Article II — LICENSE TAXES

All license fees shall be payable in advance and shall be refundable only as allowed in this chapter.

Unless otherwise specifically provided, all annual license taxes, under the provisions of this chapter, shall be due and payable in advance on July 1 of each year.

Except as otherwise herein provided, license taxes, other than annual, required hereunder shall be due and payable as follows:

A. Semiannual license taxes, on January 1 and July 1 of each year.

B. Quarterly license taxes, on the first day of July, October, January and April of each year.

C. Monthly license taxes, on the first day of each and every month.

D. Weekly license taxes on Monday of each week in advance.

E. Daily license taxes each day in advance. (Ord. 1324, 12-18-1984)

A. Classification A:

Acupuncture.

Appraiser.

Architect.

Assayer.

Attorney at law.

Auctioneer.

Auditor or accountant.

Bacteriologist.

Chemists or chemical laboratory.

Chiropractor.

Civil engineer.

Collection agency.

Dental laboratory.

Dentists.

Electrical engineer.

Financial planner.

Geologist.

Hydraulic or mining engineer.

• Insurance adjuster.

• Insurance broker.

• Investment counselor.

Mechanical engineer.

Medical laboratory.

Optician.

Optometrist.

Osteopath.

Personal loans/supplier of financing.

Physician.

Podiatrist.

Psychiatrist.

Psychoanalyst.

Psychologist.

Real estate broker.

Stock salesperson.

Stockbroker.

Structural engineer.

Surgeon.

Surveyor.

Veterinarian.

All other professions not hereinabove specifically set forth, and other businesses not specifically set forth in this chapter, operating on a net profit of ten and one- hundredth percent (10.01%) or more will be classified in the above category.

B. Classification B:

Auction sales.

Bakeries.

Barbershops.

Bedsprings and mattress manufacturers.

Book publishing and printing.

Builders.

Bus lines.

Confectioners.

Contractors.

Dairy product manufacturers.

Dry cleaning plants and agencies.

Foundries.

Fruit and vegetable canneries.

Gardening.

Handymen.

Hospitals.

Hotels, motels, auto courts, etc.

Iron and steel fabricators.

Junk dealer/collector.

Laundry.

Linen supply.

Machine shops.

Maintenance service - building, janitorial, yard, etc.

Manufacture of agricultural or industrial chemicals.

Manufacture of bodies for automobiles, buses, or trucks.

Manufacture of concrete, gypsum, and plaster products.

Manufacture of paints, varnishes, and lacquers.

Maternity homes.

Meat and provisions packers.

Mortuaries.

Newspapers, other than daily, with offices inside city.

Petroleum refineries.

Photographer (itinerant photographers, see subsection 15-24A29 of this article).

Printers.

Private patrol, private patrol service.

Recyclable waste hauler.

Renting of automobiles, trucks and trailers.

Rest homes.

Sanatorium.

Secondhand dealers.

Soft drink bottles.

Stamp redemption.

Trade schools.

Transient vehicles and recreation vehicle parks.

Tree trimming.

Water companies not under city franchise.

Manufacturers and other businesses not specifically set forth in this chapter, operating on a net profit of ten percent (10%) to four and one-hundredth percent (4.01%) will be classified in the above category.

C. Classification C:

Bowling alleys.

Gasoline service stations.

Ice depot and production.

Restaurants.

Retail milk trucks.

Rock, sand, gravel, dirt, mixed concrete, etc.

Skating rinks.

Theaters and movie houses.

Retailers and other businesses not specifically set forth in this chapter, operating on a net profit of four percent (4%) to two and one-hundredth percent (2.01%) will be classified in the above category.

D. Classification D:

Automobile dealers.

Automobile wrecking.

Drays, motor trucks, etc., for transportation of freight.

Gasoline and oil distributors.

Trucking or delivery, with offices within city.

Wholesale and other businesses not specifically set forth in this chapter, operating on a net profit of two percent (2%) or under will be classified in the above category.

E. Classification; Procedure For Review: In any case where a business license holder or an applicant for a business license believes that his individual business is not assigned to the proper classification under this section because of circumstances peculiar to it, as distinguished from other businesses of the same kind, he may apply to the collector for reclassification. Such application shall contain such relevant information as the collector may deem necessary and required in order to determine whether the applicant's individual business is properly classified. The collector shall then conduct an investigation, following which he shall assign the applicant's individual business to the classification shown to be proper on the basis of such investigation. The proper classification is that classification which, in the opinion of the collector, most nearly fits the applicant's individual business. The reclassification shall not be retroactive but shall apply at the time of the next regularly ensuing calculation of the applicant's tax. No business shall be classified more than once in one year.

