This chapter constitutes the license tax provisions. Every person
transacting and carrying on the businesses enumerated in this chapter
shall pay a license tax as set forth in this chapter.
(Ord. 720 § 4, 1976)
(a) “Auctioneer”
means a person who, except at court sales, sells or offers for sale
any real or personal property at auction.
(b) The
license tax is one hundred dollars per day payable in advance for
each day an auction is to be conducted (“auction day”).
(c) Ten
business days before the auction sale, the applicant for the license
shall file with the collector an itemized list identifying and describing
the property to be auctioned.
(Ord. 720 § 4.1, 1976; Ord. 1391.1 § 9, 2008)
(a) “Business
and personal services” means any business providing services,
repairs or improvements to or on real property; renting or leasing
personal property to businesses or persons; or providing services
to persons such as but not limited to, laundries, cleaning and dyeing,
shoe repair, barber and beauty shops, and photographic studies.
(b) The
license tax is seventy-five dollars per year plus five dollars for
each employee with a maximum tax of one thousand dollars unless the
business or personal service is specifically taxed by another provision
of this chapter in which event such specific tax shall apply.
(Ord. 720 § 4.2, 1976; Ord. 751 § 1, 1977; Ord. 911 § 1, 1982)
(a) “Card
room” means any building or structure, or any portion of a building
or structure or any premises or place, wherein in return for any fee,
charge, thing of value or other compensation, any person or persons
is or are permitted to play a card game or card games. The term “card
room” is synonymous with the term “gaming club”
as used in the Gaming Registration Act (commencing at Section 19800
of the
Business and Professions Code).
(b) “Card room operator” means any person as defined herein who owns, operates, manages or is otherwise financially interested in a card room as defined in subsection
(a).
(c) “Card
table” means any table upon which any card game is played in
a card room.
(d) “Card
table rate” means the twenty-five dollar per card table per
year license tax payable by a card room operator.
(Ord. 976 § 1, 1985; Ord. 1391.1 § 10, 2008)
(a) “Cannabis business” means a person issued a cannabis operator permit pursuant to Chapter
20.410.
(b) The
license tax is as follows and may be adjusted by city council by resolution
or ordinance:
(1) One percent of gross receipts and up to two and one-half percent
of gross receipts for commercial cannabis testing operations.
(2) One percent of gross receipts and up to four percent of gross receipts
for commercial cannabis cultivation operations.
(3) One percent of gross receipts and up to three percent of gross receipts
for commercial cannabis distribution operations.
(4) One percent of gross receipts and up to five percent of gross receipts
for commercial cannabis manufacturing operations.
(5) One percent of gross receipts and up to five percent of gross receipts
for commercial cannabis delivery-only operations.
(c) One percent of gross receipts and up to five percent of gross receipts for a commercial cannabis business not otherwise included in subsection
(b) of this section.
(d) The license tax imposed is an excise tax and not a sales and use tax and is in addition to any other fees required under Chapter
20.410.
(e) The payment of a tax required under this section, and its acceptance by the city, shall not entitle any person to engage in any cannabis business unless the person has complied with all of the requirements of Chapter
20.410 and all other applicable state or local laws. No tax paid under this section shall be construed as authorizing the conduct or continuance of any illegal or unlawful business, or any business in violation of any state or local laws.
(f) Commercial
cannabis businesses operating unlawfully in the city are subject to
the license taxes under this section, in addition to any applicable
penalties or fines under local and state laws.
(Ord. 1556 § 2, 2018)
(a) “Coin-operated
machine” means a machine, device, contrivance or apparatus which
upon deposit of a coin, plate, token, disk, card, slug or key into
a slot, receptacle or other opening or for payment of a consideration
permits participation in a lawful game or offers amusement, information,
music, goods or services.
(b) “Distributor”
means any person who, as owner, agent, employee or otherwise, distributes,
places, installs or delivers a coin-operated machine to any premises
in the city or who keeps or stores within the city any such coin-operated
machine for the purpose of distributing, placing, installing or delivering
the same.
(c) “Operator”
means any person who, as owner, lessee, employee, agent or otherwise,
operates, installs, keeps, maintains, permits or allows to be operated,
installed or maintained, any coin-operated machine in or upon any
premises owned, leased, managed, operated or controlled by such person
within the city.
