Clayton Municipal Code Art. I In General

For the purpose of this chapter the following words and phrases shall be construed as herein set forth unless it shall be apparent from the context that a different meaning is intended:

A. "Agent" means any "regularly employed individual" as defined in subsection 10 of this section, and is also defined to include a coin-operated service, entertainment, or vending machine.

B. "Collector" means the city tax collector, finance director or other city officer charged with the administration of this chapter.

C. "Doing business" means the conduct of any manufacturing, wholesale, retail or any other commercial enterprise and the conduct of or engaging in the practice of any occupation, trade, profession or semi-profession and all and every kind of calling whether or not carried on for profit, except as specifically exempted by the provisions of this chapter, by any person having any proprietary interest therein as distinguished from the interest of an employee therein.

D. "Personal property sale" includes garage and yard sales and shall mean a sale conducted at the residence of the owner's used goods or products produced or made on the premises. Any such sale shall comply with the provisions of Sections 17.16.020 E or 17.28.060 as applicable.

E. "General contractor" means any person whose business is in connection with any structure built, being built, or to be built for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind requiring in its construction the use of more than two (2) unrelated building trades or crafts, or to do or superintend the whole or any part thereof, or whose business is in connection with fixed works requiring specialized engineering knowledge and skill, including the following divisions or subjects: Irrigation, drainage, water power, water supply, flood control, railroads, highways, streets and roads, tunnels, airports and airways, sewers and sewage disposal plants and systems, bridges, overpasses, underpasses and other similar works, pipelines and other systems for the transmission of petroleum and other liquid or gaseous substances, parks, playgrounds, and other recreational works, land leveling and earth moving projects, excavating, grading, trenching, paving and surfacing work, and cement and concrete work in connection with the above-mentioned fixed works.

F. "Gross receipts" means the total amount of the sale price of all sales, and/or the total amount charged or received for the performance of any act or service or employment, of whatever nature it may be, for which a charge is made or credit allowed whether or not such act, service, or employment is done as a part of or in connection with the sale of materials, goods, wares, or merchandise, and when such act, service, or employment occurs as a result of any kind or nature, except as excluded in this subsection, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of the materials used, labor or service costs, interest paid or payable, or losses or other expenses whatsoever as shown by either the federal or state income tax return required to be filed by such person. Excluded from "gross receipts" are the following:

1. Cash discounts allowed and taken on sales.

2. Credit allowed on property accepted as part of the purchase price and which property may later be sold.

3. Any tax required by law to be included in or added to the purchase price and collected from the consumer or purchaser.

4. Such part of the sale price of property returned by purchasers upon recision of the contract of sale is refunded either in case or by credit.

5. Amounts collected for others where the business is acting as an agent or trustee to the extent that such amounts are paid to those for whom collected, provided the agent or trustee furnishes the collector with the names and addresses of the others and the amounts paid to them.

6. That portion of the receipts of a general contractor which represents payments to subcontractors licensed under this chapter and provided the general contractor furnishes the collector with the names and addresses of the others and the amounts paid to them.

7. Receipts of refundable deposits, except that refundable deposits forfeited and taken into income of the business are not excluded.

8. As to a real estate agent or broker, the sale of real estate sold for the account of others except that portion which represents commission or other income to the agent or broker.

9. As to a retail gasoline dealer, a portion of his receipts from the sale of motor vehicle fuels equal to the motor vehicle fuel license tax imposed by and previously paid under the Revenue and Taxation Code Part 2 of Division 2 of the State of California.

10. As to a retail gasoline dealer, the special motor fuel tax imposed by Section 4041 of Title 26 of the United States Code if paid by the dealer or collected by him from the consumer or purchaser.

G. "Itinerant vendor" is a person who engages in a temporary and transient business in the City selling any merchandise, article or service with the intent of continuing for not more than ninety (90) days, and who for the purpose of carrying on such business either has no fixed place of business, or hires or occupies a room or place for the exhibition or sale of merchandise, or from which place the sales are made or business solicited by means of samples or delivery from house to house.

H. "Peddler" is a person who travels by foot, wagon, or vehicle, or other conveyance, from place to place, from house to house, or from street to street, carrying or transporting goods, wares or merchandise of any kind, offering or exposing them for sale, or making sales and deliveries to purchasers, or who sells or offers them for sale from a wagon, automotive vehicle, or other vehicle or conveyance. "Peddler" includes "hawker" and ""huckster".

I. "Person" includes a domestic or foreign corporation or association, syndicate, joint stock corporation, partnership, club, business, or common law trust, society, and individuals transacting and carrying on any business in the city, other than as an employee.

J. "Regularly employed individual" means all employees or agents who are active in the business of a person a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week for a period or more than six (6) months of the year; provided, however, if two (2) or more employees or agents perform the same function for a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week for a period of more than six (6) months during the year, such employees or agents shall be deemed to be a regularly employed individual.

K. "Sale" includes the transfer of title to property for a consideration; the serving, supplying or furnishing for a consideration of property. A transaction whereby the possession of property is transferred and the seller retains title as security for the payment of the price is a sale. This definition does not exclude any transaction which results in a sale within the contemplation of law.

L. "Solicitor" is a person who travels by foot, wagon, vehicle or other conveyance, from place to place, from house to house, or from street to street, taking, or attempting to take, orders for the sale of goods, personal property of any kind, for future delivery, or for services to be furnished or performed in the future.

M. "Sworn statement" is an affidavit or a declaration or certification made under penalty of perjury.

(Ord. 181, Sec. 2, 1978; Ord. 420, 2009)

This chapter is enacted solely to raise revenue for municipal purposes, and is not intended for regulation.

(Ord. 181, Sec. 2, 1978)

A person required to pay a license tax for transacting business under this chapter is not relieved from the payment of a license tax for the privilege of doing business required under any other ordinance of the city.

(Ord. 181, Sec. 2, 1978)

If a section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter is invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of a court, that decision does not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The city council declares that it would have adopted this portion, irrespective to the fact that any section, subsection, clause, phrase or portion is invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. 181, Sec. 2, 1978)