HomeMy Public PortalAboutOrd. 1352. ~ t
ORDINANCE lvO. 1352
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COIINCIL OF THE
CITY OF LYNWOOD, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING., THE MIINICIPAL CODE
TO ADD NEW CHAPTER 6'-5
IMPOSING A IITILITY IISER'S TAX, AND PROVIDING
FOR C'r"FcTP_IN EXEMPTIONS THEREYl2OM
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LYNWOOD DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: New Chapter 6-5 is hereby added to the
Lynwood Municipal Code to read as follows:
CHAPTER 6-5. II'!'ILITY IISER'S TAX
SECTION 6-5.1: Findings.
The Council of the City of Lynwood finds and
declares:
1. The City is facing a current budget crisis and
must reduce police and fire service, maintenance of the
streets, sidewalks, alleys, trees and other property open to
the public as well as other community services vital to the
preservation of the public peace, health and safety.
2. The cost of supplies, materials and other
services required to provide necessary City services, increases
substantially each year.
3. if Proposition 136 passes at the upcoming
N6ire:^~^.er--E., 1~'~;: ei ~.".t1C_: a su.~..ft^+rsiy Gte of tl~a ,r,-'12:._e~ed
electors of the City will be required~to approve any new
general taxes.
4. It is necessary to impose the taxes set forth in
this chapter prior to November 6, 1990 if the City is to
obtain the revenues to meet the usual and current erpenses
required to provide the services not only required by law but
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health and safety of the City, and therefore intend this
chapter to be effective immediately.
5. Zt is the intention and understanding of the
People that this measure shall be deemed a "general tax" and
that it is not a "special tax" within the meaning of Section 4
of Article XIII A of the California Constitution by virtue of
the fact that the proceeds of this tax are to be deposited in
the general fund of the City and are to be available to be used
for any general governmental purpose that the City Council
shall determine.
3l:CTIOPi 6-5.2: Puxoc~~~. The purpose of this chapter
is to establish the methods tox° c<~lculating a utility user's
tax on users of ., water, telephone, qas, electricity and cable
(a) "Person" shall mean any domestic or foreign
corporation, firm association, syndicate, joint stock company,
partnership of any kind, joint venture, club, business or
common law trust, society, or individuals.
(b) "City" shall mean the City of Lynwood.
(c) "Gas" shall mean natural or :uanufactured gas or
any alternate hydrocarbon fuel which may be substituted
therefor.
(d) "Telephone corporation," "electrical
corporation," "gas corporation," "water corporation," and
"cable television corporation" shall have the same meanings as
defined in S..ctions 234, 21E, .a22, 241, and 215-5,
respectively, of the California Public Utilities Cade exceNt,
"electrical corporation," "gas corporation" and "water
corporation" shall also be construed to include any
municipality, public agency os person engaged in the selling or
supplying of electrical power or gas or water to a service
user.
(e) "Tax Administrator" shall mean the Finance
Director of the City of Lynwood.
(f) "Service supplier" shall mean any entity
required to collect or self-impose and remit a tax as imposed
by this chapter.
(g) "Service user" shall mean a person required to
pay a tax imposed by this chapter.
(h) "Month" shall mean a calendar month.
(i) "Non-utility Supplier" shall mean: (a) a
service supplier, other than an electrical corporation serving
within the City, whit"ri ge;:erates electrical energy in
capacities of at least 50 kilowatts for its own use or for sale
to others; or (b) a gas supplier other than a gas corporation,
that sells or supplies gas to users within the city.
SECTION 6-5.4: Exemptions.
(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as
imposing a tax upon any person when imposition of such tax upon
that person would be in violation of the Constitution of the
United States or that of the State of California.
(b) The City Council may, by order or resolution,
establish one or more classes of persons or one or more classes
of utility service otherwise subject to payment of a tax
imposed by this chapter and provide that such classes of
persons or service shall be exempt, in whole or in part from
such tax.
(c) The Tax Administrator shall prepare a list of
the persons exempt from the provisions of this chapter bV
virtue of this section and furnish a copy thereof to each
service supplier.
