[Adopted 8-12-1951 by L.L. No. 1-1951]
Pursuant to the authority granted by § 5-530
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 January 1951 is hereby
imposed upon every utility doing business in the Village of Scotia
which is subject to the supervision of the State Department of Public
Service and which has a gross income for the 12 months ending January
1 in excess of $500, except motor carriers or brokers subject to such
supervision under Article 3-B of the Public Service Law,[1] and a tax equal to 1% of its gross operating income from
and after the first day of January 1951 is hereby imposed upon every
other utility doing business in the Village of Scotia which has a
gross operating income for the 12 months ending January 1 in excess
of $500, which taxes shall have application only within the territorial
limits of the Village of Scotia 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 Scotia, notwithstanding
that some act is necessarily performed with respect to such transaction
within such limits.
[1]
Editor's Note: For current provisions, see
Article 7 of the Transportation Law.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
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 Scotia, 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 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 Scotia 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 Scotia 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 Scotia
and, in the case of a utility engaged in selling telegraphy or telegraph
service, only receipts from transactions wholly consummated within
the Village of Scotia.
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 Scotia, including cash, credits and property
of any kind or nature, without any deduction 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.
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.
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 also includes every person (whether or not such person
is subject to such supervision) who sells gas, electricity, steam,
water, refrigeration, telephone or telegraphy, delivered through mains,
pipes or wires, or 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 Village
Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia may require, and such records
shall be preserved for a period of three years, except that the Village
Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia may consent to their destruction
within that period or may require that they be kept longer.
Every utility subject to tax hereunder shall
file annually, on or before the first day of March, a return for the
12 calendar months preceding such return date or any portion thereof
for which the tax imposed hereby is effective; provided, however,
that in lieu of the annual return required for the foregoing provisions,
any utility may file quarterly, on or before September 25, December
25, March 25 and June 25, a return for the three calendar months preceding
each such return date, and in the case of the first such return for
all preceding calendar months during which the tax imposed hereby
was effective. Every return shall state the gross income or gross
operating income for the period covered thereby. Returns shall be
filed with the Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia 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 Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia, 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 Scotia
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. 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 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 Clerk-Treasurer of the
Village of Scotia 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 Clerk-Treasurer of
the Village of Scotia and if a corrected or sufficient return is not
filed within 20 days after the same is required by notice from him
or if no return is made for any period, the Clerk-Treasurer of the
Village of Scotia 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 indexes 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 30 days after the
giving of notice of such determination, apply to the Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia for a hearing or unless the Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia, of his own motion, shall reduce the same.
After such hearing, the Clerk-Treasurer shall give notice of his decision
to the person liable for such 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 90
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 Village Clerk-Treasurer of the Village
of Scotia 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 is 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.
B.
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 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
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 within the time required by
this article shall be subject to a penalty of five per centum (5%)
of the amount 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 Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of
Scotia, 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
and the Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia or the court shall
determine that such tax or penalty or any portion thereof was erroneously
or illegally collected, the Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia
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 Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia. However, no refund shall be made of a tax
or penalty paid pursuant to a determination of the Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia as hereinbefore provided unless the Clerk-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. 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 Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia may
receive additional evidence with respect thereto. After making his
determination, the Clerk-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 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 Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia, bring
an action to enforce payment of the same. The proceeds of any judgment
obtained in such action shall be paid to the Clerk-Treasurer of the
Village of Scotia. 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 Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia 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 forms 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 Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia or any agent, clerk or employee of the Village
of Scotia to 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 Scotia 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 is 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; or 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 Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia, may assist in the collection of such delinquent
taxes; or the inspection by the Village Attorney or other legal representatives
of the Village of Scotia 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
not exceeding one year, or both, and if the offender is an officer,
agent, clerk or employee of the Village of Scotia, he shall be dismissed
from office and shall be incapable of holding any office or employment
in the Village of Scotia for a period of five years thereafter.
C.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this article, the
Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia may exchange with the chief
fiscal officer of 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
Scotia and provided that such information is to be used for tax purposes
only, and the Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Scotia shall, upon
request, furnish the State Tax Commission with any information contained
in such returns.
All taxes and penalties received by the Clerk-Treasurer
of the Village of Scotia under this article shall be paid into the
treasury of the Village of Scotia and shall be credited to and deposited
in the general fund of the village.
