[Adopted 11-8-1940 by L.L. No. 2-1940 (Ch.
281, Art. III of the 1984 Code)]
[Amended last 12-26-1957 by L.L. No. 2-1957]
Pursuant to the authority granted by § 20-b
of the General City Law of the State of New York, a tax equal to 1%
of its gross income is hereby imposed upon every utility doing business
in the City of Peekskill which is subject to the supervision of the
State Department of Public Service and which has a gross income for
the 12 months ending May 31, 1957, and for each such twelve-month
period in each and every year thereafter ending May 31 in each and
every year thereafter, in excess of $500, except motor carriers or
brokers subject to such supervision under Article 7 of the Transportation
Law, and a tax equal to 1% of its gross operating income is hereby
imposed for the same period upon every other utility doing business
in the City of Peekskill which has a gross operating income for the
12 months ending May 31, 1957, and for each such twelve-month period
in each and every year thereafter ending May 31 in each and every
year thereafter, in excess of $500, which taxes shall have application
only within the territorial limits of the City of Peekskill and shall
be in addition to any and all other taxes and fees imposed by any
other provisions of law for the same. Such taxes shall not
be imposed on any transaction originating
or consummated outside the territorial limits of the City
of Peekskill, notwithstanding that some act is necessarily
performed with respect to such transaction within such
limits.
[Amended 6-30-1941 by L.L. No. 1-1941[1]]
The terms "gross income," "gross operating income,"
"person" and "utility" shall be defined as provided in § 186-a
of the Tax Law.
Every utility subject to tax under this article
shall keep such records of its business and in such form as the City
Comptroller of the City of Peekskill may require, and such records
shall be preserved for a period of three years, except that the City
Comptroller of the City of Peekskill may consent to their destruction
within that period or may require that they be kept longer.
[Amended last 12-26-1957 by L.L. No. 2-1957]
On or before the 25th day of November 1940 and
on or before the 25th day of every month thereafter, every utility
subject to tax hereunder shall file a return with the Comptroller
on a form to be furnished by him for such purposes. Such return shall
state the gross income or gross operating income in the City of Peekskill,
as the case may be, of such utility for the preceding calendar month
and shall contain any other data, information or matter which the
Comptroller may require to be included therein. The Comptroller may
require at any time a further or supplemental return which shall contain
any data that may be specified by the Comptroller. Every return shall
have annexed thereto an affidavit of the head of the utility making
the same, or of the owner or of a copartner thereof, or of a principal
officer of the corporation, if such business be conducted by a corporation,
to the effect that the statements contained therein are true.
At the time of filing a return as required by
this article, each utility shall pay to the City Comptroller of the
City of Peekskill 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.
In case any return filed pursuant to this article
shall be insufficient or unsatisfactory to the City Comptroller, and
if a corrected or sufficient return is not filed within 20 days after
the same is required by notice from the City Comptroller, or if no
return is made for any period, the City Comptroller shall determine
the amount of tax due from such information as he is able to obtain,
and, if necessary, may estimate the tax on the basis of external indices
or otherwise. The City Comptroller shall give notice of such determination
to the person liable for such tax. Such determination shall finally
and irrevocably fix such tax unless the person against whom it is
assessed shall, within 30 days after the giving of notice of such
determination, apply to the City Comptroller, for a hearing, or unless
the City Comptroller, of his own motion, shall reduce the same. After
such hearing, the City Comptroller shall give notice of his decision
to the person liable for the tax. The decision of the City Comptroller
may be reviewed by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice
Act of the State of New York if application therefor is made within
30 days after the giving of notice of such decision. An order to review
such decision shall not be granted unless the amount of any tax sought
to be reviewed, with interest and penalties thereon, if any, shall
be first deposited with the City Comptroller and an undertaking filed
with him, in such amount and with such sureties as a Justice of the
Supreme Court shall approve, to the effect that if such proceeding
(order) be dismissed or the tax confirmed, the applicant (for the
order) will pay all costs and charges which may approve in the prosecution
of such proceeding, or, at the option of the applicant, such undertaking
may be in a sum sufficient to cover the tax, interest, penalties,
costs and charges aforesaid, in which event the applicant shall not
be required to pay such tax, interest and penalties as a condition
precedent to the granting of such order.
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 period
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 of delay or
fraction thereof, excepting the first month, after such return was
required to be filed or such tax became due, but the City Comptroller
of the City of Peekskill, if satisfied that the delay was excusable,
may remit all or any portion of such penalty.
If, within one year from the payment of any
tax or penalty, the payer thereof shall make application for a refund
thereof and the City Comptroller or the court shall determine that
such tax or penalty or any portion thereof was erroneously or illegally
collected, the City Comptroller 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 City Comptroller. However, no refund shall
be made of a tax or penalty paid pursuant to a determination of the
City Comptroller as hereinbefore provided unless the City Comptroller,
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 City Comptroller may receive additional evidence with respect
thereto. After making his determination, the City Comptroller 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 Corporation Counsel shall,
upon the request of the City Comptroller of the City of Peekskill,
bring an action to enforce payment of the same. The proceeds of any
judgment obtained in any such action shall be paid to the City Comptroller
of the City of Peekskill. 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 City
Comptroller of the City of Peekskill 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.
A.
Except in accordance with the proper judicial orders
or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for the City
Comptroller of the City of Peekskill or any agent, clerk or employee
of the City of Peekskill to divulge or make known in any manner the
amount of gross income or gross operating income or any particulars
set forth or disclosed in any return under this article. The officer
charged with the custody of such returns shall not be required to
produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in them in any
action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the City of
Peekskill in an action or proceeding under the provisions of this
article or on behalf of the State Tax Commission in an action or proceeding
under the provisions of the Tax Law of the State of New York or on
behalf of any party to any action or proceeding under the provisions
of this article when the returns or facts shown thereby are directly
involved in such action or proceeding, in either of which events the
court may require the production of, and may admit in evidence so
much of, said returns or of the facts shown thereby as are pertinent
to the action or proceeding, and no more. Nothing herein shall be
construed to prohibit the delivery to a person or his duly authorized
representative of a copy of any return filed by him, nor to prohibit
the publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification
of particular returns and the items thereof, or the publication of
delinquent lists showing the names of persons who have failed to pay
their taxes at the time and in the manner provided for by this article,
together with any relevant information which in the opinion of City
Comptroller of the City of Peekskill may assist in the collection
of such delinquent taxes, or the inspection by the Corporation Counsel
or other legal representatives of the City of Peekskill of the return
of any person who shall bring action to set aside or review the tax
based thereon or against whom an action has been instituted in accordance
with the provisions of this article.
B.
Any offense against the foregoing secrecy provisions
shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding six months, or both, and if the offender
is an officer, agent, clerk or employee of the City of Peekskill,
he shall be dismissed from office and shall be incapable of holding
any office or employment in the City of Peekskill for a period of
five years thereafter.
C.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this article, the
City Comptroller of the City of Peekskill may exchange with the chief
fiscal officer of any other City in the State of New York information
contained in returns filed under this article, provided such other
City grants similar privileges to the City of Peekskill, and provided
such information is to be used for tax purposes only, and the City
Comptroller of the City of Peekskill shall, upon request, furnish
the State Tax Commission with any information contained in such returns.
[Amended last 12-26-1957 by L.L. No. 2-1957]
All taxes and penalties received by the Comptroller
or taxes heretofore or hereafter imposed under this article shall
be credited and deposited by him to the general fund of the City of
Peekskill.