(d) “Owner” means any distributor or operator of coin-operated machines who owns the machines in question. Owner does not include an operator who is otherwise licensed to do business in this city and who owns and operates coin-operated machines other than “coin-operated amusement devices” as defined in Chapter
6.44 of this code as an incidental activity in conjunction with said licensed business.
(e) The
license tax payable by owner shall be one percent of the gross receipts
without deduction therefrom.
(Ord. 720 § 4.5, 1976; Ord. 751 § 1, 1977; Ord. 888 § 1, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 11, 2008)
In order to determine the dollar figure represented by one percent of gross receipts of a coin-operated amusement device as defined in Chapter
6.44 of this code, the following procedure shall be used:
(a) All
amusement devices installed in businesses in South San Francisco shall
be equipped with metering devices if technically feasible. Gross receipts
for a given year shall be based upon readings of said meters, and
shall be evidenced by receipts signed by the distributor and operator
each time money is retrieved from the device. Receipts shall be compiled,
tabulated and presented to the city finance department each year when
a license is renewed.
(b) In
case of operators or distributors making an initial application for
a license for coin-operated amusement devices in South San Francisco,
or in the case of an application to license amusement devices which
cannot be made to accept meters, proof of a prior year’s gross
receipts shall be given. Said proof shall be in the form of either
a declaration under penalty of perjury or a report provided by a certified
public accountant acting as an external auditor. Said report shall
be funded by the operator or distributor applying for the license
and renewal.
(c) In
the case of an application by a distributor or operator having no
prior experience with coin-operated amusement devices, gross receipts
shall be estimated at the rate of thirty dollars for each projected
day of operation. For the purpose of this section, a “day of
operation” shall include each day in which the machine is physically
located in the business and the business is open.
(Ord. 888 § 2, 1982)
(a) Commercial
Parking Facility Defined. “Commercial parking facility”
means any privately owned or operated facility which provides, for
any form of consideration, parking or storage for motor vehicles,
motorcycles, trailers, bicycles or other similar means of conveyance
for passengers or property. Privately owned or operated facilities,
which would otherwise be within the foregoing definition of “commercial
parking facility,” are excluded from that definition when rented
appurtenant to the rental of residential-dwelling units which are
not otherwise required to be licensed pursuant to this chapter.
(b) “Operator”
means any person who, as owner, lessee, employee, agent or otherwise,
operates, maintains, manages, keeps, permits or allows to be operated,
maintained, managed or keep any commercial parking facility in or
upon any premises owned, leased, managed, operated or controlled by
such person within the city.
(c) The
license tax payable by operator shall be eight percent of the gross
receipts received from facilities operated within South San Francisco
without deduction therefrom.
(d) This
section shall become operative and the tax set forth herein shall
be imposed on January 1st, 1983.
(Ord. 904 § 3, 1982; Ord. 918 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1134 § 1, 1993; Ord. 1346 § 2, 2004)
(a) “Construction
contractor” means a person conducting or carrying on a business
and who undertakes to, or offers to undertake to, or purports to have
the capacity to undertake to, or submits bids to, or does him or herself
or by or through others, construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract
from, improve, move, wreck, or demolish any building, highway, road,
railroad, excavation or other structure, project, development or improvement,
including excavation and moving of earth, rock, sand and similar materials
or filling and grading of land, or to do any part thereof, including
the erection of scaffolding or other structures or work in connection
therewith, acting as a general contractor, prime contractor, subcontractor
or specialty contractor.
(b) The
license tax is one hundred fifty dollars for a general or prime contractor
and one hundred twenty-five dollars for a subcontractor or specialty
contractor (“contractor/subcontractor rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.6, 1976; Ord. 911 § 2, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 12, 2008)
(a) Each business or person that operates as a junk collector or recycler within South San Francisco shall pay an annual business license tax equal to the greater of two hundred dollars or four percent of the gross receipts derived from the collection of recyclable/salvageable materials within South San Francisco (“junk collector/recycler rate”). A recyclable/salvageable material shall be as defined in Section
6.56.010 and Section
8.28.020. With the exception of the initial payment, the taxes owed pursuant to this section shall be paid quarterly and shall be due and payable on April 30th, July 31st, October 31st, and January 31st of each year. An initial payment of two hundred dollars shall be required at the time that the business license is requested. The two hundred dollar payment shall be credited against the first quarterly payment thereafter due. This provision shall not apply to a business that operates on a franchise as defined in Section
6.16.130.
