West Covina Municipal Code § 14-57 Microwave pay television systems

No business shall be exempt from the payment of any license fee imposed hereunder except those specifically listed in this division as exempt and those by federal or state law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no business, trade, art, profession, calling, employment, occupation; commercial, industrial, or professional pursuit or vocation; nor any show, exhibit, game or enterprise shall be exempt from the requirement under this article to submit a business license application for determination of validity of claimed exemption, proper location of such activity, and state and federal regulation of such activity.

(Code 1960, § 6225; Ord. No. 2160, § 6, 5-1-07)

Every peddler, solicitor, or other person claiming to be entitled to exemption from the payment of any license provided for in this article, upon the ground that he is an honorably discharged or released soldier, sailor or marine of the United States or Confederate States who is physically unable to obtain a livelihood by manual labor and who shall be a qualified elector of the state, as provided in the laws of this state, shall, in addition to any other information required by this article also file with the license collector a certificate of a regularly licensed and practicing physician dated within a month of such application, to the effect that such applicant is physically unable to obtain a livelihood by manual labor, and stating the nature of such incapacitation; provided, no license shall be issued to an honorably discharged or released soldier, sailor or marine of the United States or Confederate States who is physically unable to obtain a livelihood by manual labor, and who shall be qualified for exemption from payment of the fee as herein provided, except where he or she shall be actively engaged in the management and conduct of the business for which such license shall be issued.

(Code 1960, § 6223)

Every peddler, solicitor, or other person claiming to be entitled to exemption from the payment of any license provided for in this article upon the ground that such license casts a burden upon his right to engage in commerce with foreign nations or among the several states, or conflicts with regulations of the United States Congress respecting interstate commerce, shall file a verified statement with the license collector disclosing the interstate or other character of his business entitling such exemption. Such statement shall contain the name and location of the company or firm for which the orders are to be solicited or secured, the name of the nearest local or state manager, if any, of his address, the kind of goods, wares or merchandise to be delivered, the place from which the same are to be shipped or forwarded, the method of solicitation or taking orders, the location of any warehouse, factory or plant within the state, the method of delivery, the name and location of the residence of the applicant, and any other facts necessary to establish such claim of exemption. A copy of the order blank, contract form or other papers used by such person in taking orders shall be attached to the affidavit for the information of the license collector.

(Code 1960, § 6224)

A license may be obtained without payment of the fee required under the provisions of this article by the following:

(a) Any institution or organization which is conducted, managed, or carried on wholly for the benefit of charitable, eleemosynary, or benevolent purposes, and from which no profit is derived, either directly or indirectly, subject to compliance with the other provisions of this article.

(b) Any nonprofit institution or organization, as to a particular enterprise or entertainment or fund-raising venture or solicitation, when:

(1) Such institution or organization is principally located or composed in the majority of members or associates residing or maintaining places of business within the city, and more than one-half (½) of the benefits are set aside for a school, or a benevolent, charitable, or eleemosynary purpose, or

(2) The entire benefits are set aside for any of such purposes wholly within the city; provided, however, that, no profit is derived therefrom by any person, directly or indirectly, and that no solicitation of funds shall be engaged in within the city except in conformance with the provisions of any ordinance of the city regulating such activities.

(Code 1960, § 6226; Ord. No. 1409, § 2, 10-23-78)

(a) Subject to the approval of the city council, a license may be obtained without the payment of the fee required under the provisions of this article by any nonprofit corporation which is organized for recreational, social or educational purposes for the maintenance and operation of recreational, social or educational facilities within the city.

(b) Section 14-57 shall apply to the issuance of nonfee licenses under this section, except that if the license collector determines that the applicant qualifies for a nonfee license, he shall refer the application to the city council for final approval or rejection.

(Code 1960, § 6226.5; Ord. No. 1311, § 4, 8-9-76)

(a) Any person exclusively engaged in the business of renting, leasing or operating games of skill or science is subject to the tax imposed both by section 14-68, category code S, subsection 25, and by article III of this chapter.

