Monte Sereno Municipal Code Ch. 3.09 Special Real Property Tax for Police Protection Service

As used in this Chapter.

"Parcel of property" shall mean any contiguous unit of improved or unimproved real property held in separate ownership, including, but not limited to any single family residence, or any other unit of real property subject to the California Subdivided Lands Act (Bus. and Prof. Code § 11000, et seq.).

There is hereby levied and assessed a special real property tax by the City of Monte Sereno on each parcel of property in the City of Monte Sereno in the sum of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) per year for each parcel of property. The tax imposed by this Section shall be a tax upon each parcel of property, and the tax shall not be measured by the value of the property. The authority for this tax is Government Code Section 53978.

The City Council, by three (3) affirmative votes, is empowered to suspend all or any part of the tax imposed by this Ordinance, if the City Council finds in the exercise of reasonable discretion and fiscal prudence that such part of said tax is not required to provide an adequate level of Police Protection services in the City in accordance with the purposes set forth in this Chapter, or that such part of said tax is not necessary in order to balance the budget of City without the use of any unappropriated reserve funds of the City. Alternatively, the City may lift any suspension upon or increase the annual per parcel amount.

Having suspended all or any part of the tax imposed by this Chapter, the City Council, by three (3) affirmative votes, is empowered to increase the amount of the tax up to the amount stated in Section 3.09.020 above.

The revenue raised by the real property tax levied by this Chapter shall be placed in a special fund to be used only for the purposes of obtaining, furnishing, operating and maintaining police protection equipment or apparatus, for paying the salaries and benefits of police protection personnel, and for such other police protection expenses as are deemed necessary by the City Council of the City.

Liens. The special real property tax imposed under this Chapter together with all penalties and interest thereon shall constitute a lien on the parcel of property upon which it is levied, in accordance with Revenue and Taxation Code Section 2187 and shall have the same effect as an ad valorem real property tax lien until fully paid. The lien shall attach at 12:01 a.m. on March 1st preceding the fiscal year for which the taxes are levied.

A. Collection. The special real property tax shall be collected by the Tax Collector of the County of Santa Clara at the same time as and along with, and shall be subject to the same interest and penalties, as general ad valorem property taxes collected by the County of Santa Clara on behalf of the City. The taxes on each parcel of property shall be billed on the secured roll tax bills and shall be collected in the same manner as ad valorem property taxes collected by the County of Santa Clara on behalf of the City on the secured roll. Failure to pay when due will result in the imposition of penalties and interest in the same manner as if the taxes were ad valorem property taxes.

B. Recovery of County Costs. The County of Santa Clara shall be entitled to deduct the reasonable costs of collection and administration of this Ordinance before remitting the tax revenues collected to the City.

C. Administrative Regulations. The City Council of the City by three (3) affirmative votes may from time to time adopt regulations necessary for the enforcement and administration of the special tax provided for herein, and to implement and make effective this Chapter. Such regulations shall be consistent with the purpose and intent of this section.

Any person aggrieved by the real property tax imposed pursuant to this Chapter may, within the time fixed by the City Council, appeal the determination of the officers of the County of Santa Clara charged with the collection of general ad valorem property taxes on behalf of the City to the City Council. The City Council may modify, reverse or confirm the determination of officers referred to above. The determined of the City Council shall be final.

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

The qualified electors of the City of Monte Sereno intend by this Chapter to satisfy the requirements of Section 4 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California, and without limitation by Section 4 of the Article XIII B thereof.