This chapter recognizes that clear, accurate
item pricing is a basic consumer right that is not protected under
current state law. It is the intent of this legislation to ensure
that consumer goods offered for sale in Putnam County are clearly,
accurately and adequately marked as to their selling prices.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
COMPUTER-ASSISTED CHECKOUT SYSTEM
Any electronic device, computer system or machine which determines
the selling price of a stock-keeping item by interpreting its universal
product code or by use of its price look-up function.
INSPECTOR
An authorized government official having jurisdiction to
enforce the provisions of this chapter.
INSPECTOR
An authorized government official having jurisdiction to
enforce the provisions of this chapter.
ITEM PRICE
The tag, stamp or mark affixed to a stock-keeping item by
an authorized person which sets forth, in Arabic numerals, the retail
price.
PERSON
Includes, without limitation, any individual, firm, joint
venture, association, copartnership, group, corporation or any other
legal entity or combination of entities whatsoever.
PRICE LOOK-UP FUNCTION
The capability of any checkout system to determine the retail
price of a stock-keeping item by way of the manual entry into the
system of a code number assigned to that particular unit by the retail
store or by way of the checkout operator's consultation of a file
maintained at the point of sale.
RETAIL STORE
A store selling stock-keeping units at retail. A store which
is not open to the general public but is reserved for use by its members
shall come within the provisions of this definition, unless the members
must pay a direct fee to the store to qualify for membership and the
store is not required to collect sales tax on transactions with members.
Pursuant to this section, a retail store shall not include any store
which:
A.
Has as its only full-time employee the owner
thereof or the parent or the spouse or child of the owner or, in addition
thereto, not more than two full-time employees;
B.
Had annual gross sales in a previous calendar
year of less than $3,000,000, unless the retail store is part of network
of subsidiaries, affiliates or other member stores under direct or
indirect common control which, as a group, had annual gross sales
in the previous calendar year of $3,000,000 or more; or
C.
Engages primarily in the sale of food for consumption
on the premises or in a specialty trade which the Director of Weights
and Measures determines, by regulation, would be appropriate for item
pricing.
SHELF PRICE
The tag or sign placed by an authorized person at each point
of display of a stock-keeping unit which clearly sets forth the retail
price of the stock-keeping items within the unit.
STOCK-KEEPING UNIT
Each group of items offered for sale of the same brand name,
quantity of contents, retail price and variety within the following
categories of consumer goods:
A.
Food, including all material, solid, liquid
or mixed, whether simple or compound, used or intended for consumption
by human beings or domestic animals normally kept as household pets
and all substances or ingredients to be added thereto for any purpose;
B.
Napkins, facial tissues, toilet tissues and
any disposable wrapping or container for the storage, handling or
serving of food;
C.
Detergents, soaps, other cleansing agents and
cleaning implements; and
D.
Nonprescription drugs, feminine hygiene products
and health and beauty aids.
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires:
A. Words in the singular number include the plural, and
words in the plural include the singular.
B. Words of the masculine, feminine or neuter gender
include the feminine, neuter and/or masculine genders.
All penalties imposed and collected by the County
Sealer of Weights and Measures or the County Consumer Affairs Director
shall be paid to the County of Putnam and credited to the general
fund.
[Added 11-13-2012 by L.L. No. 13-2012; amended 5-1-2013 by L.L. No.
5-2013]
A. Every retail store subject to this chapter may make application in
writing for a waiver of the item pricing requirements as contained
herein. The application shall be submitted to the Director of Consumer
Affairs for the County of Putnam. A separate application shall be
required for each retail store.
B. All written requests for an item pricing waiver shall include a biennial,
nonrefundable waiver application fee based upon the store's square
footage of retail area. Retail area, or retail square footage, means
the area designated in a retail store to display and sell products,
provide customer service and checkout. The retail area does not include
storage area, back rooms, stock area, maintenance areas or other locations
which are not intended to be accessible to consumers. Said waiver
application fee shall be set by resolution of the Legislature. A schedule
of waiver application fees shall be furnished by the Department of
Consumer Affairs upon request, or at the time of application for such
waiver.
