[Adopted 3-9-1972 as L.L. No. 1-1972]
Pursuant to the authority granted by § 5-530
of the Village Law of the State of New York, a tax equal to one per
centum (1%) of its gross income from and after the first day of April
1972 is hereby imposed upon every utility doing business in the Village
of Morrisville which is subject to the supervision of the State Department
of Public Services and which has a gross income for the twelve (12)
months ending March 31, 1972, in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.),
except motor carriers or brokers subject to such supervision under
Article 3-B of the Public Service Law, which taxes shall have application only within the territorial
limits of the Village of Morrisville 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 Morrisville,
notwithstanding that some act shall be necessarily performed with
respect to such transaction within such limits.
The terms used in this Article shall have the
meanings provided in § 186-a, Subdivision 2, 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 Village
Treasurer may require, and such records shall be preserved for a period
of three (3) years, except that the Village Treasurer may consent
to their destruction within that period or may require that they be
kept longer.
A. Every utility subject to tax hereunder shall file
annually, on or before the 25th of March, a return for the twelve
(12) calendar months preceding such return date or any portion thereof
for which the tax imposed hereby is effective and, in the case of
the first such return, for all preceding calendar months during which
the tax imposed hereby was effective.
B. Every return shall state the gross income or gross
operating income for the period covered thereby. Returns shall be
filed with the Village Treasurer on a form to be furnished by him
for such purpose and shall contain such other data, information or
matter as he may require to be included therein. The Village Treasurer,
in order to ensure payment of the tax imposed, may require at any
time a further or supplemental return, which shall contain any data
that may be specified by him, and he may require any utility doing
business in the Village of Morrisville to file an annual return, which
shall contain any data specified by him, regardless of whether the
utility is subject to tax under this Article.
C. 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 is 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 Village Treasurer 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.
A. In case any return filed pursuant to this Article
shall be insufficient or unsatisfactory to the Village Treasurer and
if a corrected or sufficient return is not filed within twenty (20)
days after the same is required by notice from him or if no return
is made for any period, the Village Treasurer 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. He 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 thirty (30) days after the giving of notice of such determination,
apply to the Village Treasurer for a hearing, or unless the Village
Treasurer, of his own motion, shall reduce the same. After such hearing,
the Village Treasurer shall give notice of his decision to the person
liable for the tax. Such decision may be reviewed by a proceeding
under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules of the State
of New York, if application therefor is made within ninety (90) days
after the giving of notice of such decision.
B. 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 Village
Treasurer 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 be dismissed or the tax confirmed,
the applicant will pay all costs and charges which may accrue 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.
C. Except in the case of a willfully false or fraudulent
return with intent to evade the tax, no assessment of additional tax
shall be made after the expiration of more than three (3) years from
the date of the filing of a return; provided, however, that where
no return has been filed as required by this Article, the tax may
be assessed at any time.
Any notice authorized or required under the
provisions of this Article may be given by mailing the same to the
persons 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 five per centum (5%)
of the amount of tax due, plus one per centum (1%) of such tax for
each month of delay or fraction thereof, except the first month, after
such return was required to be filed or such tax became due, but the
Village Treasurer, 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.
A. If, within one (1) year from the payment of any tax
or penalty, the payer thereof shall make application for a refund
thereof and the Village Treasurer or the court shall determine that
such tax or penalty or any portion thereof was erroneously or illegally
collected, the Village Treasurer 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 Village Treasurer. However, no refund shall
be made of a tax or penalty paid pursuant to a determination of the
Village Treasurer, as hereinbefore provided, unless the Village Treasurer,
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.
B. 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 Village Treasurer may receive additional
evidence with respect thereto. After making this determination, the
Village Treasurer 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 provision 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 Village Treasurer, bring an action to enforce payment
of the same. The proceeds of any judgment obtained in any such action
shall be paid to the Village Treasurer. 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 Village
Treasurer shall have the 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 proper judicial order or
as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for the Village
Treasurer or any agent, clerk or employee of the Village of Morrisville
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 Village of Morrisville 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 any 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 the Village Treasurer, may assist in the
collection of such delinquent taxes or the inspection by the Village
Attorney or other legal representatives of the Village of Morrisville
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. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Article, the
Village Treasurer 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 Morrisville and
provided that such information is to be used for tax purposes only,
and the Village Treasurer shall, upon request, furnish the State Tax
Commission with any information contained in such returns.
All taxes and penalties received by the Village
Treasurer under this Article shall be paid into the treasury of the
village and shall be credited to and deposited in the general funds
of the village.