Buena Park Municipal Code Ch. 3.24 Electricity and Gas Utility Fees

Except where the context otherwise requires, the following words and phrases whenever used in this chapter shall be construed as defined as follows:

"City"

means the city of Buena Park.

"Electrical corporation" and "gas corporation"

shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 218 and Section 222, respectively, of the Public Utilities Code of the state of California, as said section existed on January 1,1980. "Electrical corporation" shall be construed to include any municipality or franchised agency engaged in the selling or supplying of electrical power to a service user.

"Finance director"

means the finance director of the city of Buena Park.

"Month"

means a calendar month.

"Person"

means any domestic or foreign corporation, firm, association, syndicate, joint stock company, partnership of any kind, joint venture, club, common law trust, society, individual or individuals.

"Service supplier"

means the utility company which receives fees paid and remits same as imposed by this chapter.

"Service user"

means a person required to pay a fee imposed by the ordinance codified in this chapter.

(Prior code § 29-35)

A. There is hereby imposed a fee upon every person in the city using electrical energy in the city. The fee imposed by this section shall be at the rate of three 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, shall include charges made for:

1. Metered energy; and

2. Minimum charges for service, including customer charges, service charges, demand charges, standby charges and annual and monthly charges, fuel cost adjustments, etc.

B. As used in this chapter, the term "using 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 or 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 as an electric public utility; 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 for resale; or the use of such energy in the production or distribution of water by a public utility or a governmental agency.

C. The fee imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person supplying such energy. The amount of fee collected in one month shall be remitted to the finance director on or before the last day of the following month; or, at the option of the person required to collect and remit the fee, an estimated amount of fee collected, measured by the fee bill in the previous month, shall be remitted to the finance director on or before the last day of each month. Remittance of fee may be predicated on a formula based upon the payment pattern of the supplier's customers.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A of Section 3.24.050, if the amount paid by a service user is less than the full amount of the energy charge and fee which has accrued for the billing period, such amount and any subsequent payments by a service user shall be applied to the energy charge first until such charge had been fully satisfied. Any remaining balance shall be applied to fees due.

(Prior code § 29-36)

A. There is hereby imposed a fee upon every person in the city, other than a gas corporation or electrical corporation, using in the city gas which is delivered through mains or pipes. The fee imposed by this section shall be at the rate of three percent of the charges made for such gas and shall be paid by the person paying for such gas. "Charges," as used in this section, shall include:

1. Gas which is delivered through mains or pipes;

2. Minimum charges for such services, including customer charges, service charges, and annual and monthly charges.

B. There shall be excluded from the base on which the fee 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 generation of electrical energy or for the production or distribution of water by a public utility or governmental agency;

3. Charges made by a gas public utility for gas used and consumed in the conduct of the business of gas public utilities;

4. Charges made for gas used in the propulsion of a motor vehicle, as that phrase is defined in the Vehicle Code of the state, utilizing natural gas; and

5. Charges related to late payments and returned checks.

C. The fee imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person selling the gas. The person selling the gas shall, on or before the twentieth of each calendar month, commencing on the twentieth day of the calendar month after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, make a return to the finance director stating the amount of fees billed during the preceding calendar month. At the time such returns are filed, the person selling the gas shall remit fee payments to the finance director in accordance with schedules established or approved by the finance director.

(Prior code § 29-37)

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as imposing a fee upon any person when imposition of such fee upon that person would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or that of the state of California.

(Prior code § 29-38)

The duty to collect and remit the fees imposed by this chapter shall be performed as follows:

A. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection D of Section 3.24.020, the fee 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.

B. The duty to collect fees 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.

C. 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 period.

(Prior code § 29-39)

A. Fees collected from a service user which are not remitted to the finance director on or before the due dates provided in this chapter are delinquent.

B. Penalties for delinquency in remittance of the fee collected, or any deficiency determination, shall attach and be paid by the person required to collect and remit at the rate of fifteen percent of the total fee collected or imposed by this chapter.

C. The finance director shall have power to impose additional penalties upon persons required to collect and remit fees under the provisions of this chapter for fraud or negligence in reporting or remitting at the rate of fifteen percent of the amount of the fee collected or as recomputed by the finance director.

D. Every penalty imposed under the provisions of this chapter shall become a part of the fee required to be remitted.

(Prior code § 29-40)

Any fee 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. Any such fee collected from a service user which has willfully been withheld from the finance director 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.

(Prior code § 29-41)

A. The finance director shall have the power and duty, and is hereby directed to enforce each and all of the provisions of this chapter.

B. The finance director shall have power to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with provisions of this chapter for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing the payment, collection and remittance of the fees herein imposed. A copy of such rules and regulations shall be on file in the finance director's office and the city clerk's office and shall be provided to the city council in writing.

C. The finance director may make administrative agreements to vary the strict requirements of this chapter so that collection of any fee imposed here may be made in conformance with the billing procedures of the service supplier so long as said agreements result in collection of the fee in conformance with the general purpose and scope of this chapter. A copy of each such agreement shall be on file in the finance director's office.

