Chapter 5.04

The license collector is authorized to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to aid or assist in the administration of the provisions of this chapter and shall have the necessary power to require any applicant for a license to appear before the city clerk and testify in writing, under oath, those statements made relative to securing a new license or the renewal of an old license. (Prior code § 15.3).

5.04.030 License required.

There is imposed upon the business, trades, professions, callings, nonprofit corporations and occupations specified in this title, license fees in the amounts prescribed by this title, and no person shall transact and carry on any business, nonprofit corporation, trade or profession, calling or occupation in the city without first having procured a license from the city to do so, or without complying with any and all applicable provisions of this title. (Prior code § 15.4).

5.04.040 Exemption due to constitutional provisions.¹

(a) Nothing in this title shall be deemed or construed to apply to any person transacting and carrying on any business exempt by virtue of the Constitution or applicable statutes of the United States or of the state from the payment to municipal corporations of such taxes as are herein prescribed.

(b) Any person desiring to claim exemption from the payment of a license tax and to have a free license issued to him shall make application therefor upon forms prescribed by the license collector and shall furnish such information and make such affidavits as may be required. Upon the determination being made that the applicant is entitled to exemption from the payment of license taxes for any reason set forth in this section, the license collector, upon the applicant complying with the provisions of this section or any other ordinance of the city which may require a permit for the doing of the particular act proposed to be done, shall issue a free license to such person, which shall show upon its face that the license tax is exempt.

(c) The license collector may revoke any exempt license granted pursuant to the provisions of this section upon information that the licensee is not entitled to the exemption as provided therein. (Ord. 590 § 1(a), 1975; Prior code § 15.5).

5.04.050 Separate license for each place of business.

A separate license must be obtained for each branch establishment or location of the business engaged in and each license shall authorize the licensee to engage only in the business licensed thereby at the location or in the manner designated in such license; provided, that warehouses or distributing plants used in connection with an incidental to businesses licensed under this chapter shall not be deemed to be separate places of business or branch establishments; and provided, that whenever any person is engaged in two or more businesses at the same location and under the same ownership, such person shall be required to obtain a separate license for the carrying on of each business. (Prior code § 15.6).

5.04.060 Terms of license—Delinquency.

(a) All license taxes due hereunder shall be due and payable, and delinquent as follows:

(1) Daily License. Due on its effective date, delinquent at five p.m. on due date;

(2) Monthly License. Due on the first day of each month for which license is sought, delinquent at five p.m. on the tenth day of the month;

(3) Quarterly License. Due on the first day of January, April, October and July, delinquent at five p.m. on the twentieth day of the first month in which the quarterly license is due;

(4) Semi-annual License. Due on the first day of January, and July, delinquent at five p.m. on the twentieth day of the first month in which the semi-annual license is due;

(5) Annual License. Due on the first day of January, delinquent at five p.m. on January 31st.

(b) To all delinquent licenses there shall be added a penalty of fifteen percent of the amount of the tax due for the period, and an additional fifteen percent for each month delinquent thereafter; provided, that the amount of such penalty to be added shall in no event exceed sixty percent of the amount of the license tax due.

(c) The license collector for good cause may extend for not more than thirty days the time for paying any sum required to be paid hereunder provided a written request therefor is filed with the license collector prior to the delinquency date. (Ord. 632 §§ 1, 2, 1978; Ord. 590 § 1(b), 1975).

5.04.070 Proration of license fees.

When any business shall be commenced more than three months after the beginning of the calendar year it shall pay three-fourths of the annual license fee as herein provided; if commenced more than six months after the beginning of the calendar year, it shall pay one-half of the fee provided; and if commenced more than nine months after the beginning of the calendar year, then one-fourth of such fee. (Ord. 632 § 3, 1978; Prior code § 15.8).

5.04.080 License not valid in prohibited places.

The payment of a license fee required by this title and its acceptance by the city and the issuance of a license to any person shall not entitle the holder thereof to carry on any business in or on any building or premises designated in such license in the event that such building or premises are situated in a locality in which the conduct of such business is in violation of any law. (Prior code § 15.9).

5.04.090 License nontransferable—Fees nonrefundable.

License fees paid under the provisions of this title shall not be refunded or transferred from one person to another person. (Prior code § 15.10).

5.04.100 Application for initial license.

Upon making application for the first license to be issued hereunder, or for a newly established business, the applicant shall comply with all requirements of the city planning, health, building and fire departments and shall furnish upon a form provided by the license collector, as may therein be required and may be necessary to properly determine the amount of the license to be paid as a deposit by the applicant, such amount to be paid with the filing of the application. (Prior code § 15.11).

