Santa Barbara Municipal Code Ch. 4.37 Downtown Parking and Business Improvement Area Assessment District

Pursuant to the provisions of Part 6 (commencing with Section 36500) of Division 18 of the Streets and Highways Code of the State of California, which part is entitled the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989, a parking and business improvement area is hereby established. The boundaries of the Parking and Business Improvement Area shall be as shown on a map, the official copy of which is on file in the Office of the City Clerk which map is entitled "City of Santa Barbara, Parking and Business Improvement Area of 1999."

(Ord. 4719, 1991; Ord. 5126, 1999)

The City Council of the City of Santa Barbara finds and determines as follows:

A. That on August 6, 1991, the City Council adopted a "Resolution of the Council of the City of Santa Barbara" declaring the City Council's Intention to Form a Downtown Parking and Business Improvement Area Assessment District and Preliminarily Approving the City Engineer's Report" thereon as City Resolution No. 91-126 and called for a public hearing on September 3, 1991. (Hereinafter the "Resolution of the Intention.")

B. That the public hearing was held pursuant to the Resolution of Intention on September 3, 1991 at 10:45 a.m. in the City Council chambers of the City of Santa Barbara to consider protests to the proposed PBIA Benefit Assessment District, to consider any and all proposed revisions to the proposed PBIA Benefit Assessment District and to consider all public comments thereon.

C. That a majority of the businesses subject to the proposed PBIA Benefit Assessment District have not protested the formation of a such a benefit assessment district.

D. That the method and basis of levying the PBIA Benefit Assessment shall be as described in this chapter and the Final Engineer's Report prepared by the City Engineer and dated July 1991.

E. The Improvements and Activities to be provided in the Downtown PBIA Benefit Assessment District will be funded by the proposed assessments and the revenue from the assessments will not be used to provide any improvements or activities outside the Downtown PBIA Benefit Assessment Area.

F. The businesses and the properties within the Downtown PBIA Benefit Assessment Area will be benefitted by the Improvements and Activities to be funded by the PBIA Assessments and such benefit is amply demonstrated by the Final Engineer's Report, the additional materials presented to the City Council in connection with the September 3, 1991 public hearing and the presentation, comments and evidence received by the City Council during the September 3, 1991 hearing on this matter.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The following words and phrases shall have the meaning indicated, unless the context or usage clearly requires a different meaning (words and phrases not defined herein shall be as defined and construed in the "Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989. (i.e., California Streets & Highway Code Sections 36500 - 36551).

Business.

Professions, trades and occupations, financial institutions and all and every kind of calling carried on for profit or livelihood.

Gross Floor Area.

All of the usable area within the perimeter walls of a building, including, but not limited to, partitions, restrooms, storage rooms, file rooms and work rooms. A mezzanine shall be considered separate floor area. Gross floor area does not include interior patios or uncovered pedestrian walks.

Improvement Area or Area.

The Santa Barbara Parking and Business Improvement Area of 1991 established herein pursuant to the State Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989.

Person.

All domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind, clubs, Massachusetts business or common-law trusts, societies, and individuals transacting and carrying on any business in the City.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

A. There is imposed upon all businesses within the Parking and Business Improvement Area of 1991 an assessment which is in addition to the general business tax imposed by Chapter 5.04 of the Santa Barbara Municipal Code, and such businesses shall be subject to the provisions of the assessment as provided by the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989 including any amendments thereto.

B. Varying benefits will be derived by the different businesses lying within said improvement area, and the area is therefore divided into zones according to the benefits received from the improvements and activities funded by the improvement area assessments, each zone to be composed of and include all the businesses within the improvement or activity area which will be benefitted in like measure. The proposed zones and the percentages of benefit within each zone which is proposed to be used in computing the assessment herein provided are as follows:

ZONE A: Zone A includes all those businesses within the improvement or activity area which are marked 100 on the map. The zone of charge percentage within said Zone A to be used in computing the assessment herein provided is 100%.

ZONE B: Zone B includes those businesses within the improvement or activity area which are marked 40 on the map. The zone of charge percentage within said Zone B to be used in computing the assessment herein provided is 40%.

ZONE C: Zone C includes those businesses within the improvement or activity area which are marked 35 on the map. The zone of charge percentage within said Zone C to be used in computing the assessment herein provided is 35%.

ZONE D: Zone D includes those businesses within the improvement or activity area which are marked 30 on the map. The zone of charge percentage within said Zone D to be used in computing the assessment herein provided is 30%.