(b) As used in this section, the term '1charges10
shall not include charges for services paid for by inserting
coins in coin-operated telephones except that where such coin-
operated service is furnished for a guaranteed amount, the
amounts paid under such guarantee plus any fixed monthly or
other periodic charge shall be included in the base for
computing the amount of tax due; nor shall the term "charges"
include charges for any type of service or equipment furnished
by a service supplied subject to Public Utility regulations
during any period in which the same or similar services or
equipment are also available for sale or lease from persons
other than a service supplier subject to public utility
regulation; nor shall the words "telephone communication
services" include land mobile service or maritime mobile
services as defined in Section 2. 1, of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as said section existed on January i,
1970. The term "telephone communication services" refers to
that services which provides access to a telephone system and
the privilege of telephone quality communication with
substantially all persons having telephone stations which are
part of such telephone system. The Telephone Users Tax is
intended to, and does, apply to all charges billed to a
telephone account having a situs in the city, irrespective of
whether a particular communication service originates and/or
terminates within the city.
(c) The tax imposed by this section shall be
collected from the service user by the person providing the
intrastate telephone communication services, or the person
receiving payment for such services. The amount of the tax
collected in one (1) month shall be remitted~to the Tax
Administrator on or before the last day of the following month;
or at the option of the person required to collect and remit
the tax, an estimated amount of tax collected, measured by the
tax bill in the previous month, shall be remitted to the Tax
Administrator on or before the last day of each month.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection
(a), the tax imposed under this section shall not be imposed
upon any person for using intrastate telephone communication
services to the extent that the amounts paid for such services
are exempt from or not subject to the tax imposed under
Division 2, Part 20 of the California Revenue and Taxation
Code, or the tax imposed under Section 4251 of the Internal
Revenue Code.
SECTION 6-5.6: Electricity IIsers Tax.
(a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person
other than an electric or gas corporation using electrical
energy in the city. The tax imposed by this Section shall be
at the rate of not more than ten percent (l0$) of the charges
made for such energy by an electrical corporation providing
service in the city and shall be billed to and paid by the
person using the energy. The tax applicable to electrical
energy provided by a non-utility supplier shall be determined
by applying the tax rate tc the equivalent charge the service
user would iaavE incurred if `he energy used had been provided
by the electrical corporation serv3.ng the residents of the
city. Rate schedules for this purpose shall be available from
(b) As used in this section, the term 01using
electrical energy" shall not be construed to mean the storage
of such energy by a person in a battery owned or possessed by
him or her for use in an automobile or other machinery device
apart from the premises upon which the energy was received,
provided, however, that the term shall include the receiving of
such energy for the purpose of using it in the charging of
batteries; nor shall the term include electricity used and
consumed by an electric utility supplier in the conduct of its
business; nor shall the term include the mere receiving of such
energy by an electric corporation or governmental agency at a
point within the City of Lynwood for resale; nor shall the term
include the use of such energy in the production or
distribution of water by a water utility or a governmental
agency.
(c) The tax imposed in this section shall be
collected for the service user by the service supplier or non-
utility supplier. The tax imposed in this section on use
supplied by self-generation or from a non-utility supplier not
subjFCt to the jurisdiction of this chapter, shall be
collected and remitted to the Tax Administrator in the manner
set forth in Section 7. The amount of tax collected by a
service supplier or a non-utility supplier in one month shall
be remitted by U.S. mail to the tax Administrator, postmarked
on or before the last day of the following month; or at the
option of the person required to collect and remit the tax, an
estimated amount of tax measured by the tax billed in the
previous month, shall be remitted by U.S. mail, to the Tax
Administrator, postmarked on or before the last day of each
month.
SECTION 6-5.7: Gas IIsers Tax.
