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Ordinance No. 29 57
UTILITY USER TAX
The Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of
California, hereby ordains as follows:
THAT CHAPTER 21 OF THE CODE OF BUTTE COUNTY BE AMENDED BY
INCLUSION OF ARTICLE VIII, SECTIONS 21-98 THROUGH 21-116 to read
as follows:
ARTICLE VIII. IITILITY DSER TAX
Section 21-98 Description and Purpose
The purpose of this Article is to levy a utility user tax in
the unincorporated area of Butte County on water, telephone, gas,
and electric services on residential, agricultural, industrial,
and commercial users.
Section 21-99 Definitions
A. "Person" shall mean any domestic or foreign corporation,
firm, association, syndicate, joint stock company, partnership of
any kind, joint venture, club, Massachusetts business or common law
trust, society, or individuals.
B. "County" shall mean the unincorporated areas of the
County of Butte in the State of California.
C. "Governing Hoard" shall mean the Board of Supervisors of
the County.
D. "Telephone corporation", "electrical corporation", "gas
corporation", and "water corporation" shall have the same meanings
as defined in Sections 234, 218, 222, and 241, respectively, of the
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California Public Utilities Code except, "electrical corporation",
"gas corporation" and "water corporation" shall also be construed
to include any municipality or governmental agency engaged in the
selling or supplying of electrical power or gas or water to a
service user.
E. "Service supplier" shall mean any entity required to
collect or self-impose and remit a tax as imposed by this
ordinance.
F. "Service user" shall mean a person required to pay a tax
imposed by this ordinance. It does not mean a governmental agency.
G. "Tax Administrator" shall mean the Treasurer-Tax
Collector of the County.
H. "Month" shall mean a calendar month.
I. "Res3.dent3.al service user" means any service user who is
charged for service based upon a single family residential rate.
J. "Non-Residential service user" means any service user
other than a residential service user.
Section Z1-100 Constitutional Exemptions
Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed as imposing a
tax upon any person when imposition of such tax upon that person
would be in violation of the Constitutions of the United States or
California.
Section 21-101 Other Exemptions
A. Any of the service suppliers shall be exempt from the
user tax that pertains to the specific utility for which they are
the supplier.
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B. When a service provider offers income-based rate
reduction for residential service users, and to the extent that a
residential service user qualifies for such rate reduction in
accordance with the service providers' program, that portion of the
users' bill that qualifies for such reduction shall be exempt from
the tax.
C. The Governing Board may, by resolution, establish further
exemptions not already provided herein, provided that such
exemptions do not constitute unfair competitive advantages to one
service supplier of a specific utility over another service
supplier of that same utility.
Section 21--102 Electricity User Tax
A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the
County, other than an electrical corporation, using electrical
energy in the County, except as provided for in Section 21-100.
The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of five
percent (5$) for residential service users and at the rate of three
percent (3~) for non-residential service users. The tax imposed
by this section shall be based on the charges made for such energy
by a franchised electrical corporation and shall be billed to and
paid by the person using the energy. "Charges", as used in this
section, shall include charges made for: metered energy and
minimum charges for service, including customer charges, service
charges, demand charges, standby charges and all other annual and
monthly charges, fuel or other cost adjustments, authorized by the
California Public Utilities Commission or the Federal Energy
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Regulatory Commission.
B. As used in this section, the term "using electrical
energy" shall not be construed to mean the storage of such energy
by a person in a battery owned or possessed by him for use in an
automobile or other machinery device apart from the premises upon
which the energy was received; provided, however, that the term
shall include the receiving of such energy for the purpose of using
it in the charging of batteries, nor shall the term include the
mere receiving of such energy by an electric corporation or
governmental agency at a point within the County for resale.
C. The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from
the service user by the person selling the electricity. Taxes
collected shall be remitted to the tax administrator in accordance
with Section 21-306.
D. The Tax Administrator may require fram said service
supplier satisfactory evidence documenting the sales price, or fair
market value in the absence of a sales price, and quantity of
electricity used.