(b) All
junk collectors who are issued a junk collectors permit to conduct
a junk collectors business involving the collection of recyclable/salvageable
materials shall submit quarterly reports and an annual report to the
city’s finance director for purposes of compliance with this
section.
(c) The
following information shall be furnished by each junk collector permitted
by the city in its quarterly reports:
(1) The number of accounts that the junk collector has in the city;
(2) The total revenue received from charges for the collection of recyclable/salvageable
materials from accounts within the city;
(3) A calculation of four percent of gross receipts earned during that
quarter from the collection of recyclable/salvageable materials within
the city;
(4) Total tonnage of recyclable/salvageable material collected by the
junk collector from sources in South San Francisco;
(5) Total tonnage of each type of recyclable/salvageable material collected
by the junk collector from sources in South San Francisco.
The quarterly reporting periods shall be from January 1st through
March 31st, April 1st through June 30th, July 1st through September
30th, and October 1st through December 31st.
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(d) Each
junk collector permitted by the city shall furnish the following information
in its annual report: the business name, address, telephone number
and contact person of each account which is serviced by the junk collector;
the date that the account service began and ended as applicable and
the total annual charge to the account for service, and total annual
revenue derived from service charges for the calendar year.
(e) Failure to produce a quarterly or annual report may result in revocation or suspension of the junk collector’s permit pursuant to Section
6.56.070 of this code.
(Ord. 720 § 4.7, 1976; Ord. 1154 § 1, 1994; Ord. 1391.1 § 13, 2008)
(a) “Manufacturer”
means a person who makes, contrives or produces by industrial art
or process any goods, wares, merchandise, substance or commodity,
including food, food products, or beverages.
(b) The
license tax is seventy-five dollars plus fifteen dollars for each
employee (“manufacturing rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.9, 1976; Ord. 911 § 3, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 15, 2008)
(a) “Peddler”
means any person going from house to house, place to place, or in
or along the streets within the city selling and making immediate
delivery or offering for sale and immediate delivery, any goods, wares,
merchandise, or anything of value, in possession of the peddler, except
such goods, wares and merchandise to manufacturers, wholesalers, jobbers
or retailers, for the purpose of resale.
(b) “Solicitor”
means a person who engages in the business of going from house to
house, place to place, or in or along the streets within the city
selling or taking orders for, or offering to sell or take orders for,
goods, wares, merchandise or other things of value for future delivery
or for the services to be performed in the future.
(c) The
license tax shall be as follows: a fixed fee of seventy-five dollars
plus fifteen dollars multiplied by the average number of employees
plus two hundred fifty dollars per vehicle used in by the business
in the city (“peddler/solicitor rate”).
(d) All peddlers and solicitors shall comply with the requirements set forth under Chapter
6.90 of this code and shall obtain a vending permit issued pursuant to that chapter. Such permit shall be displayed or carried on the permittee’s person at all times as required by Chapter
6.90.
(e) Every
person engaged in the business of soliciting shall first pay to the
department of finance the license tax specified in this section and,
thereafter, prior to receiving such license or permit, or renewal
thereof, shall report to the police department of the city and furnish
said department with all the following information:
(1) Permanent residence address and telephone number of applicant, together
with his or her regular mailing address;
(2) Up-to-date medical certificates (not more than ten days old), issued
by a licensed physician and establishing that neither the applicant
nor any of the persons intended to be employed by him or her for the
purpose of soliciting within the city, including any and all partners,
agents, servants, or crew members, is afflicted with a communicable
disease of any type or description; each person so afflicted shall
be denied a license or permit until such time as he or she shall present
a medical certificate showing him or her to be free from any such
communicable disease;
(3) Each applicant and all partners, agents, employees, servants, or
crew members shall submit to fingerprinting by the police department
for identification purposes; it shall be the duty of the police department
to check all of said fingerprints with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the California Criminal Intelligence Bureau. If the police department
ascertains that the applicant, or any of said persons, has a criminal
record, or is of undesirable character, it shall be the duty of the
chief of police to report such matter, at the earliest possible date,
to the city council, with his or her recommendation, and, in the meantime,
no license or permit, as the case may be, shall be issued to such
person, pending action by the city council. If, upon the police report,
such person is denied a license or permit, or if he or she withdraws
his or her application after the police department has commenced its
investigation, he or she shall be entitled to a refund of the tax
paid to the collector as specified in this section; provided, however,
that there shall be deducted therefrom the sum of fifty dollars to
be retained by the city as reimbursement for the cost of making each
investigation;
(4) The provisions of this section with respect to fingerprinting, health
certificates, and police investigation shall apply to all persons
soliciting within the confines of the city whether such person is
subject to the payment of a business license fee or not. All persons
exempt from the payment of such business license fee shall, nevertheless,
be required to carry a card containing the same information and data
as specified in this section, and shall pay to the collector the sum
of fifty dollars annually for the purpose of defraying the expense
of fingerprinting, police investigation, and preparation of license
or permit card, which must be renewed each year;
(5) It is unlawful for any person to solicit:
(A) At any time at any building where there is a posted sign stating
“no solicitors,” or words to that effect, unless the occupant
has previously granted permission,
(B) At any time at any building between the hours of nine p.m. and nine
a.m.,
(C) In a congested area where the solicitation impedes the public. For
the purpose of this section, the judgment of a police officer, exercised
in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is
congested or the public impeded.