(a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person
in the city othE-r than a gas corporation or electrical
corporation, using, in the city, gas which is transported
through mains or pipes or by mobile transport. The tax imposed
by this section shall be at the rate of not more than ten
percent (10$) of the charges made for the gas and shall be
billed to and paid by the person using the gas. The tax
applicable to gas or gas transportation provided by non-utility
suppliers shall be determined by applying the tax rate to the
equivalent charges the service user would have incurred if the
gas or gas transportation has been provided by the gas
corporation franchised by the city. "Charges" as used in this
section shall include: (1) that billed for gas which is
delivered through mains or pipes; (2) gas transportation
charges; and (3) demand charges, service charges, customer
charges, minimum charges, annual and monthly charges, and any
other charge authorized by the California Public Utilities
Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(b) The tax otherwise imposed by this section is not
applicable to: (1) charges made far gas which is to be resold
and delivered through mains and pipes; (2) charges made for gas
used and consumed by a public utility or governmental agency in
the conduct of its business or; (3) charges made by a qas
public utility or gas used and consumed in the course of its
public utility business: and (41 charges made for gas used in
SECTION 6-5.11: Remittance of Tax.
(a) Taxes collected from a service user which are
not remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the due
dates provided in this chapter are delinquent. Should the due
date occur on a weekend or legal holiday, the return may be
postmarked on the first regular working day following a
Saturday/Sunday, or legal holiday.
SECTION 6-5.12: Actions to Collect.
Any tax required to be paid by a service user under
the provisions of this chapter. shall be deemed a debt owed by
the service user to the city. ~,ny surx, tax colleted from a
service user which has willfully been withheld from the Taz
Administrator shall be deemed a debt owed to the city by the
person required to collect and remit. Any person owing money
to the city under the provisions of this chapter shall be
liable to an action brought in the name of the city for the
recovery of such amount.
SECTION 6-5.13: Duty to Collect - Procedures.
The duty to collect and remit the taxes imposed by
this chapter shall be performed as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7, the
tax shall be collected insofar as practicable at the same time
as and along with-the charges made in accordance with the
regular billing practices of the service supplier. Where the
amount paid by a service user to a service supplier is less
than the full amount of the service charge and tax which has
accrued for the billing period, such amount and any subsequent
payments by a service usAr shall be applied to the utility
charge first until such charge has been fully satisfied. Any
remaining balance shall be applied to taxes due. In those
cases where a service user has notified the service supplier of
his refusal to pay the tax imposed on said energy charges
Section 13(c) will apply.
(b) The duty to collect tax from a service user
shall commence with the beginning of the first full regular
billing period applicable to the service user where all charges
normally included in such regular billing are subject to the
provisions of this chapter. Where a person receives more than
one billing, one or more being for different periods than
another, the duty to collect shall arise separately for each
billing.
SECTION 6-5.14: Additional Power and Duties of
Tax Administrator.
(a) The Tax Administratur shall have the power and
duty, and is hereby directed to enforce each and all of the
provisions of this chapter.
(b) The Tax Administrator shall have the power to
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(c) The Tax Administrator may make administrative
agreements to vary the strict requirements of this chapter so
that collection of any tax imposed here may be made in
conformance with the billing procedures of particular service
supplier so long as said agreements result in collection of
the tax in conformance with the general purpose and scope of
this chapter. A copy of each such agreement shall be on file
in the Tax Administrator's office.
(d) The Tax Administrator shall determine the
eligibility of any person who asserts a right to exemption from
the tax imposed by this chapter. The Tax Administrator shall
provide the service supplier with the name of any person who
the Tax Administrator determines is exempt from the Tax imposed
hereby, together with the address aiic account number to which
service is supplied to any such exempt person. The Tax
Administrator shall notify the service supplier of termination
of any person's right to exemption hereunder, or the change of
any address to which service is supplied to any exempt person.
(e) The Tax Administrator shall provide notice to
all service suppliers, at least 90 days prior to any annexation
or other change in the city's boundaries. Said notice shall
set forth the revised boundaries by street and address, along
with a copy of the final annexation order from LAFCO.
SECPION 6-5.15: Assessment - Service IIser
Administrative Remedy.
(a) Whenever the Tax Administrator determines that a
service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the tax
owed by him or her from the amounts remitted to a person
required to collect the tax, or that a service user has refused
to pay the amount of tax, such person may be relieved of the
obligation to collect taxes due under this chapter from
certain named service users far specified billing periods as
set forth below.
(b) The service supplier shall provide the city with
amounts refused and/or unpaid along with the names and
addresses of the service users neglecting to pay the tax
imposed under provisions of this chapter. Whenever the
service user has failed to pay the amount of tax for a period
of two or more billing periods, the service supplier shall be
relieved of the obligation to collect taxes due.
