El Centro Municipal Code Art. II Special Taxes

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Editor's note— The editor has included the provisions of Ord. No. 80-18, § 1, adopted Aug. 20, 1980, as enacted by the city, with the exception of § 25-16.20. Said section contained the validity clauses and has not been set out herein.

This article and the tax authorized herein is adopted pursuant to the provisions of Article 3.5 of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code (Section 50075, 50076, and 50077); and the California Constitution Article XIIIB of Section 4.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

There is hereby levied and assessed a special real property tax by the city on each parcel in the city each year, commencing with the fiscal year 1981—82, and ending with the end of fiscal year 1984—85.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The purpose of this special tax is to generate five hundred fifty thousand dollars ($550,000.00) per year for the term of this ordinance for police and fire capital outlay including equipment, facilities; for maintenance, supplies, personnel, enforcement and related costs.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

(a) The amount of tax to be raised hereby shall be apportioned by the city council among the parcels of real property within the city not exempted by law as follows:

(1) Parcels of land occupied with dwelling units including mobile homes, trailers, and apartments shall be taxed in the amount of forty-eight dollars ($48.00) per such dwelling unit per year for each such unit.

(2) Parcels of land occupied by motels and/or hotels shall be taxed in the amount of twenty-four dollars ($24.00) per dwelling unit per year for each such unit.

(3) Parcels of land occupied by commercial and/or industrial structures shall be taxed in the amount of forty-eight dollars ($48.00) per three thousand (3,000) square feet of structure area.

(4) Unimproved lots which are not occupied by structures or units as defined above shall be taxed at twelve dollars ($12.00) per acre or portion thereof. The records of the Imperial County Assessor as of March first of each year shall determine whether or not any particular lot is unimproved for purposes of this article.

(b) When a parcel of land is occupied by structure(s) having more than one of the above described uses or occupancies, the tax shall be determined by applying to each use or occupancy the tax formula related to that use or occupancy. The tax on the property will be the sum of such determination.

For example, if a parcel is occupied by a structure which is legally used for a use described in subparagraph (a)(1) above and also is legally used for a use described in subparagraph (a)(3), the tax will be determined as to the residential nature of the structure(s) by multiplying the number of dwelling units by forty-eight dollars ($48.00); and as to the commercial/industrial nature of the structure by determining the square footage of said commercial use or nature and applying the tax formula for said square footage of commercial use or nature of the building. The total of these two (2) figures is the tax due on said parcel.

(c) Definitions.

(1) The term "dwelling unit" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in the current Uniform Building Code.

(2) The terms: "hotel," "motel," "commercial" and "industrial" shall have the meanings and shall consist of those uses ascribed to them in the current city zoning ordinance. The type of use or occupancy to which a parcel shall be categorized shall be determined by the actual legal use of the structure(s) thereon and if unused by the zoning designation on the property as set forth in the official zoning map for the city.

(3) The term "parcel" shall mean any contiguous unit of improved or unimproved real property held in separate ownership, including but not limited to any single family residence, any condominium unit, as defined in California Civil Code Section 783, or any other unit of real property subject to the California Subdivided Lands Act (Bus. and Prof. Code 11000, et seq.) and/or the Subdivision Map Act (Government Code 66410 et seq.).

(d) The tax approved by this section shall be and is a tax upon each parcel of property and the tax shall not be and is not measured by the value of the property.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The tax imposed shall be due and notice thereof given on such dates as determined by the city council by resolution at its second meeting in November.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The revenue raised by the tax levied by this article shall be placed in a special fund to be used only for the purposes of providing the services hereinabove described in the city, including expenses incidental to such purposes, it being the intent of this article that the funds raised hereby be allocated and expended prudently with one-half being expended for police services and one-half for fire services.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The city council, by three (3) affirmative votes, is empowered to suspend all or any part of the tax imposed by this article, and shall suspend such part of said tax as the city council finds in the exercise of reasonable discretion and fiscal prudence is not required to provide an adequate level of such police and fire services in the city in accordance with the purposes set forth in section 25-16.2 of this article.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

This article shall be null and void as of midnight June 30, 1985 and shall have no further force and effect whatsoever after said time and date, any action by the legislative body of the city to the contrary notwithstanding, except that sections 25-16.9 through 25-16.18, inclusive, relating to the collection and enforcement of any lien or obligation for special real property tax previously levied hereunder shall continue in effect until such time as collection and enforcement procedures have been completed.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

No section of this article shall be construed to permit, and the city council is hereby expressly prohibited from, extending the term of this article beyond June 30, 1985, or increasing the amount of any real property tax levy or penalty imposed by this article.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

Said special real property tax, together with all penalties and interest thereon, shall constitute a lien upon the parcel upon which it is levied until it has been paid.

Said special real property tax, together with all penalties and interest thereon shall, until paid, constitute a personal obligation to the city by the persons who own the parcel on the date the tax is due.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

Said lien may be enforced and foreclosed by a civil action or by any other means now or hereafter authorized by law. Said personal obligation may be enforced by civil action or by any other means now or hereafter authorized by law.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

(a) If the tax is not paid on or before the delinquent date, a ten (10) per cent penalty on the principal then due and unpaid shall be imposed on the second day of each calendar month thereafter; provided, however, that the penalty shall not exceed fifty (50) per cent.

(b) Any unpaid tax and any penalty thereon shall bear interest at the rate of one per cent per month in addition to any penalty.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The duties of assessing and collecting the tax levied by this article shall be performed by the finance officer of the city or such other officer as the city council, by three (3) affirmative votes, may designate.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The finance officer is requested to mail a notice of the tax on the date established each year to the owner of each separate parcel of property in the city to the address shown upon the finance officer's records or at such address as the finance officer may ascertain from sources the finance officer believes to be reliable; provided, however, that the failure of the finance officer to mail any such notice or the failure of any property owner to receive any such notice shall not impair the validity of the special real property tax or the validity of the special real property penalty tax or the validity of the special real property interest tax or the validity of the lien against the property.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

Any person aggrieved by the real property tax imposed pursuant to this article may, within the time fixed by the city council, appeal the determination of the finance officer to the city council. The city council may modify, reverse or confirm the determination of the finance officer. The determination of the city council shall be final.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The city council shall be empowered to amend this ordinance from which this article derived by three (3) affirmative votes of the members thereof in order to carry out the general purpose of this article in order to conform to state law that permits the county tax collector, or some other proper official, to collect a special tax such as is levied by this article in conjunction with county taxes or in order to assign duties pursuant to the article to other officers.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The city council may, by three (3) affirmative votes, provide procedures and make other provisions necessary to implement and make effective this article.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The special real property tax imposed by this article shall not apply to any parcel of property that is exempt from the real property tax imposed by this article pursuant to any provision of the constitution or any paramount law.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

This article shall become operative only if the ordinance from which this article derived is adopted by a vote of sufficient number of qualified electors as is required by paramount law to impose the real property tax described in this article.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)

The qualified electors of the city intend this article to satisfy the requirement of Section 4 of Article XIIIA of the Constitution of the State of California, and the electors hereby approve an upward adjustment or change in the appropriations limitation of the city as permitted by Section 4 of Article XIIIB of the Constitution of the State of California in the amount of the revenues generated by this article.

(Ord. No. 80-18, § 1)