(Ord. 720 § 4.12, 1976; Ord. 723 § 1, 1976; Ord. 751 § 1, 1977; Ord. 1391.1 § 18, 2008; Ord. 1582 § 4, 2019)
(a) “Business”
means a person engaged in each of the following or any combination
thereof:
(1) Accountant, acupuncturist, advertising, analyst, appraiser, architect,
artist, assayer, attorney;
(2) Bacteriologist, bail bond broker, broker, business opportunity broker,
business and safety consultant;
(3) Cemetery broker, chemist, chiropodist, chiropractor, collection agency
or mercantile agency, commercial artist, commission merchant;
(4) Dentist, designer or decorator, discount finance company, drugless
practitioner (provided, however, that this section shall not apply
to persons who treat the sick through prayer or spiritual means);
(5) Electrologist, engineer, entomologist, finance company;
(8) Illustrator or show card writer, insurance adjuster or claims adjuster,
insurance broker, investment and investment trust;
(9) Laboratory, landscape architect, lapidary;
(10) Map maker or cartographer, mineralogist, moneylender or money broker,
mortician;
(11) Naprapath and naturopath;
(12) Oculist, oil and gas broker, optometrist, osteopath;
(13) Physician, psychiatrist, psychologist;
(15) Stock and bond broker, surveyor;
(16) Tax counselor, taxidermist;
(18) Design professional, including computer or graphic design;
(21) Surveyor, inspector, or map professional.
(b) The
license tax is as follows:
(1) One natural person conducting such a business, a tax of one hundred
fifty dollars;
(2) Two or more natural persons conducting such a business as an association,
partnership, or professional corporation, a tax of one hundred fifty
dollars plus one hundred fifty dollars for each natural person participating
as an associate, partner or member of the professional corporation
(“professional/semi-professional rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.14, 1976; Ord. 726 § 1, 1977; Ord. 911 § 4, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 19, 2008)
(a) “Public
utilities” means public utilities operating within the city
except those which pay a city tax pursuant to a franchise.
(b) Unless
otherwise prohibited by law, the license tax is five thousand dollars
(“public utility rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.16, 1976; Ord. 1391.1 § 20, 2008)
(a) “Recreation
and entertainment” means bowling alleys, circus or similar exhibition,
carnival or similar event, boxing or wrestling exhibition, motion
picture exhibitions or any other business providing entertainment,
recreation or amusement.
(b) The
license taxes (“entertainment rate”) are as follows:
(1) Bowling alley, a tax of fifty dollars for each alley;
(2) Circus or similar exhibition, a tax of five hundred dollars for the
first day and one hundred dollars for each additional day;
(3) Carnival or similar event, a tax of five hundred dollars for the
first day and one hundred dollars for each additional day;
(4) Boxing or wrestling exhibition, a tax of five hundred dollars for
each exhibition;
(5) Motion picture exhibition, a tax of two dollars per seat;
(6) Other businesses providing entertainment, recreation or amusement
not specifically taxed by this section or other provisions of this
chapter, a tax of one hundred dollars.
(Ord. 720 § 4.17, 1976; Ord. 1391.1 § 21, 2008)
(a) “Rental
of commercial residential property” means a person conducting
or operating a hotel, motel or apartment house containing five or
more dwelling units, and containing a rental office on site.