F. Reclassification; Notice Of Action; Procedure For Hearing: The collector shall notify the applicant of the action taken on the application for reclassification. Such notice shall be given by serving it personally or by depositing it in the United States post office at Porterville, California, postage prepaid, addressed to the applicant at his last known address. Such applicant may, within fifteen (15) days after the mailing or serving of such notice, make written request to the collector for a hearing on his application for reclassification. If such request is made within the time prescribed, the collector shall cause the matter to be set for hearing. The collector shall give the applicant at least ten (10) days' notice of the time and place of the hearing in the manner prescribed above for serving notice of the action taken on the application for reclassification. The collector shall consider all evidence adduced and render his decision. Written notice of such findings shall be served upon the applicant in the manner prescribed above for service of notice of the action taken on the application for reclassification. The decision of the collector may be appealed to the city council. (Ord. 1324, 12-18-1984; Ord. 1358 § 2, 7-15-1986)

A. Every person who engages in a business within the city as specified below shall pay a license tax of the amount and frequency indicated:

1. Advertising solicitor, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually for each person so employed.

2. "Amusements, amusement rides", as defined in section 15-1 of this chapter, wherein they are held in conjunction with and on premises owned or leased by commercial houses for commercial purposes, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) per period not to exceed four (4) days per calendar month; wherein amusement rides are not conducted as a promotion for a commercial house, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) per day per unit or one hundred dollars ($100.00) per year per unit.

3. "Arcade", as defined in section 15-1 of this chapter, of five (5) or more amusement machines, games of chance or skill, at one location, shall pay five dollars ($5.00) per machine semiannually.

4. Auctioneers shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification A, of this article except that those auctioneers who are duly licensed by the state of California and whose permanent place of business is not within the city limits shall pay no license tax.

5. Auctions sales. Reserved.

6. Barbershops shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

7. Boxing and wrestling matches. Every person conducting, carrying on or managing boxing or wrestling matches in the city shall pay the following license: Fifty dollars ($50.00) per day or one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) semiannually.

8. Bus lines, who transport passengers from or to a terminus within the city, shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article, except that common carriers shall be exempt.

9. Card rooms, the sum of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) per calendar quarter per table, except that tables where the players or participants at said table play solely for merchandise or so called "garbage" games, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) per calendar quarter per table.

10. Carnival, including each separate show, game, amusement, exhibition, vaudeville or dramatic performance, game of chance or skill, food and drink stands, the sum of four hundred dollars ($400.00) per day. "Amusements, amusement rides" as defined in section 15-1 of this chapter shall be licensed as provided in subsection A12 of this section.

11. Circuses. For the purpose of this section, a "circus" is defined to be an exhibition or entertainment at which feats of horsemanship, acrobatic feats, and trained or wild animals are exhibited or displayed, to which exhibition or entertainment an admission fee is charged. For any person conducting, carrying on or managing a circus, or other similar exhibition, side show, or other show or concert to a circus, the sum of two hundred dollars ($200.00) per day.

12. Coin operated machines. For each machine operated by depositing therein coin(s) or operated by other consideration of value, the sum of five dollars ($5.00) per machine semiannually. Machines owned and operated by a person in conjunction with his established business shall be licensed under the gross receipts of the established business. Newspaper vending machines, money changing machines and coin operated laundries are exempt from this subsection A12.

13. Contractors, and every person who is required to have a state contractor's license and who is conducting, carrying on or managing the business of a contractor, shall be required to have a city contractor's business license. Contractor's license fee shall be paid semiannually under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

14. Demonstrators and hawkers. For every person who advertises or calls attention to the business, profession, trade or calling of any person by giving demonstration on foot, or from any wagon, automobile or vehicle, or from any stand, box or platform, on any street, alley, sidewalk or place, or in any doorway of any room or building, unenclosed or vacant lot, the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per month, or fraction thereof; provided, that nothing in this subsection A14 shall be deemed to authorize licensing of any act now prohibited by law or ordinance. The provisions of this subsection A14 shall not apply to newsboys selling newspapers.

