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:
"Access line"
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.
"Lifeline service"
means discounted telephone communications service available
to eligible low income residential customers.
"Prepaid calling service"
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.
"Post-paid calling service"
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.
"Service supplier"
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.
"Trunk line"
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)
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as imposing a tax
upon the access lines of:
(a) A
customer receiving Lifeline service; 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)