18, 2009)
When used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
means any connection whether by wire or by wireless technology,
from a customer location to a provider of telephone communications
services offered to the public for compensation. "Access line" includes
the assignment of a 10-digit telephone number under the North American
Numbering Plan for the purpose of providing telephone communications
services, including without limitation voice over internet protocol
telephone communications services, using such telephone number.
has the meaning given in Chapter 3.32 of this Code.
shall mean a trunk line with a capacity of at least 24 channels
over a light capacity service.
means discounted telephone communications service available
to eligible low income residential customers.
means the right to access telephone communications service,
which must be paid for in advance and which enables the origination
of calls using an access number or authorization code, whether manually
or electronically dialed, and that is sold in predetermined units
or dollars of which the number declines with use in a known amount,
without the provisioning of an access line.
means the telecommunications service obtained by making a
payment on a call-by-call basis either through the use of a credit
card or payment mechanism such as a bank card, travel card, credit
card, or debit card, or by charge made to a telephone number which
is not associated with the origination or termination of the telecommunications
service without the provisioning of an access line.
has the meaning given in Chapter 3.32 of this Code.
means any person supplying an access line to any telephone
communications service subscriber within the City of Palm Springs
or the billing agent of any such person.
has the meaning given in Chapter 3.32 of this Code.
means any person required to pay a tax under this Chapter.
means a line between a service supplier's switching device
and a private branch exchange or automatic call distributing system,
or other similar device, at a telephone communications service subscriber
location, provided however that "trunk line" shall not include any
such line which is marketed to customers and configured by the service
supplier to deliver only calls to the subscriber location and cannot
be used by the subscriber to originate outgoing calls from the subscriber
location (e.g., direct inward dial lines).
(Ord. 1765 § 18, 2009)
(a)
There
is hereby imposed a tax as provided in this Chapter on every person
who subscribes to telephone communications services within the City
of Palm Springs, to the extent permitted by Federal and State law.
The tax shall apply to each access line within the City's tax jurisdiction,
including, without limitation, access lines billed to a telephone
account having a situs in the City, as permitted by the Mobile Telecommunications
Sourcing Act, 4 U.S.C. § 116 et seq. There is a rebuttable presumption
that service billed to a billing address or provided to a service
address in the City is used, in whole or in part, within the City's
boundaries and that such service is subject to taxation under this
Chapter. The tax shall not apply to a prepaid calling service or a
post-paid calling service.
(b)
The
amount of the tax imposed by this Section shall be paid, on a per-access-line
basis, by the person paying for telephone communications service.
(c)
Only
one payment of the tax shall be required for any access line, trunk
line or high capacity trunk line, notwithstanding that access lines
of more than one person are used in furnishing telephone communications
service to a telephone communications service subscriber.
(Ord. 1765 § 18, 2009)
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as imposing a tax
upon the access lines of:
(a)
A
customer receiving Lifeline service; or
(b)
A
service supplier; or
(c)
Coin-operated
telephones; or
(d)
A
nonprofit hospital which is exempt from federal income tax under Section
501(a) of the United States Code; or
(e)
A
nonprofit educational organization which is exempt from income tax
under Section 501(a) of the United States Code; or
(f)
Any
person when imposition of such tax upon that person would violate
the Constitution of the United States or that of the State of California
or preemptive Federal or State law.
(Ord. 1765 § 18, 2009)
The amount of the tax shall be $1.13 per month per access line
and $8.48 per month per trunk line. These amounts shall be adjusted
annually in accordance with the increase in the Consumer Price Index:
All Urban Consumers for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County Standard
Metropolitan Statistical Area for All Items as reported by the United
States Bureau of Labor Statistics, or any successor to that index,
as of December 31st of each year, beginning with December 31, 2010,
and such increase shall take effect 1) when notice of the increase
is given by the Finance Director in the manner generally used by the
Finance Director for notification of fee or tax changes and 2) such
increase is approved by the City Council by resolution.
(Ord. 1765 § 18, 2009)
[1]
Editor Note: Pursuant to City Council Resolution No. 23771,
adopted February 18, 2015, the amount of tax shall be $1.21 per month
per access line and $9.11 per month per trunk line.
(a)
The
tax imposed by this Chapter shall be collected from the telephone
communications service subscriber by the service supplier.
(b)
The
tax required to be collected by service suppliers under this ordinance
shall be added to and stated separately in the service supplier's
billings to telephone communications service subscribers. The charge
in such billings shall include only the amount authorized by this
Chapter, and shall not include any additional charges or fees which
may be imposed by the service supplier to recover the cost of collecting
the tax.
(c)
Nothing
in this Chapter is intended to regulate the ability of a service supplier
to recover any costs of collecting the tax imposed under this Chapter,
to the extent such that recovery may be authorized by state or federal
law.
(d)
Except as otherwise stated in this Chapter, the tax imposed by this Chapter shall be collected and remitted at the same time as and in the same manner as the tax imposed by Chapter 3.32 of this Code.
(e)
Except as otherwise stated in this Chapter, the tax imposed by this Chapter shall be administered in the same manner as the tax imposed by Chapter 3.32 of this Code.
(f)
Any person aggrieved by any decision or administrative ruling of any kind of the Tax Administrator in the collection and administration of the tax provided under this Chapter, shall be required to comply with the appeals procedure of Section 3.32.215 of this Code. Compliance with Section 3.32.215 shall be a prerequisite to a suit thereon. Nothing herein shall permit the filing of a claim or action on behalf of a class or group of taxpayers.
(Ord. 1765 § 18, 2009)
