Pursuant to the authority granted by § 138-d
of the Village Law of the State of New York, a tax equal to 1% of its gross income from and after the
first day of May 1950 is hereby imposed upon every utility doing business
in the Village of Great Neck which is subject to the supervision of
the State Department of Public Service, which has a gross income for
the 12 months ending May 31 in excess of $500, except motor carriers
or brokers subject to such supervision under Article 3-B of the Public
Service Law; and a tax equal to 1% of its gross operating income from
and after the first day of May 1950 is hereby imposed upon every other
utility doing business in the Village of Great Neck which has a gross
operating income for the 12 months ending May 31, in excess of $500,
which taxes shall have application only within the territorial limits
of the Village of Great Neck and shall be in addition to any and all
other taxes and fees imposed by any other provision of law. Such taxes
shall not be imposed on any transaction originating or consummated
outside of the territorial limits of the Village of Great Neck, notwithstanding
that some act be necessarily performed with respect to such transaction
within such limits.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
GROSS INCOME
Receipts received in or by reason of any sale, conditional
or otherwise, (except sales hereinafter referred to with respect to
which it is provided that profits from the sale shall be included
in gross income) made or service rendered for ultimate consumption
or use by the purchaser in the Village of Great Neck, including cash,
credits and property of any kind or nature (whether or not such sale
is made or such service is rendered for profit), without any deduction
therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of
the materials used, labor or services or other costs, interest or
discount paid or any other expense whatsoever; also profits from the
sale of securities; also profits from the sale of real property growing
out of the ownership or use of or interest in such property; also
profit from the sale of personal property, other than property of
a kind which would properly be included in the inventory of the taxpayer
if on hand at the close of the period for which a return is made;
also receipts from interest, dividends and royalties, derived from
sources within the Village of Great Neck other than such as are received
from a corporation a majority of whose voting stock is owned by the
taxpaying utility, without any deduction therefrom for any expenses
whatsoever incurred in connection with the receipt thereof; and also
profits from any transaction, except sales for resale and rentals,
within the Village of Great Neck, whatsoever; provided, however, that
the words "gross income" shall include, in the case of a utility engaged
in selling telephony or telephone service, only receipts from local
exchange service wholly consummated within the Village of Great Neck
and, in the case of a utility engaged in selling telegraphy or telegraph
service, only receipts from transactions wholly consummated within
the Village of Great Neck.
GROSS OPERATING INCOME
Receipts received in or by reason of any sale, conditional
or otherwise, made for ultimate consumption or use by the purchaser
of gas, electricity, steam, water, refrigeration, telephony or telegraphy,
or in or by reason of the furnishing for such consumption or use of
gas, electric, steam, water, refrigerator, telephone or telegraph
service in the Village of Great Neck, including cash, credits and
property of any kind or nature, without any deductions therefrom on
account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of materials used,
labor or services or other costs, interest or discount paid, or any
other expenses whatsoever.
PERSON
Persons, corporations, companies, associations, joint-stock
associations, copartnerships, estates, assignee of rents, any person
acting in a fiduciary capacity, or any other entity, and persons,
their assignees, lessees, trustees or receivers, appointed by any
court whatsoever, or by any other means, except the state, municipalities,
political and civil subdivisions of the state or municipality, and
public districts.
UTILITY
Includes every person subject to the supervision of the State
Department of Public Service, except persons engaged in the business
of operating or leasing sleeping and parlor railroad cars or of operating
railroads other than street surface, rapid transit, subway and elevated
railroads, and bus service commencing and terminating outside of the
territorial limits of the Village and also includes every person,
whether or not such person is subject to such supervision, who sells
gas, electricity, steam, water, refrigeration, telephony or telegraphy,
delivered through mains, pipes or wires, or furnishes gas, electric,
steam, water, refrigerator, telephone or telegraph service, by means
of mains, pipes or wires, regardless of whether such activities are
the main business of such person or are only incidental thereto, or
of whether use is made of the public streets.
Every utility subject to tax under this article
shall keep such records of its business and in such form as the Treasurer
of the Village may require; and such records shall be preserved for
a period of three years, except that the Treasurer of the Village
may consent to their destruction within that period or may require
that they be kept longer.