(b) The
license tax is seventy-five dollars plus five dollars per dwelling
unit, whether occupied or vacant (“residential property rental
rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.18, 1976; Ord. 751 § 1, 1977; Ord. 911 § 5, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 22, 2008)
(a) “Temporary
vendor” means any person who engages in temporary or transient
business in the city, selling goods, wares, merchandise or any other
thing of value with the intention of conducting such business in the
city for a period of less than six months and who, for the purpose
of carrying on such business, hires, leases or occupies any room,
vacant lot, building or other place for the exhibition or sale of
goods, wares, merchandise or other thing of value for a period of
less than six months; provided, however, that this section shall not
apply to sample rooms for the display and taking orders for goods
at wholesale.
(b) The
license tax is fifty dollars per day (“temporary vendor rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.22, 1976; Ord. 1391.1 § 24, 2008)
(a) “Trailer
and mobile home parks” means a place where trailers or mobile
homes are placed or parked for use of occupants for dwelling purposes.
(b) The
license tax is seventy-five dollars plus five dollars per space (“trailer
park rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.23, 1976; Ord. 751 § 1, 1977; Ord. 911 § 7, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 25, 2008)
(a) “Transportation
of persons” means the carrying of persons in the city by a person
not otherwise licensed by this chapter. This section shall not apply
to public transit agencies such as SamTrans, BART, their successor
agencies, or any other public transit agencies, but shall apply to
private carriers who have an office or commercial garage or warehouse
in the city and rent out their vehicles for a fee to public transportation
companies.
(b) The
license tax is two hundred fifty dollars per vehicle plus fifteen
dollars multiplied by the average number of employees (“transportation
of persons rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.24, 1976; Ord. 911 § 8, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 26, 2008)
(a) “Warehousing”
means any business operation where the principal business activity
involves the storage and warehousing of goods, merchandise, packages,
mail, or household furniture or goods in the city. Warehousing includes
the temporary storage or processing of mail or packages for purposes
of sorting or preparing for redelivery.
(b) A business subject to the Warehousing Activities Rate may be exempt if it is a carrier of household goods or owns or operates motor vehicles in the transportation of property for hire and therefore engages in intercity transportation business within the meaning of Household Goods Carriers Uniform Business License Tax Act (Cal.
Pub. Util. Code Sections 5325 et seq.). A business claiming such an exemption must follow the procedure prescribed in Sections
6.04.040 and
6.04.050 of this code.
(c) A business operation that has a warehousing component, but which has retail or wholesale sales, research and development, or manufacturing as its principal business activity within the city, shall be classified as another business type for the purposes of calculating the business license tax, as provided for in Section
6.04.110 of this code. In determining the proper category for a business with a warehousing component, the collector shall consider whether the business uses its warehouse space for any of the following:
(1) The manufacture of products, including food or beverage products
at the same location by that same company.
(2) The internal use of a stored commodity to be consumed primarily by
that business itself, such as the following items when used by the
business in the course of transacting its own business: office supplies,
lab equipment, automotive parts or supplies, or chemical or testing
products.
(3) Servicing the retail, wholesale, or manufacturing activities of that
same business within the city.
(4) Wholesale sales. “Wholesale sales” means sale of goods,
wares, or merchandise for the purpose of resale in the regular course
of business by a person not otherwise licensed by this chapter.
(d) The
license tax for a warehousing business not otherwise excluded in subdivision
(C) of this section or elsewhere in this chapter is a seventy-five
dollar fixed rate plus fifteen dollars multiplied by the average number
of employees (“warehouse activities rate”).
(Ord. 720 § 4.25, 1976; Ord. 911 § 9, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 27, 2008)
(a) “Wholesale
sales” means sale of goods, wares, or merchandise for the purpose
of resale in the regular course of business by a person not otherwise
licensed by this chapter.
(b) The
license tax is seventy-five dollars plus five dollars for each employee,
with a maximum tax of one thousand dollars.
(Ord. 720 § 4.26, 1976; Ord. 911 § 10, 1982)
Businesses not assigned a specific business license tax rate by this chapter or exempted by the provisions of this chapter or Chapters
6.04 through
6.16 shall pay the general license tax rate listed in Section
6.04.123 of this code.
(Ord. 720 § 4.3, 1976; Ord. 911 § 11, 1982; Ord. 1391.1 § 28, 2008)