D. The finance director shall determine the eligibility of any person who asserts a right to exemption from the fee imposed by this chapter. The finance director shall provide the service supplier with the name of any person who the finance director determines is exempt from the fee imposed hereby, together with the address and account number to which service is supplied to any such exempt person. The finance director shall notify the service supplier of the termination of any person's right to exemption hereunder, or the change of any address to which service is supplied to an exempt person.

(Prior code § 29-42)

A. The finance director may make an assessment for fees not remitted by a person required to remit.

B. Whenever the finance director determines that a service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the fee owed by him or her from the amounts remitted to the service supplier who is required to collect the fee, or that a service user has refused to pay the amount of fee to such person, or whenever the finance director deems it in the best interest of the city, he or she may relieve such person of the obligation to collect fees due under this chapter from certain named service users for specified billing periods.

C. The service supplier shall provide the city with amounts refused, along with the names, addresses and reasons of the service users refusing to pay the fee imposed under provisions of this chapter. Whenever the service user has failed to pay the amount of fee for a period of two or more billing periods, the service supplier shall be relieved of the obligation to collect fees due.

D. The finance director shall notify the service user that he or she has assumed responsibility to collect the fees due for the stated periods and demand payment of such fees. 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 at the address to which billing was made by the person required to collect the fee; or, should the service user have changed his or her address, to his or her last known address. If a service user fails to remit the fee to the finance director within fifteen 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 accomplished in person, a penalty of twenty-five percent of the amount of the fee set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but not less than five dollars. The penalty shall become part of the fee herein required to be paid.

(Prior code § 2943; amended during 1990 codification)

It shall be the duty of every person required to collect and remit to the city any fee imposed by this chapter to keep and preserve, for a period of three years, all records as may be necessary to determine the amount of such fee as he or she may have been liable for the collection of and remittance to the finance director, which records the finance director shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.

(Prior code § 29-44)

A. Whenever the amount of any fee has been overpaid or 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 subsections B and C of this section, provided a claim in writing therefor, stating under penalty of perjury the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded, is filed with the finance director within three years of the date of payment. The claim shall be on forms furnished by the finance director.

B. A service supplier may claim a refund or take as credit against fees collected and remitted an amount overpaid, paid more than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received, when it is established that the person from whom the fee has been collected did not owe the fee.

C. Any service user may obtain a refund of fees overpaid, or paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the city, by filing a claim in the manner provided in subsection A of this section, but only when the service user having paid the fee to the service supplier establishes to the satisfaction of the finance director that the service user has been unable to obtain a refund from the service supplier who collected the fee.

D. 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 fees 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 fees against the amount of fee which is due upon the next monthly returns. In the event this chapter is repealed, the amounts of any refundable fees will be borne by the city.

(Prior code § 29-45)

A.

1. The fee imposed by this chapter shall not apply to any person that uses electric or gas services in or upon any residence occupied by such individual when the combined total income (as used for purposes of the California personal income tax law) of all members of the household in which such individual resided was less than twelve thousand five hundred dollars for the calendar year prior to the fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th) for which an application for exemption as provided in this chapter is sought.

2. The exemption granted by this section shall not eliminate the duty of the service supplier from collecting fees from such exempt individuals or the duty of such exempt individuals from paying such fees to the service supplier unless an exemption is applied for by the service user and granted in accordance with the provisions of subsection B of this section.

B.

1. Any service user exempt from the fees imposed by this chapter because of the provisions of subsection A of this section may file an application with the finance director for an exemption. Such applications shall be made upon forms supplied by the finance director and shall recite facts under oath which qualify the applicant for an exemption. The finance director shall review all such applications and certify as exempt those applicants determined to qualify therefor, and shall notify all service suppliers affected that such exemption has been approved, stating the name of the applicant, the address to which such exempt service is being supplied, the account number, if any, and such other information as may be necessary for the service supplier to remove the exempt service user from its fee billing procedure. Upon receipt of such notice, the service supplier shall not be required to continue to bill any further fee imposed by this chapter from such exempt service user until further notice by the finance director is given. The service supplier shall eliminate such exempt service user from its fee billing procedure no later than sixty days after receipt of such notice from the finance director.

2. All exemptions shall continue and be renewed automatically by the finance director so long as the requisite facts supporting the initial qualification for exemption shall continue; provided, however, that the exemption shall automatically terminate with any change in the service address or residence of the exempt individual; further provided such individual may, nevertheless, apply for a new exemption with each change of address or residence.

3. Any individual exempt from the tax shall notify the finance director within ten days of any change in fact or circumstance which might disqualify such individual from receiving such exemption. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to knowingly receive the benefits of the exemptions provided by this section when the basis for such exemption either does not exist or ceases to exist.

C. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section, however, any service supplier who determines by any means that a new or nonexempt service user is receiving service through a meter or connection exempt by virtue of an exemption issued to a previous user or exempt user of the same meter or connection, such service supplier shall immediately notify the finance director of such fact and the finance director shall conduct an investigation to ascertain whether or not the provisions of this section have been complied with, and, where appropriate, order the service supplier to commence collecting the fee from the nonexempt service user.

(Prior code § 29-46; amended during 1990 codification; Ord. 1236 § 1, 1989)