Guadalupe Municipal Code Ch. 3.24 Utility User Tax

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as the "Utility Users' Tax Code." The word "Code," as used in this chapter, means the Utility Users Tax Code unless otherwise so indicated.

(Ord. 85-248 §1)

This Code is required for the purpose of fixing the rate of taxation for the utility users tax, and for the purpose of providing a tax levy for the usual and current expenses of the City.

(Ord. 85-248 §2)

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this Code, shall be construed as defined in this section:

"City"

means the City of Guadalupe.

"Month"

means a calendar month.

"Person"

means all domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint-stock companies, partnerships of every kind, joint ventures, clubs, Massachusetts business or common-law trusts, societies, and individuals.

"Service supplier"

means a person required to collect and remit a tax imposed by this Code.

"Service user"

means a person required to pay a tax imposed by this Code.

"Tax administrator"

means the Finance Director of the City.

(Ord. 85-248 §4)

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

(Ord. 85-248 §4)

Nothing contained in this chapter is intended to conflict with applicable rules, regulations and tariffs of any service supplier subject to the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission. In the event of any conflict, the provisions of such rules, regulations and tariffs shall control.

(Ord. 85-248 §18)

A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the City, other than an electrical corporation or a gas corporation, using electrical energy in the City. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five percent of the charges made for such energy, and shall be paid by the person paying for such energy.

B. As used in this section, the words "using electrical energy" shall not be construed to mean the use of such energy from a storage battery; provided, however, that the term shall include the receiving of such energy for the purpose of using it in the charging of storage batteries.

C. As used in this section, the words "using electrical energy" shall not be construed to mean the receiving of such energy by an electrical corporation or a governmental agency at a point within the City, for resale.

D. The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person selling such electrical energy. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the last day of the following month.

(Ord. 85-248 §6; Ord. 94-328 §2; Ord. 2023-515, 2/27/2024)

A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the City, other than a gas corporation or an electrical corporation, using gas in the City which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five percent of the charges made for such gas, and shall be paid by the person paying for such gas.

B. As used in this section, the word "charges" shall include minimum charges for such services, including customer charges, service charges and annual and monthly charges.

C. As used in this section, the word "charges" shall not include charges made for gas used in the generation of electrical energy by a public utility or a governmental agency.

D. As used in this section, the words "using gas" shall not be construed to mean the receiving of such gas by a gas corporation or governmental agency at a point within the City, for resale.

E. 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 last day of the following month, or at such other time as the Tax Administrator and the service supplier may from time to time agree by administrative agreement.

(Ord. 85-248 §7; Ord. 94-328 §3; Ord. 2023-515, 2/27/2024)

A. There is hereby imposed a tax on the amounts paid for any intrastate telephone communication services, by any person in the City other imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five percent 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 inserting coins in coin-operated telephones, except 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 "charges" include charges for any type of service or equipment furnished by a service supplier subject to Public Utility regulation during any period in which the same or similar services or equipment are also available for sale or lease from persons other than a service supplier subject to Public Utility regulation; nor shall the term "telephone communications services" include land mobile services or maritime mobile services as defined in Section 2.1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The term "telephone communication services" refers to that service which provides access to a telephone system and the privilege of telephone-quality communication, with substantially all persons having telephone stations which are part of such telephone system. The telephone users tax is intended to, and does, apply to all charges irrespective of whether a particular communication service originates and/or terminates within the City.

C. The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person providing the intrastate telephone communication services, or the person receiving the payment for such services. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the last day of the following month, or, at the option of the person required to collect and remit the tax, an estimated amount of tax collected, measured by the Tax Administrator on or before the last day of each month.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A of this section, the tax imposed under this section shall not be imposed upon any person for using intrastate telephone communications services to the extent that the amounts paid for such services are exempt from or not subject to the Taxation Code or the tax imposed under Section 4251 of Title 26 of the United States Code.

(Ord. 85-248 §5; Ord. 94-328 §4; Ord. 2023-515, 2/27/2024)

A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person within or without the City, other than a water corporation, using water supplied by the City which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five percent of the charges made for such water, and shall be paid by the person paying for such water.

B. The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person selling the water. The amount collected in one month shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the last day of the following month.

(Ord. 85-248 §8; Ord. 94-328 §5; Ord. 2023-515, 2/27/2024)

It shall be the duty of every person required to collect and remit to the City any tax imposed by this Code to keep and preserve, in accordance with its regular billing practices, for a period of 3 years all of its normal billing and administrative records which may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax as he or she may have been liable for the collection of and remittance to the Tax Administrator, which records the Tax Administrator shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times. The Tax Administrator shall be empowered to regulate the exact terms of a service supplier's obligation to maintain these records by administrative agreement with the service suppliers.