At the time of filing a return, as required
by this article, each utility shall pay to the Treasurer of the Village
the tax imposed by this article for the period covered by such return.
Such tax shall be due and payable at the time of filing the return
or, if a return is not filed when due, on the last day on which the
return is required to be filed.
Any notice authorized or required under the
provisions of this article may be given by mailing the same to the
person for whom it is intended, in a postpaid envelope, addressed
to such person at the address given by him in the last return filed
by him under this article or, if no return has been filed, then to
such address as may be obtainable. The mailing of such notice shall
be presumptive evidence of the receipt of the same by the person to
whom addressed. Any period of time which is determined according to
the provisions of this article by the giving of notice shall commence
to run from the date of mailing of such notice.
Any person failing to file a return or corrected
return or to pay any tax or any portion thereof within the time required
by this article shall be subject to a penalty of 5% of the amount
of tax due, plus 1% of such tax for each month or fraction thereof,
except the first month, of delay after such return was required to
be filed or such tax became due; but the Treasurer of the Village,
for cause shown, may extend the time for filing any return and, if
satisfied that the delay was excusable, may remit all or any portion
of the penalty fixed by the foregoing provisions of this section.
If, within one year from the payment of any
tax or penalty, the payer thereof shall make application for a refund
thereof and the Treasurer of the Village or the court shall determine
that such tax or penalty or any portion thereof was erroneously or
illegally collected, the Treasurer of the Village shall refund the
amount so determined. For like cause and within the same period, a
refund may be so made on the initiative of the Treasurer of the Village.
However, no refund shall be made of a tax or penalty paid pursuant
to a determination of the Treasurer of the Village, after a hearing
as hereinbefore provided or of his own motion, shall have reduced
the tax or penalty or it shall have been established in a proceeding
under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Act of the State of New York that such determination was erroneous or illegal. All
refunds shall be made out of moneys collected under this article.
An application for a refund, made as hereinbefore provided, shall
be deemed an application for the revision of any tax or penalty complained
of, and the Treasurer of the Village may receive additional evidence
with respect thereto. After making his determination, the Treasurer
of the Village shall give notice thereof to the person interested,
and he shall be entitled to an order to review such determination
under said Article 78, subject to the provisions hereinbefore contained
relating to the granting of such an order.
The tax imposed by this article shall be charged
against and be paid by the utility and shall not be added as a separate
item to bills rendered by the utility to customers or others but shall
constitute a part of the operating costs of such utility.
Whenever any person shall fail to pay any tax
or penalty imposed by this article, the Village Attorney shall, upon
the request of the Treasurer of the Village, bring an action to enforce
payment of the same. The proceeds of any judgment obtained in any
such action shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Village. Each such
tax and penalty shall be a lien upon the property of the person liable
to pay the same, in the same manner and to the same extent that the
tax and penalty imposed by § 186-a of the Tax Law is made
a lien.
In the administration of this article, the Treasurer
of the Village shall have power to make such reasonable rules and
regulations, not inconsistent with law, as may be necessary for the
exercise of his powers and the performance of his duties; and to prescribe
the form of blanks, reports and other records relating to the administration
and enforcement of the tax; to take testimony and proofs, under oath,
with reference to any matter within the line of his official duty
under this article; and to subpoena and require the attendance of
witnesses and the production of books, papers and documents.
Any offense against the foregoing secrecy provisions
shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment
not exceeding one year, or both. If the offender be an officer, agent,
clerk or employee of the Village of Great Neck, he shall be dismissed
from office and shall be incapable of holding any office or employment
in the Village of Great Neck for a period of five years thereafter.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this article,
the Treasurer of the Village may exchange with the chief fiscal officer
of any city or any other Village in the State of New York information
contained in returns filed under this article, provided that such
city or other Village grants similar privileges to the Village of
Great Neck, and provided that such information is to be used for tax
purposes only; and the Treasurer of the Village shall, upon request,
furnish the State Tax Commission with any information contained in
such returns.
All taxes and penalties received by the Treasurer
of the Village under this article shall be paid into the treasury
of the Village and shall be credited to and deposited in the general
fund of the Village.