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Home My WebLink AboutNS-2030 - Amending Sections of the Santa Ana Municipal Code to Increase the Utility Users Tax225 ORDINANCE NO. NS-2030 REL:mb(24a) 9/11/89 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA AMENDING SECTIONS 35-155, 35-156, 35-157, AND 35-167 OF THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCREASE THE UTILITY USERS TAX. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1: That section 35-155 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 35-155. Telephone users tax. (a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person, other than a telephone corporation, in the City of Santa Ana using intrastate telephone communication services in the City of Santa Ana. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of four (4) per cent 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" shall not include charges for services paid for by in- serting coins in coin-operated telephones except that where such coin-operated telephone 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 "telephone communication services" include land mobile services or maritime mobile services as defined in Section 2.1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (c) The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person providing the intra- state telephone communication services. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax admini- strator on or before the 20th day of the following 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 communica- tions services to the extent that the amounts paid for such services are exempt from or not subject to the tax imposed under Section 4251 of Title 26 of the United States Code. 226 ORDINANCE NO. NS-203U PAGE TWO SECTION 2: That section 35-156 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 35-156. Electricity users tax. (a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the City of Santa Ana using electrical energy in the city. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of four (4) per cent of the charges made for such energy and shall be paid by the person paying for such energy. "Charges," as used in this section shall include charges made for: (1) Metered energy, and (2) Minimum charges for service, including customer charges, service charges, demand charges, stand- by charges, and annual and monthly charges. (b) As used in this section, the term "using electri- cal energy" shall not be construed to mean 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 de- vice apart from the premises upon which the energy was re- ceived, 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 the mere receiving of such energy by an electric public utility or governmental agency at a point within the City of Santa Ana for resale; or the use of such energy in the production or distribution of water by a public utility or a govern- mental agency. (c) The tax imposed in this section shall be col- lected from the service user by the person supplying such energy. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the 20th day of the following month. Remittance of tax may be predicated on a formula based upon the payment pattern of the supplier's customers. SECTION 3: That section 35-157 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 35-157. Gas user tax. (a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the City of Santa Ana, other than a gas corporation or ORDINANCE NO. NS- ~30 PAGE THREE electrical corporation, using in the city, gas which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at a rate of four (4) 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 in 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 sold for use in the gene- ration of electrical energy or for the produc- tion or distribution of water by a public utility or governmental agency; and (3) Charges made by a gas public utility for gas used and consumed in the conduct of the busi- ness of gas public utilities. (c) The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person selling the gas. The amount collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the 20th day of the following month. (d) Notwithstanding other provisions of this sec- tion, 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 pur- suant to this Code 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 re- funded taxes against the amount of tax which is due upon the next monthly returns. In the event this code is re- pealed, the amounts of any refundable taxes will be borne by the city. SECTION 4: That section 35-167 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 35-167. Maximum amount payable under the utility users tax. The following subsections shall be effective for each fiscal year commencing on July 1. 228 ORDINANCE NO. NS-2030 PAGE FOUR (a) The combined total maximum of electricity, gas and telephone user taxes paid by any single service user for one location under this utility user tax code shall not exceed the sum of six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) during any twelve- month period between July 1st and June 30th. (b) A service user may deposit the maximum tax speci- fied in subsection (a) with the tax administrator during the month of July of each year as pay- ment in full and in advance of taxes due under this code for the twelve-month period commencing on the first day of said month and ending on June 30th thereafter. Any service user making said payment in July of any given year shall not thereafter be billed for any tax under this code for said twelve-month period. (c) The penalty assessment provided in section 35-162 of this code shall not be counted in computing the maximum tax as provided in subsection (a). (d) Any service user paying more than the maximum tax provided for in subsection (a) during any twelve-month period commencing July 1st and ending June 30th, may claim a refund or credit for such over payment in the manner provided in section 35-164 of this code. (e) The phrase "one location" as used in subsection (a) shall mean one or more contiguous sites for which the service user receives one or more utility billings. SECTION 5: The four (4 percent rates established by sections 35-155, 35-156, and 35-157 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code as amended by this ordinance shall become effective December 1, 1989. Until such date the three (3) percent rates established by said sections as they read prior to their amendment by this ordinance shall remain in effect. The six thousand dollar ($6,000.00) com- bined total maximum tax established by section 35-167 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code shall be effective for the fiscal year commenc- ing July 1, 1989 and ending June 30, 1990 and for each fiscal year thereafter. ORDINANCE NO. NS-~30 PAGE FIVE SECTION 6: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sent- ence, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 5: Neither the adoption of this ordinance nor the repeal hereby of any ordinance shall in any manner affect the prosecution for violation of ordinances, which violations were committed prior to the effective date hereof, nor be construed as affecting any of the provisions of such ordinance relating to the collection of any such license or penalty or the penal provision applicable to any violation thereof, nor to affect the validity of any bond or cash deposit in lieu thereof, required to be posted, filed or deposited pursuant to any ordinance and all rights and obligations thereunder appertain- ing shall continue in full force and effect. ADOPTED this ?nd day of 0ct0ber , 1989. ATTEST: Mayor ~r~e C. Guy / ~ of the Counc~ / COUNCILMEMBERS: Young Acosta Griset May McGuigan Norton Pulido ~,~e Aye Ave APPROVED AS TO FORM: Edwar~d ~ ~ Co~per City Atto~rr~y