(b) Any person who is engaged in the operation, maintenance or conduct of games of skill or science as an accessory use to the main use of the premises is subject to the tax imposed both by section 14-68, category code S, subsection 17(c) and by article III of this chapter.

(Code 1960, § 6235.9; Ord. No. 1313, § 1, 9-13-76; Ord. No. 1486, § 4, 8-25-80; Ord. No. 1581, § 1, 2-28-83)

Any person who has a valid and unrevoked permit from the chief of police for the filming or videotaping of motion picture and television productions pursuant to chapter 15, article VIII of this Code is exempt from the payment of any tax imposed by article II and article III of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1583, § 1, 3-14-83)

(a) Each operator of a microwave pay television transmission system which has one (1) or more receiving terminals within the city shall pay a business license tax in an amount as established by the schedule of fees.

(b) The minimum amount of the license tax shall be due and payable at the time the application for the license is filed. Within thirty (30) days after the end of the calendar year for which the license is issued or at the time an application is filed for the renewal of the license, whichever is earlier, the licensee shall file a declaration under penalty of perjury specifying the total amount of gross receipts received by the licensee from subscribers within the city during the license period. If any additional taxes are due upon the basis of the gross receipts received from subscribers within the city, the additional tax shall be paid at the time the declaration is filed and before any renewal license is issued. No such declaration shall be conclusive as to the matter set forth therein nor shall the filing of the same preclude the city from collecting by appropriate action such sums as are actually due and payable. Such declaration and each of the several items therein contained shall be subject to audit and verification by the license collector who is hereby authorized to examine, audit and inspect the books and records of the licensee as may be necessary in his judgment to verify or ascertain the amount of license fee due.

(c) It shall be unlawful for the city license collector to make known in any manner whatsoever the business affairs, operations or information obtained by an investigation of records of any licensee or the amount or source of income, proceeds, losses, expenditures or any particulars thereof, set forth in any declaration required to be filed by this section. However, nothing contained herein shall prevent the disclosure of the names and addresses of persons to whom licenses have been issued and the general type or nature of their business, the disclosure of general statistics regarding taxes collected or business done in the city or the disclosure by way of public meetings, or otherwise, of such information as may be necessary to the city council in order to permit it to be fully advised as to the facts when a taxpayer files a claim for refund of license taxes or submits an offer of compromise with regard to a claim asserted against him by the city for license taxes or when acting upon any other matter.

(d) As used in this section, "gross receipts" means the total number of dollars actually received by the licensee from subscribers within the city during the license period without any deduction whatsoever.

(e) The business license taxes levied pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the business improvement area taxes levied pursuant to article III of this chapter of this Code.

(f) Any licensee who transmits or permits the transmission of any obscene motion picture which is received on any receiving terminal located within the city limits is guilty of a misdemeanor and the business license issued to such licensee may be revoked after notice and an opportunity to be heard before the city council, in accordance with the procedure provided for in this article. As used in this section, "obscene" means that which the average person, applying contemporary standards in the city, would find, taken as a whole that the motion picture:

(1) Appeals to the prurient interests;

(2) Represents, depicts and describes, in a patently offensive way, ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, masturbation, excretory functions and lewd exhibition of the genitals, and

(3) Taken as a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

(Code 1960, § 6235.10; Ord. No. 1360, § 1, 11-28-77; Ord. No. 1486, § 5, 8-25-80)

All applications for free licenses and permits shall be referred to the license collector, and he shall have the power in the first instance to determine the merits of such applications, and to approve or reject the same. If he finds that such application should be approved, he shall issue to such applicant a free permit or license. If he shall reject such license, the applicant shall have the right of appeal to the city council.

(Code 1960, § 6227; Ord. No. 1311, § 5, 8-9-76; Ord. No. 1377, § 1, 5-8-78)