5.04.110 Application for issuance of license.

(a) Every person required to have a license under the provisions of this chapter shall make application for the same to the license collector of the city. Such application shall be a written statement upon a form provided by such license collector and shall be written by the applicant under penalty of perjury, or sworn to by the applicant before a person authorized to administer oaths. The application shall set forth such information as may be necessary to properly determine the amount of the license tax to be paid by the applicant.

(b) If the amount of the license tax to be paid by the applicant is based upon gross receipts, such application shall set forth the gross receipts for the applicable period as provided in Section 5.08.115 of this chapter.

(c) Every person making application for a first license shall estimate the gross receipts or other applicable basis for the period to be covered by the license to be issued. Such estimate, if accepted by the license collector as being reasonable, shall be used in determining the amount of license tax to be paid by the applicant; provided, however, the amount of the license tax so determined shall be tentative only, and such person shall, within thirty days after the expiration of the period for which such license was issued, furnish the license collector with a sworn statement upon a form, to be provided by such license collector, setting forth such information as may be therein required and showing, during the applicable period specified in this chapter, the gross receipts, or other applicable basis. The license tax shall be ascertained and paid upon such applicable basis, credit being given for the tentative license tax previously paid.

(d) The license collector shall determine the average monthly gross receipts, or other applicable basis, and compute the license fee payable for twelve months. The license fee payable for the next period shall be the amount based upon the computed twelve months of applicable base. For the purpose of this section a fractional part of a month shall be considered as a full month. (Ord. 590 § 1(c), 1975).

5.04.115 Application for renewal of license.

In all cases, the applicant for the renewal of a license shall submit to the license collector for his guidance in ascertaining the amount of the license tax to be paid by the applicant, a written statement, upon a form to be provided by such license collector, written under penalty of perjury, or sworn to before a person authorized to administer oaths. Said form shall set forth such information concerning the type of the applicant’s business and the gross receipts derived therefrom or other applicable basis during the applicable period as may be required by the license collector to enable him to ascertain the amount of the license tax to be paid by said applicant pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 590 § 1(d), 1975).

5.04.117 Statements not conclusive—Audit.

No statement shall be conclusive as to the matters set forth therein, nor shall the filing of the same preclude the city from collecting by appropriate action such sum as is actually due and payable hereunder. The license collector of the city shall have the right, to be exercised by himself or his designated alternate, to inspect the books or request verification of such records of any person engaged in or carrying on any profession, trade, calling, occupation or business within the city for the purpose of ascertaining the true license tax of such person. This right can be exercised after five days’ written notice to said person. If any person required to make such statement referred to in this chapter shall fail to do so, such person shall be required to pay a license tax at the maximum amount to be determined by the license collector for the profession, trade, calling, occupation or business carried on by such person and such person shall be guilty of a violation hereof, and be punishable therefor as provided by the Menlo Park Municipal Code. (Ord. 717 § 1(a), 1985: Ord. 590 § 1(e), 1975).

5.04.118 Information confidential.

All statements of gross receipts furnished or secured pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed confidential in character, shall not be subject to public inspection, and shall be kept so that the contents thereof shall not become known except to the persons charged with the administration of this chapter. (Ord. 717 § 1(b), 1985: Ord. 590 § 1(f), 1975).

5.04.119 Determination of license tax by tax collector.

(a) If any person fails to file any required statement within the time prescribed, or if after demand therefor has been made by the license collector he fails to file a corrected statement within fifteen days after notification to do so, or if it appears to the satisfaction of the license collector that a statement filed does not set forth the true facts of the business for which a license is required, the license collector may assume that the maximum tax payable hereunder by such person is properly due and payable and determine the tax accordingly.

(b) In case such determination is made, the license collector shall give not less than five days’ written notice to the licensee to show cause, at a time and place fixed in said notice, why said amount specified therein should not be fixed for such license. At such hearing the previous determination shall be presumed to be correct. The licensee may appear and offer evidence why such specified tax should not be fixed as the license tax. The presumption of correctness shall be rebuttable. After such hearing, the license collector shall determine the tax to be charged and shall forthwith give written notice to the licensee in the manner prescribed herein of such determination and the amount of such tax.

(c) In any event, the license tax determined by the license collector shall become final and conclusive. (Ord. 590 § 1(g), 1975).

5.04.120 Appeal.

Any person aggrieved by any decision of the license collector with respect to the issuance or refusal to issue a license or to the imposition or assessment of any license fee or penalty may appeal to the city manager by filing a notice of appeal with the license collector within fifteen days of such decision. The city manager, or his designated alternate, shall fix a time and place for hearing such appeal. The appeal shall be heard before and decided by the city manager or his designated alternate. Written notice shall be served on the appealing party at least fifteen days in advance of the date of the hearing and shall state the time and place of hearing. Service shall be by personal delivery or deposit in the United States Post Office in Menlo Park, postage prepaid, addressed to the appealing party at the address appearing on his last written communication to the license collector. This section shall apply to all appeals not heard prior to adoption of the section. (Ord. 720 § 1, 1986: Ord. 590 § 1(h), 1975).

