Chapter 3.24
UTILITY USER TAX
Sections:
3.24.040 Electricity user tax.
3.24.070 Cable television user tax.
3.24.110 Reporting and remitting.
3.24.140 Failure to pay tax—Administrative remedy.
3.24.010 Title.
This chapter shall be known as the “Utility User Tax Law of the City of Cerritos.” (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.020 Definitions.
Except where the context otherwise requires, the definitions set forth in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter.
(a) Person. “Person” means any domestic or foreign corporation, firm, association, syndicate, joint stock company, partnership of any kind, joint venture, club, Massachusetts business or common law trust, society, individual, or municipal corporation.
(b) City. “City” means the city of Cerritos.
(c) Telephone Corporation, Electrical Corporation, Gas Corporation, Water Corporation and Cable Television Corporation. “Telephone corporation,” “electric corporation,” “gas corporation,” “water corporation,” and “cable television corporation,” except as hereafter provided, have the same meaning as defined in Sections 234, 218, 222, 241 and 215.5, respectively, of the Public Utilities Code of the state of California, as said sections existed on January 1, 1978. “Water corporation” is construed to include any organization or municipality, including, but not limited to, a mutual water company, engaged in the selling or supplying of water to a service user.
(d) Service Supplier. “Service supplier” means a person required to collect and remit a tax imposed by this chapter.
(e) Service User. “Service user” means a person required to pay a tax imposed by this chapter. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.030 Telephone user tax.
(a) There is imposed a tax upon every person in the city, other than a telephone corporation, using intrastate telephone communication services in the city. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of ten percent of all charges made for such services and shall be paid by the person paying for such services.
(b) As used in this section, the term “charges” does not include charges for telephone communication services which services are paid for by inserting coins in coin-operated telephones; provided, that where such coin-operated telephone service is furnished to a person for a guaranteed amount, the amount paid under such guarantee plus any fixed monthly or other periodic charges is included within the said term “charges”; the term “telephone communication services” does not include land or maritime mobile services as defined in Section 2.1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as such section existed on January 1, 1978.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 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 by Section 4251 of Title 26 of the United States Code, as such section existed on January 1, 1978, without regard to subsection (b) thereof. (Ord. 559 § l (part), 1978)
3.24.040 Electricity user tax.
(a) There is imposed a tax upon every person in the city using electrical energy in the city. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of ten percent of the charges made for such energy and shall be paid by the person paying for such energy. “Charges,” as used in this section, includes charges made for:
(1) Metered energy; and
(2) Minimum charges for such services, including customer charges, service charges, demand charges, standby charges and annual and monthly charges.
(b) As used in this section, the term “using electrical energy” shall not be construed to include the storage of such energy by a person in a battery owned or possessed by him for use in an automobile or other machinery or device; provided, however, that the term includes the receiving of such energy for the purpose of using it in the charging of batteries. The term does not include electricity used in water pumping by water corporations; nor does the term include the mere receiving of such energy by an electrical corporation at a point within the city for resale. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.050 Gas user tax.
(a) There is imposed a tax upon every person using, in the city, gas which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of ten percent of the charges made for such gas and shall be paid by the person paying for such gas.
(b) There shall be excluded from the base on which the tax imposed by this section is computed;
(1) Charges made for gas which is to be resold and delivered through mains or pipes;
(2) Charges made for gas in the generation of electrical energy by an electrical corporation; or
(3) Charges made for gas used in water pumping by water corporations;
(4) Charges made by a gas corporation for gas used and consumed in the conduct of its business; and
(5) Charges made for gas used in the propulsion of a motor vehicle, as that phrase is defined in the Vehicle Code of the state of California, utilizing natural gas. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.060 Water user tax.
(a) There is imposed a tax upon every person using, in the city, water which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of ten percent of the charges made for such water and shall be paid by the person paying for such water. “Charges,” as used in this section, includes charges made for:
(1) Metered water;
(2) Minimum charges for services including customer charges, ready-to-serve charges, standby charges and annual monthly charges.
(b) There shall be excluded from the base on which the tax imposed by this section is computed, charges for water which is to be resold and delivered through mains or pipes and charges made by a water corporation for water used and consumed by such water corporation in the conduct of its business. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.070 Cable television user tax.
(a) There is imposed a tax upon every person in the city using cable television service. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of ten percent of the charges made by such service and shall be paid by the person paying for such service.
(b) Charges, as used in this section, includes charges made for any metered service, minimum charges for service including customer charges, service charges, demand charges and annual and monthly charges. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.080 Rebate.
Within thirty days following the adoption of the annual budget, the city council may, by the adoption of a resolution, provide for the rebate of all or a portion of revenue which would be collected as a function of the utility user tax. This rebate may be selectively applied to any or all of the utility user taxes so imposed by this chapter, provided that any rebate is applied as a uniform percentage to the particular user tax.