15. Detective agency or private detective, the sum of fifty dollars ($50.00) semiannually.

16. Flea market or swap meet operator, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually, plus one dollar ($1.00) per day per single space or area of contiguous spaces rented by the vendor, except that if a vendor possesses and exhibits a current and valid business license issued by the city then the operator need not remit the one dollar ($1.00) per day for any such vendor. Said fee shall be collected by the operator from the vendor and remitted to the city on a weekly basis, along with a complete list of the name and address of all vendors who were exempt from paying the tax pursuant to this subsection A16. Said remittance shall be accompanied by consecutively numbered receipts written in triplicate, containing the name and address of the vendor, the make and license number of a vehicle owned by the vendor, and the vendor's California seller's permit number. Said receipt shall be furnished by the city. One copy of the receipt shall be furnished to the vendor, one copy filed with the finance department of the city on a weekly basis, and one copy to be retained by the swap meet operator for a period of three (3) years for audit purposes.

Fortune teller. The business license fee for "fortune telling" for pay, as defined in subsection 15-20F of this chapter, shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) per year.

17. Handyman shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

18. Hotels, motels, auto courts, etc., shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

19. Insurance broker shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

20. Itinerant vendor, itinerant merchant, the sum of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per day per person for each person so employed, with a minimum fee of twenty five dollars ($25.00).

21. Junk dealer and/or collector shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

22. Maintenance service: building, janitorial, yard, etc., shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

23. Newspapers, daily, with offices within the city, the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) semiannually.

24. Newspapers, other than daily, with offices within the city, shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

25. Newspaper agents and/or distributors, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually.

26. Paid promoters, the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) semiannually.

27. Pawnbrokers. For any person conducting, carrying on or managing a pawnshop or acting as pawnbrokers, the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) semiannually.

28. Peddler, the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) per day per person so employed, with a minimum fee of twenty five dollars ($25.00).

29. Photographer, itinerant, the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) semiannually for each person so employed.

30. Private police, private patrol service shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

31. Real estate broker, who maintains an office or place of business within the city and who engages in the activities of acting as a real estate broker in the sale or lease of any property within the city, the license fee shall be under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification A, of this article. Said gross receipts shall include gross commissions of the broker and gross commissions of all salespersons acting as agents of the broker.

32. Real estate broker, out of city, who does not maintain an office or place of business within the city but who engages in the activities of acting as a real estate broker in the sale or lease of any property within the city, the license fee shall be under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification A, of this article. Said gross receipts shall include gross commissions of the broker and gross commissions of all salespersons acting as agents of the broker.

33. Reserved.

34. Shoeshine parlors or persons engaged in the business of shining shoes, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) for the initial application fee inclusive of license fee for first semiannual license period. Thereafter the renewal license fee shall be the sum of seven dollars fifty cents ($7.50) semiannually.

35. Solicitor, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) per day per person so employed.

36. Solicitor, by means of telephone, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually per person so employed.

37. Stamp redemption shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

38. Stockbroker shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification A, of this article.

39. Stock salesman, shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification A, of this article.

Street vendors/peddlers, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually for each vehicle, cart, or any other type of conveyance.

40. Taxicabs or vehicles for hire, the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually for each vehicle.

41. Trade school. Every person engaged in conducting or operating a trade school shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

42. Transient trailer and recreation vehicle parks shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification B, of this article.

43. Trucking or delivering, with offices within the city, but not subject to public utilities commission regulations, shall be licensed under the gross receipts section 15-23, classification D, of this article.

44. Trucking or delivering, with offices outside the city, but not subject to the public utilities commission regulations, shall pay the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) semiannually for each vehicle with one ton or less load capacity, and the sum of thirty five dollars ($35.00) semiannually for each vehicle with load capacity of over one ton.

B. Any business not designated under this section or in any other section of this chapter or in any other ordinance or code of the city of Porterville shall be licensed under section 15-23 of this article.

All licenses shall be paid in advance, in the legal currency of the United States, at the office of the city.

No greater or less amount of money shall be charged or received for any license than is provided in this chapter, and no license shall be sold or issued for any period of time other than is provided in this chapter. (Ord. 1324, 12-18-1984; Ord. 1358 § 1, 7-15-1986; Ord. 1384 § 3, 8-4-1987; Ord. 1494, 3-15-1994; Ord. 1531 § A4, 6-18-1996)