Pursuant to the authority granted by § 6-640 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 June 1969 is hereby imposed upon every utility doing business in the
Village of Manorhaven 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 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 June 1969 is hereby imposed upon every other utility doing
business in the Village of Manorhaven 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 Manorhaven 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 Manorhaven,
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
Includes 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 Manorhaven, 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 profits
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 Manorhaven 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
expense whatsoever incurred in connection with the receipt thereof; and also
profits from any transaction (except sales for resale and rentals) within
the Village of Manorhaven 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 Manorhaven, and in the case of a utility engaged in
selling telegraphy or telegraph service, only receipts from transactions wholly
consummated within the Village of Manorhaven.
GROSS OPERATING INCOME
Includes 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 Manorhaven, 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, 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 who 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 of delay or fraction thereof, excepting the first month, 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 as hereinbefore provided,
unless 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 Law
and Rules 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 § 1432 are 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.
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.