Following the adoption of the resolution, the service supplier shall be notified of the amount of the rebate to the service user. This amount shall be in the form of a percentage to be subtracted from the maximum utility user tax, with the difference applied to the appropriate amount of charges to the service user. If the difference is zero, the utility bill shall show that there is no utility user tax on that utility.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the city council from adopting a resolution rebating all or a portion of a utility user tax prior to the date previously specified. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.090 Exemptions.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as imposing a tax upon any person if the imposition of such tax upon that person would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the state of California. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.100 Collection of tax.
(a) Every service supplier who receives, or is entitled to receive, the payment of charges from a service user shall collect the amount of tax imposed by this chapter from each such service user.
(b) The tax shall be collected at the same time, and in the same manner, as the collection of charges made in accordance with the regular billing practice of the service supplier.
(c) The duty to collect tax from a service user shall commence with the beginning of the first regular billing period applicable to that person which starts on or after the effective date of this chapter and as provided for under Section 3.24.080. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.110 Reporting and remitting.
Each service supplier shall, on or before the 20th of each calendar month, commencing on the 20th day after the first calendar month after the effective date of this chapter, make a return to the city treasurer in the manner prescribed by him, stating the amount of taxes billed by the service supplier during the preceding calendar month. At the time such returns are filed, the full amount of the tax collected shall be remitted to the city treasurer. The city treasurer is authorized to require such further information as he deems necessary to properly determine if the tax imposed by this chapter is being levied and collected in accordance with this chapter. Returns and remittances are due from a service supplier immediately upon cessation of business by such supplier for any reason. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.120 Penalty.
(a) Taxes collected by a service supplier which are not remitted to the city treasurer on or before the due dates provided in this chapter are delinquent and shall be subject to the imposition of penalties as provided in this section.
(b) Penalties for delinquency in remittance of any tax collected or any deficiency determination shall attach, and be paid by the service supplier, in an amount equal to fifteen percent of the total tax collected or imposed in this chapter.
(c) The city treasurer shall have the power to impose additional penalties upon service suppliers for fraud or negligence in reporting or remitting in the sum of fifteen percent of the amount of the tax collected or as recomputed by the city treasurer.
(d) Every penalty imposed under the provisions of this section shall be deemed, for all purposes, a part of the tax required to be remitted and paid to the city. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.130 Actions to collect.
Any tax required to be paid by a service user pursuant to the provisions of the chapter shall be deemed a civil debt owed by the service user to the city. Any such tax collected from a service user which has not been remitted to the city treasurer shall be deemed a civil debt owed to the city by the service supplier. Any service supplier or service user who has failed to remit or pay taxes to the city, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall be liable therefor in an action brought in the name of the city for the recovery of such amount. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.140 Failure to pay tax—Administrative remedy.
Whenever the city treasurer determines that a service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the tax owed by him from the amounts remitted to a service supplier, or that a service user has failed to pay the amount of the tax for a period of two or more billing periods, or whenever the city treasurer otherwise deems it in the best interest of the city, he shall relieve the affected service supplier of the obligation to collect taxes due under this chapter from such specific service users for one or more specified billing periods. The city treasurer shall notify the service user that he has 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 personally or by deposit of the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid thereon, addressed to the service user at his last known address. If a service user fails to pay the tax to the city treasurer within fifteen days from the date of the service of the notice upon him, which shall be the date of mailing if service is not accomplished in person, a penalty of twenty-five percent of the amount of the tax set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but in no event less than five dollars. The penalty shall become, for all purposes, a part of the tax required to be paid pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.150 Records.
It shall be the duty of every service supplier who is required to collect and remit to the city a tax imposed by this chapter to keep and preserve, for a period of not less than three years, all records as may be necessary to determine the amount of such taxes due to the city from service users supplied by such service supplier, which records the city treasurer shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.160 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 city treasurer under this chapter, it may be refunded as provided in this section.
(b) A service supplier may claim a refund or take as credit against taxes collected but not yet remitted to the city the amount overpaid, paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received, when it is established, in a manner prescribed by the city treasurer, that a refund, as described in subsection (a) of this section, is justified, provided, however, that no refund shall be allowed unless the amount thereof has been collected from a service user and has either been refunded to the service user or credited to charges subsequently payable by the service user to the supplier.
(c) No refund shall be paid under the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto within ninety days of the subject payment. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.170 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 portions of this chapter or any part thereof. The city council declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared unconstitutional. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)
3.24.180 Effective date.
The provisions of this chapter shall become operative and effective as of June 29, 1978. (Ord. 559 § 1 (part), 1978)