ZONE E: Zone E includes those businesses within the improvement or activity area which are marked 25 on the map. The zone of charge percentage within said Zone E to be used in computing the assessment herein provided is 25%.

ZONE F: Zone F includes those businesses within the improvement or activity area which are marked 20 on the map. The zone of charge percentage within said Zone F to be used in computing the assessment herein provided is 20%.

ZONE G: No assessment is imposed on businesses within the improvement activity areas which are shown as below the 20% zone of charge.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The rates of assessment imposed by this chapter shall be as follows:

I. Retail-wholesale, theater and fitness facilities assessment rates.

Group A. SMALL PURCHASES. Retail and/or wholesale businesses with an average sale of less than $20.56 per $100.00 of gross sales.

Group B. MEDIUM PURCHASES. Retail and/or wholesale businesses with an average sale between $20.00 and $100.29 per $100.00 of gross sales.

Group C. LARGE PURCHASES. Retail and/or wholesale businesses with an average sale of more than $100.16 per $100.00 of gross sales.

Group D. THEATERS. Sixteen cents ($0.16) per $100.00 of gross sales.

Group E. FITNESS FACILITIES/HEALTH CLUBS. Twenty-nine cents ($0.29) per $100.00 of gross sales.

(As used in this subsection, average sale is computed by dividing the total gross sales for the year by the number of sales transactions).

II. Financial institutions. Banks, savings and loan associations, thrift institutions, credit unions and all similar institutions, 48 cents ($0.48) per usable square foot.

III. Stock and bond brokerage offices. Eighty-one dollars and 30 cents ($81.30) per broker.

IV. Transit facilities and bus depots. Six cents ($0.06) per usable square foot.

V. Professionals. Every person conducting or carrying on any business, profession or occupation hereinafter enumerated shall pay an annual assessment at the rate of $32.50 per person practicing his or her profession, and $16.30 for each nonprofessional in addition to the above. (The enumerated businesses, professions and occupations in subsection V shall be as described in Section 5.04.420 as presently enacted or hereinafter amended)

VI. Educational facilities and miscellaneous classifications.

Group A. EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. Nineteen cents ($0.19) per usable square foot.

Group B. MISCELLANEOUS. All classifications not otherwise provided for, 19 cents ($0.19) per usable square foot.

VII. Hotels and motels. Two hundred seventy dollars per guestroom per year for guestrooms without assigned parking spaces.

VIII. Miscellaneous exempt businesses and residences. Residences, alleys, private parking, and businesses engaged in auto repairing, servicing or sales, and warehousing and manufacturing, shall be exempt from the additional annual business assessment, provided that the business described in this section shall be subject to the additional assessment for the portion of business area devoted to office space or retail sales in connection with that business.

(Ord. 5521, 2010)

A. Calculation of gross floor area. In instances where the assessment is computed on the basis of square footage, for purposes of computation of the assessment there shall be excluded any unoccupied or unusable area and, with respect to area occupied for a portion of the assessment period, there shall be excluded the portion of the area equal to the portion of the period during which the area was unoccupied.

B. Exclusions from calculations. For the purpose of computing the square footage on which the assessment is computed for telephone and telegraph businesses, there shall be excluded in addition to the exclusions provided in subsection A, all areas occupied by telephone or telegraph equipment used in interstate commerce, and any area not clearly devoted to intrastate activities to the end that interstate commerce shall not be unreasonably burdened by the assessment herein provided.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

Businesses within the combined zone of charge which have gross sales transactions which are originated, negotiated and executed off the main business premises shall be designated "off-premises businesses" if at least 35% of such sales transactions are so consummated. Off-premises business shall be assessed on the basis of the gross sale transactions originated, negotiated or executed on the premises.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

Each business within the combined zone of charge shall be entitled to a credit against this assessment representing the percentage of the required on site parking which each such business provides. The credit for each business shall be limited to a maximum of 75% of the annual assessment assessed for that business. For the purposes of computing the percentage credit, the amount of required parking shall be determined based on the gross floor area of the business. To qualify for the credit, parking areas provided by businesses must be improved to the current standards of the City, be open to patrons of the business and shall be located within 250 feet of the business claiming the credit.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

A. The assessments collected pursuant to this chapter shall be payable on or before the 15th day following the close of each calendar quarter, and shall be based upon the gross sales, square feet of gross floor area, gross deposits, or number of persons, as the case may be, for such preceding calendar quarter. Assessments shall be delinquent after the last day of the month which follows the end of a calendar quarter.

