[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.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
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.