5.04.130 Posting licenses.

All licenses must be kept and posted in the following manner:

(1) Any licensee engaged in business at a fixed place of business in the city shall keep the license posted in a conspicuous place upon the premises where such business is carried on.

(2) Any licensee engaged in business but not operating a fixed place of business in the city shall keep the license upon his person at all times while engaging in such business.

(3) Every person owning, possessing, maintaining or operating any amusement machine or device, music machine or vending machine, electrically or mechanically operated, which is subject to a license hereunder, shall keep the license permanently and conspicuously posted at the location of the machines in the premises wherein the devices are to be operated or maintained to be operated, and shall not be removed from the location during the period for which the license was issued. (Prior code § 15.14).

5.04.140 Contents of license.

All licenses shall be prepared and issued by the license collector of the city upon payment of the sum to be paid therefor, and each license so issued shall state upon the face thereof the following:

(1) The name of the business or person to whom the license is issued;

(2) The code section under which business is licensed;

(3) The location of such business;

(4) The date of the expiration of such license;

(5) Such other information as the license collector shall determine. (Ord. 632 § 4, 1978: Prior code § 15.15).

5.04.150 License fee and penalty deemed debt to city.

The amount of any license fee and penalty imposed by this title shall be deemed a debt to the city. Any person carrying on any business without first having procured a license from the city to do so shall be liable to an action in the name of the city in any court of competent jurisdiction, for the amount of license and penalties imposed on such business and an attachment shall issue on a verified complaint without any bond or affidavit being given in behalf of the plaintiff. (Prior code § 15.16).

5.04.190 Conviction for nonpayment not to relieve liability.

The conviction and punishment of any person for transacting any business without a license shall not excuse or exempt such person from the payment of any license due or unpaid at the time of such conviction, and nothing in this title shall prevent a criminal prosecution of any violation of the provisions of this title. (Prior code § 15.20).

5.04.200 License fee in excess of law.

In the event that the license fee for any business prescribed under this code is in excess of that permitted by law, the fee therefor shall be not less than two hundred dollars. (Ord. 590 § 1(i), 1975: Prior code § 15.89).

5.04.210 Compliance with city ordinances.

The license collector shall determine if the operation of the business in question as proposed by the applicant conforms to all applicable city ordinances. No license shall be granted until the application has been approved and conformity with city ordinances has been certified thereon. The fact that a license has been issued shall not serve to authorize or legalize an activity or business which violates any city ordinance. (Ord. 590 § 1(j), 1975).

5.04.220 Stickers.

Upon the issuance of a license, the license collector may deliver to the licensee one sticker, emblem, device, sign or license facsimile for each vehicle used by the licensee in the conduct of his business. Such sticker, emblem, device, sign or license shall be prominently displayed on or within such vehicle. (Ord. 590 § 1(k), 1975).

5.04.230 Transfer of license.

No license issued pursuant to this chapter shall be transferred, except that when a licensee transfers his business from one location to another in the city the license previously issued may be amended to authorize the conduct of the business at the new location. The license transfers and amendments herein authorized may be obtained upon application therefor to the license collector and the payment of the sum of two dollars. (Ord. 590 § 1(1), 1975).

5.04.240 Constitutional apportionment.

(a) None of the license taxes provided for by this chapter shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitutions of the United States and state of California.

(b) In any case where a license tax is believed by a licensee or applicant for a license to place an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of such constitutional clauses, he may apply to the license collector for an adjustment of the tax. Such application may be made before, at, or within six months after payment of the prescribed license tax. The applicant shall, by sworn statement and supporting testimony, show this method of business and the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and such other information as the license collector may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of such undue burden or violation. The license collector shall then conduct an investigation, and shall fix as the license tax for the applicant an amount that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory, or if the license tax has already been paid, shall order a refund of the amount over and above the license tax so fixed. In fixing the license tax to be charged, the license collector shall have the power to base the license tax upon a percentage of gross receipts or any other measure which will assure that the license tax assessed shall be uniform with that assessed on businesses of like nature, so long as the amount assessed does not exceed the license tax as prescribed by this chapter. (Ord. 590 § 1(m), 1975).

For state law as to persons exempt from license charges, see Business & Professions Code §§ 16001, 16002.

Chapter 5.04GENERAL PROVISIONS

5.04.010 License collector designated.

5.04.020 Powers—Duties.