(Ord. 85-248 §14)

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

A. The tax 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 suppliers. Except in those cases where a service user pays the full amount of the charge and tax which has accrued for the billing period, a proportionate share of both the charge and the tax shall be deemed to have been paid.

B. The duty to collect tax from a service user shall commence with the beginning of the first full regular billing period applicable to that person which starts on or after the operative date of this Code. Where a person receives more than one billing, for different periods, the duty to collect shall arise separately for each billing.

(Ord. 85-248 §11)

Taxes collected from a service user which are not remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the due dates provided in this Code are delinquent.

(Ord. 85-248 §9)

Any tax required to be paid by a service user under the provisions of this Code shall be deemed a debt owed by the service user to the City. Any such tax collected from a service user which has not been remitted to the Tax Administrator 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 Code shall be liable to an action brought in the name of the City for recovery of such amount.

(Ord. 85-248 §10)

A. The Tax Administrator shall have the power to and duty and is hereby directed to enforce each and all of the provisions of this Code.

B. The Tax Administrator 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 taxes herein imposed. A copy of such rules and regulations shall be on file in the Tax Administrator's office.

C. The Tax Administrator may make administrative agreements to vary the strict requirements of this chapter, so that collection of any tax imposed herein may be made in conformance with the billing procedures of a particular service supplier, so long as such agreements result in collection of the tax in conformance with the general purpose and scope of this chapter. A copy of each agreement shall be on file in the Tax Administrator's office.

(Ord. 85-248 §12)

A. The Tax Administrator may make an assessment for taxes not paid or remitted by a person required to pay.

B. The service supplier shall provide the City with amounts refused, along with the names, addresses and, to the extent that it has any information relative there to, the reasons of the service user's failure to pay the tax imposed by this chapter. Whenever the Tax Administrator determines that a service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the tax owed by him or her from the amounts remitted to the person required to collect the tax, or that a service user has failed to pay the amount of the tax to such person for a period of 2 or more billing periods, or whenever the Tax Administrator deems it in the best interest of the City, he or she may relieve such person of the obligation to collect taxes due under this Code from such service users for specified billing periods.

C. In such case, the Tax Administrator shall notify the service user that he or she has assumed responsibility to collect the taxes due for the stated periods, and demand payment of such taxes. 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 the billing was made by the person required to collect the tax; or, should the service user have changed his or her address, to his or her last known address.

D. If a service user fails to remit the tax to the Tax Administrator within 15 days from the date of 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 25% of the amount of the tax set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but not less than $5.00. The penalty shall become part of the tax herein required to be paid.

(Ord. 85-248 §13)

A. Whenever the amount of any tax, interest or penalty 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 is filed with the City Clerk. The claim shall conform in all respects to the requirements set forth for claims against the City in Chapter 1.10 of the Guadalupe Municipal Code. The claim shall be on forms furnished by the City Clerk.

B. A person required to collect and remit taxes imposed under this Code may claim a refund or take as a credit against taxes collected and remitted the amount overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received when it is established in a manner prescribed by the Tax Administrator that the service user from whom the tax has been collected did not owe the tax; provided, however, that neither a refund or credit shall be allowed unless the amount of the tax so collected has either been refunded to the service user or credited to charges subsequently payable by the service user by the person required to collect and remit.

C. No refund shall be paid under the provisions of this section unless the claimant establishes his or her right thereto by written records showing entitlement thereto.

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 taxes paid pursuant to this chapter on an amount of such refunded service supplier and the service supplier can claim credit for such refunded taxes against the amount which is due upon any monthly returns. In the event this chapter is repealed, amounts of any refundable taxes will be borne by the City.

(Ord. 85-248 §15; Ord. 2007-383 §4)

This chapter, in as much as it fixes the rate of taxation for the utility users tax, and provides for a tax levy for the usual and current expenses of the City, shall take effect immediately upon the date of its publication or on the date of its posting, whichever occurs first, except that the tax imposed by this chapter shall become operative and be imposed 30 days after the enactment of the ordinance codified herein, or at the beginning of the first regular billing period, or on the effective date, whichever is later, and shall not be operative or imposed prior to such date. The Tax Administrator shall be empowered to enter into administration agreements with the several service suppliers varying the commencement dates of the tax as to such service suppliers to promote the efficient implementation of the tax consistent with the billing requirements of the service suppliers.

(Ord. 85-248 §19)