Berkeley Municipal Code Ch. 7.90 Emergency Medical Services Tax

A. The tax imposed under this chapter is solely for the purpose of raising income and revenue which is necessary to assure the provision of the usual and current expenses of City programs which provide emergency medical services as defined herein.

B. Section 4 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution (Proposition 13) allows two-thirds of the qualified electors of the City to impose a special tax within the City, provided the special tax is not an ad valorem tax on real property or a transaction tax or a sales tax on the sale of real property within the City. The tax imposed by this chapter is a special tax which is authorized for elector approval by Section 4 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution. (Ord. 6374-NS § 2, 1997)

A. The City Council is hereby authorized to impose a special tax of up to $0.0329 per square foot of improvements in the City of Berkeley.

B. The tax imposed by this chapter shall be operative on July 1, 1997.

C. The City Council of the City of Berkeley is hereby authorized to increase the tax rate authorized by this Ordinance to the extent that the cost of living in the immediate San Francisco Bay Area has increased. (Ord. 6374-NS § 3, 1997)

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined as set forth below:

A. "Building" shall mean any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and designed for the shelter or housing of any person, chattel or property of any kind. The word "building" includes the word "structure".

B. "Emergency medical services" shall mean emergency medical care and transport to residents and emergency responders, medical training within the Berkeley Fire Department, payments for the reasonable and direct costs of EMS services provided by Alameda County to the City, and activities incidental thereto.

C. "Improvements" shall mean all buildings or structures erected or affixed to the land.

D. "Square footage" shall mean the total gross horizontal areas of all floors, including usable basement and cellars, below the roof and within the outer surface of the main walls of buildings or the center lines of party walls separating such buildings or portions thereof) or within lines drawn parallel to and two feet within the roof line of any building or portion thereof without walls (which includes, notwithstanding paragraph 3 below, the square footage of all porches), and including pedestrian access walkways or corridors, but excluding the following:

1. Areas used for off-street parking spaces or loading berths and driveways and maneuvering aisles relating thereto.

2. Areas which are outdoor or semi-outdoor areas included as part of the building to provide a pleasant and healthful environment for the occupants thereof and the neighborhood in which the building is located. This exempted area is limited to stoops, balconies and to natural ground areas, terraces, pools and patios which are landscaped and developed for active or passive recreational use, and which are accessible for use by occupants of the building.

3. Arcades, porticoes, and similar open areas which are located at or near street level, which are accessible to the general public, and which are not designed or used as sales, display storage, service or production areas.

E. "Structure" shall mean anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground.

F. " Parcel" shall mean a unit of real estate in one ownership as shown on the most current official assessment roll of the Alameda County Assessor. (Ord. 6374-NS § 4, 1997)

It shall be the duty of the Director of Finance to collect and receive all taxes imposed by this chapter, and to keep an accurate record thereof. The Director of Finance is hereby charged with the enforcement of this chapter, except as otherwise provided herein, and may prescribe, adopt and enforce rules and regulations relating to the administration and enforcement of the chapter, including provision for the re-examination and correction of returns and payments. The Director of Finance may prescribe the extent to which any ruling or regulation shall be applied without retroactive effect. (Ord. 6374-NS § 5, 1997)

The City Council is authorized to have the taxes imposed by this chapter collected by the County of Alameda in conjunction with the county’s collection of property tax revenues for the City of Berkeley. In the event that the County of Alameda collects the taxes imposed by this chapter, the imposition of penalties, additional fees and interest upon persons who fail to remit any tax imposed by this chapter, or who fail to remit any delinquent remittance under this chapter, shall be subject to and governed by the rules, regulations and procedures utilized by the County of Alameda in its collection of property taxes for the City of Berkeley, and in its collection of this additional tax for the City of Berkeley. (Ord. 6374-NS § 6, 1997)

Whenever the amount of any tax, penalty or interest has been paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City under this chapter, it may be refunded as provided in Chapter 7.20 of the Berkeley Municipal Code. (Ord. 6374-NS § 7, 1997)

The amount of any tax, penalty, and interest imposed under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a debt to the City. Any person owing money 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. (Ord. 6374-NS § 8, 1997)

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any person, association, corporation or to any property as to whom or which it is beyond the power of the City Council to impose the tax herein provided. If any sentence, clause, section or part of this chapter, or any tax against any individual or any of the several groups specified herein is found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality, or invalidity shall affect only such clause, sentence, section or part of this chapter and shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or other parts of this chapter. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council of the City of Berkeley that this chapter would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included herein. (Ord. 6374-NS § 9, 1997)

Any person who fails to perform any duty or obligation imposed by this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction as set forth in Chapter 1.20 of the Berkeley Municipal Code. The penalties provided in this section are in addition to the several remedies provided in this chapter. (Ord. 6374-NS § 10, 1997)

Pursuant to California Constitution Article XIIIB, the appropriation limit for the City of Berkeley is hereby increased by the aggregate sum authorized to be levied by this special tax for each of the four fiscal years from 2001-02 through 2004-05. (Ord. 6601-NS § 1, 2000; Ord. 6374-NS § 11, 1997)

The City Council may repeal this ordinance, or amend it in a manner which does not result in an increase in the tax imposed herein, without further voter approval. If the City Council repeals this ordinance, it may subsequently reenact it without voter approval, as long as the reenacted ordinance does not result in an increase in the tax imposed herein. (Ord. 6374-NS § 12, 1997)