(c) The Tax Administrator shall notify the service
user that the Tax Administrator assumed responsibility to
collect the taxes due for the stated periods and demand payment
of such taxes. The notice shall be served on the service user
by handing it to him or her personally or by deposit of the
notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid thereon,
addressed to the service user required to collect the tax; or,
should the service user's address change, to the last known
address. If a service user fails to remit the tax to the Tax
Administrator within fifteen (15) days from the date of the
service of the notice upon him or her, which shall be the date
of mailing if service is not acscompl.ished in person, a penalty
of twenty-five percent (25$) of the amount of the tax set forth
in tha nntir< ah.~ll hp imnnsPd. but not less than $5.00. The
records as may be necessary to determine the remittance to the
Tax Administrator, which records the Tax Administrator shall
have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.
SECTION 6-5.17: Refunds.
(a) Whenever the amount of any tax has been overpaid
or paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally
collected or received by the Tax Administrator under this
chapter, it may be refunded as provided in this section.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)
of this section; a service user. may claim a refund; or take as
credit against taxes r°emitted the amount overpaid, paid :acre
than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received
when it is established that the service user from whom the tax
has been collected did not owe the tax; A service supplier
that has collected any amount of tax in excess of the amount of
tax imposed by this chapter and actually due from a service
user, may refund such amount to the service user or claim
credit for such overpayment against the amount of tax which is
due upon any other monthly returns, provided such refund or
credit is claimed in a return dated not later than three (3)
years from the date of overpayment.
(c) Notwithstanding other provisions of this
section, whenever a service supplier, pursuant to an order of
the California Public Utilities Commission or a court of
competent jurisdiction, makes a refund to service users of
charges for past utility services, the taxes paid pursuant to
this chapter on the amount of such refunded charges shall also
be refunded to service users, and the service supplier shall be
entitled to claim a credit for such refunded taxes against the
amount of tax which is due upon the next monthly returns. In
the event this chap"e." is repe=ied; the am612nt:^s of arap
refundable taxes will be borne by the city.
(d) A service supplier may refund the taxes
collected to the service user in accordance with this section
or by the service supplier's customary practice.
SECTION 6-5.18: Severability.
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter or any part thereof
is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this
chapter or any part thereof. The City Council hereby declares
that it would have been passed each section, subsection,
subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase thereof,
irrespective of the fact that any one or more section,
subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrases
be declared unconstitutional.
SF,CTION 6-5.19: Termination or Suspension of
~~~~t=y Users Tax.
The ce r.;no ~... r.r.l ier chill n~nx. nntifiratinn_
SECTION 6-5.20• Operative Date.
Under the provisions of Government Code §36937, this
chapter shall become effective immediately upon passage of the
enacting ordinance. The tax imposed under this chapter shall
apply to bills rendered on or after 90 days or as soon
thereafter as the respective utilities are physically and
mechanically able to get "on line" for the imposition of
charges (not more than 60 days).
SECTION 2: The city clerk shall certify to the
passage of this ordinance and shall cause same to be published
once in the Lynwood press wi~h.n fifteen days after its
passage.
INTRODUCED this 25th day of October 1990.
SIGNED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 7~hDAY OF w,..nmhar '
1990.
ATTEST:
Robert Henning, or
City of Lynwood, California
ANDREA HOOPER, City Cler of
the City of Lynwood, California
y ~ 1
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LAS ANGELES ) ss:
CITY OF LYNWOOD )
I, ANDREA HOOPER, City Clerk of the City of Lynwood,
California, do hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance was
duly and regularly adopted, passed and approved by the City
Council of the City of Lynwood, California, at a regular
meeting of said City Coanril held at the re9vlar meeting place
thereof on the ?5ttday of octnnPr 199c by t:Yre
following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS HEINE, RICHARDS, WELLS, HENNING
NOES: COUNCILMEMBER REA
ABSENT: NONE
EXCUSED: NONE
e
Dated this Zsthiay of October , 1990.
~SrS2..=~ off, ~r~-~~-/
Andrea Hooper; City Cler