C. Waivers shall be valid for a period of two calendar years. Retail
stores must reapply biennially for renewal. The waiver fee and inspection
shall be required with each biennial renewal application, as is required
for an original application. Late application(s) shall be subject
to late fees as determined by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
D. Conducting of inspections.
(1) Upon receipt of an application and fee as provided in Subsections
A and
B of this section, the Director of Consumer Affairs shall cause to be conducted two scanner accuracy inspections of the store for which the application has been submitted. These inspections shall be conducted on two separate days and shall consist of a comparison of the shelf, sale and/or the advertised price of any stock-keeping unit with the computer-assisted checkout system price. (In the event that any violations are detected, penalties shall be assessed as provided in §
173-6, Subsection
F.) If, considering both inspections together, the number of stock-keeping units found to be in violation does not exceed 2% of all stock-keeping units inspected, the Director of Consumer Affairs shall grant the applicant a revocable waiver from item pricing requirements, provided that the applicant has paid all outstanding penalties imposed in connection with this section. Any store with a current waiver shall not be subject to the item pricing provisions set forth in §
173-4.
(2) During the second calendar year of the biennial waiver period, the Director of Consumer Affairs shall cause to be conducted one scanner accuracy inspection of the store which was approved for an item pricing waiver during the preceding year. If the store fails this inspection, the Director of Consumer Affairs shall give the store at least one week to correct any problems before coming back for another inspection. If the store fails this second inspection, the store shall lose the waiver and must reapply for the waiver pursuant to Subsections
A and
B of this section.
E. In the event that the inspections provided for in Subsection
D herein discover total violations in excess of 2% of all stock-keeping units inspected, the Director of Consumer Affairs shall not grant a waiver to the applicant. Such a store may reapply for a waiver by submitting another application with the required fee within five business days after being notified of the failure. Stores which do not reapply must be in compliance with all the requirements of §
173-4 within 60 days from the date of failure, and may be subject to additional penalties.
F. Any retail store that obtains a biennial waiver from item pricing
shall be required to:
(1) Display easy-to-read and properly located shelf tags or signs on
every stock-keeping unit or group of stock-keeping units of the same
brand, size, and price. Shelf tags shall contain all pricing information
required by § 214-h of the New York State Agriculture and
Markets law, as such law is amended from time to time.
(2) Post a notice for the consumer, in a conspicuous location, that the
item pricing waiver has been granted. The notice shall indicate consumer
rights with respect to the accurate pricing of items and price discrepancies.
(3) Designate and make available the number of price check scanners set
forth in the following table to enable consumers to confirm the price
of a stock-keeping item:
|
Retail Square Footage
(square feet)
|
Number of Scanners
|
---|
|
Under 1,500
|
No price check scanners required. However, an item(s) shall
be scanned for the price, upon consumer request.
|
|
Between 1,501 and 3,000
|
1
|
|
Between 3,001 and 10,000
|
2
|
|
Between 10,001 and 30,000
|
3
|
|
Between 30,001 and 90,000
|
4
|
|
Over 90,000
|
5
|
(4) Assist County inspectors with store inspections. The retail store
may make store personnel or hand-held price scanners available to
a County inspector to assist with price accuracy inspections. Inspections
of retail stores may be unannounced; provided, however, that the inspector
shall notify the store upon arrival.
(5) Item price certain stock-keeping units that are too large or too
heavy to be price scanned by the consumer in a reasonably simple manner.
These stock-keeping units shall include all items over six pounds
of net weight.
A retail store failing to comply with any of the requirements of this Subsection
F, after the County Sealer of Weights and Measures and/or the Consumer Affairs Director and their departmental designees who shall act as administration and enforcement officers for this chapter and any regulations promulgated hereunder has made such determination, shall be subject to a penalty in the amount of $500 per violation.
G. A biennial waiver shall be immediately revoked if a store falls below
98% accuracy on two consecutive pricing accuracy inspections. Failure
to meet the scanning accuracy requirement or failure to pay the annual
application fee shall subject the retail store to the item pricing
requirements of this chapter within 10 days of the last inspection,
and may subject it to additional penalties.
H. In the event that the Director of Consumer Affairs, or his/her designee, is unable to conduct inspections pursuant to Subsection
D of this section within 30 days of receipt of a completed written waiver application, the Director of Consumer Affairs shall grant a temporary waiver pending completion of the inspections. If, upon completion, the item pricing inspections detect a violation rate in excess of 2%, the temporary waiver shall be immediately revoked and the item pricing provisions of this chapter shall become immediately applicable.