B. Payments shall be accompanied by returns, on forms provided by the City Finance Director. Each owner or operator of a business shall correctly fill in the return, sign the same and certify under penalty of perjury that the contents are true and correct.

C. If a person is not in business for a full calendar quarter and the assessment is not based upon gross sales, the amount of assessment shall be pro-rated according to the proportion of the quarter in which he or she was engaged in business.

D. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, if a person ceases to engage in business, the assessment shall become due immediately and shall become delinquent 30 days thereafter.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

For the failure to pay a assessment on or before the delinquency date, the City Finance Director shall add a penalty of 10%, and he or she shall add an additional penalty of 10% at the end of each 30-day period there-after; provided, that the amount of such penalty to be added shall in no event exceed 50% of the assessment to which the penalty rates herein provided for have been applied.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The information furnished or secured pursuant to this chapter relative to gross sales or number of employees shall be confidential only to the extent provided by State law.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The amount of any assessment imposed by this chapter shall be deemed a debt to the City, and any person carrying on any business without paying a assessment as herein required, shall be liable to an action in the name of the City in any court of competent jurisdiction, for the amount of the assessment imposed on such business by this chapter, together with all penalties then due thereon.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

If any person fails or refuses to make within the time provided by this chapter, any report and remittance of the assessment or any portion thereof required by this chapter, the Finance Director shall proceed in such manner as he or she may deem best to obtain facts and information on which to base his or her estimate of the assessment due. As soon as the Finance Director procures such facts and information as he or she is able to obtain upon which to base the assessment of any assessment imposed by this chapter and payable by any person who has failed or refused to make such report or remittance, he or she shall proceed to determine and assess against such person the assessment and penalties provided for by this chapter. In case such determination is made, the Finance Director shall give a notice of the amount so assessed by serving it personally or by depositing it in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the person so assessed at his or her last known place of address. Such person may, within 10 days of the serving or mailing of such notice make application in writing to the Finance Director for a hearing on the amount assessed. If application by the person for a hearing is not made within the time prescribed, the assessment and penalties determined by the Finance Director shall become final and conclusive and immediately due and payable. If such application is made, the Finance Director shall give not less than five days written notice in the manner prescribed herein to the person to show cause at the time and place fixed in said notice why said amount specified therein should not be fixed for such assessment and penalties. At such hearing the person may appear and offer evidence why such specified assessment and penalties should not be so fixed. After such hearing, the Finance Director shall determine the proper assessment to be remitted and shall thereafter give written notice to the person in the manner prescribed herein of such determination and the amount of such assessment and penalties. The amount determined to be due shall be payable after 15 days. The decision of the Finance Director shall be final and conclusive.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

It shall be the duty of every person liable for the payment to the City of any assessment imposed by this chapter to keep and preserve for a period of three years all records as may be necessary to determine the amount of such assessment as he or she may have been liable for, which records the Finance Director shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The City Council hereby designates the Downtown Parking committee as the "advisory board" to prepare an assessment report for each fiscal year and to forward such report to the City Council prior to the beginning of each fiscal year. The City Council will consider such report and take those actions necessary to levy the annual PBIA assessment as it may deem necessary and appropriate, all as described in more detail in "Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989."

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The City Finance Director shall enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

The boundaries of the Downtown Parking and Business Improvement Area of 1999 and the various zones of charge within the Area shall be as shown on a map on file with the City Clerk which map is entitled the "Parking and Business Improvement Area of 1999 Map."

(Ord. 4719, 1991; Ord. 5126, 1999)

If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is for any reason held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this chapter, or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this chapter, and each section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that one or more sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)

Except for the collection of delinquent taxes under Chapter 4.36, collection of the taxes imposed by Chapter 4.36 shall be suspended after the ordinance creating the Downtown Parking and Business Improvement Assessment Area of 1991 described in this chapter is effective and the City Council has adopted its first annual PBIA assessment resolution levying the PBIA Benefit Assessment, and for as long as such assessments can lawfully be collected in the Downtown Parking and Business Improvement Assessment Area of 1991. If the collection of such assessments is enjoined or determined to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, said suspension of taxes collected under Chapter 4.36 shall automatically terminate.

(Ord. 4719, 1991)