Section 21-103 Gas IIser Tas
A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the
County, other than a gas corporation, using, in the County, gas
which is delivered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed by this
section shall be the rate of five percent (5~) for residential
service users and at the rate of three percent (3~) for non-
residential service users and shall be billed to and paid by the
person using the gas. "Charges" as used in this section shall
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include: that billed far gas which is delivered through mains or
pipes; gas transportation charges; and demand charges, service
charges, customer charges, minimum charges, annual and monthly
charges, and any other charge authorized by the California Public
Utilities Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
B. The tax otherwise imposed by this section is not
applicable to: (1) charges made for gas which is to be resold and
delivered through mains and pipes; (2) charges made for gas used
and consumed by a governmental agency in the conduct of its
business or; (3) charges made by a gas public utility ar gas used
and consumed in the course of its public utility business; and (4)
charges made for gas used in the propulsion of a motor vehicle, as
authorized in the Vehicle Code of the State of California; (5}
liquid propane gas.
C. The tax imposed in this section sha11 be collected from
the service user by the person selling or transporting the gas.
Taxes collected shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator in
accordance with Section 21--1R6.
D. The Tax Administrator may require from the service
supplier satisfactory evidence documenting the sales price, or fair
market value in the absence of a sales price, and quantity of gas
used.
Section 21-104 Telephone User Tax
A. There is hereby imposed a tax on the amounts paid far
any intrastate telephone communications services by every person
in the County other than a telephone corporation using such
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services. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of
five percent {5~) for residential service users and at the rate of
three percent (3~) for non-residential service users and shall be
billed to and 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 telephone except that where such coin-operated 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 words "telephone communication services" include land
mobile services or maritime mobile services as defined in Section
2.1 of Title 47 of the Cade of Federal Regulations, as said section
existed on January 1, 1970. The term "telephone communications
services" refers to that service which provides access to a
telephone system and the privilege of telephonic 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 billed to
a telephone account having a situs in the County, irrespective of
whether a particular communications service originates and/or
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terminates within the County.
C. The tax imposed by this section shall be collected from
the service users by the person providing the intrastate telephone
communications services, or by the person receiving payment for
such services. The taxes collected shall be remitted to the tax
administrator in accordance with Section 21-106.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, 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 tax imposed under Division 2, Part 20 of the
California Revenue and Taxation Code, or the tax imposed under
Section 4251 of the internal Revenue Code.
Section 21-105 Water IIser Tax
A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person in the
County using water in the County which is delivered through mains
or pipes. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of
five percent {5~) for residential service users and at the rate of
three percent (3~) for non-residential service users and shall be
paid by the person paying for such water.
B. There shall be excluded from the base on which the tax
imposed in this section is computed, charges made for water which
is to be resold and delivered through mains or pipes; and charges
made by a municipal water department, public utility or a county
or municipal water district for water used and consumed by such
department, utility or water district.
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C. The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from
the service user by the person supplying the water. The amount
collected shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator in accordance
with Section 21-1.06.
Section 21-106 Remittance of Tax
The amount of tax collected by a service supplier in one month
shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the last
day of the month following the month in which the taxes were
collected, Taxes remitted by U,S, mail shall. be postmarked on ar
before the last day of the month following the month in which they
are collected. Similarly, taxes remitted by mail carriers other
than U.S. mail shall be so postmarked. Taxes collected from a
service user which are not remitted to the Tax Administrator on or
before the due dates provided in this ordinance are delinquent and
subject to penalties. Should the due date fall an a weekend or
legal holiday, the remittance may be postmarked on the first
regular working day following the Saturday/Sunday, or legal
holiday.
Section 21-107 Actions to Collect
Any tax required to be paid by a service user under the
provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed a debt owed by the
service user to the County. Any such tax collected from a service
user which has willfully been withheld from the Tax Administrator
shall be deemed a debt owed to the County by the person required
to collect and remit. Any person owing money to the County under
the provisions of this ordinance shall be liable to an action
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brought in the name of the County for the recovery of such amount.
Section 21-iQ8 Duty to Collect - Procedures
The duty to collect and remit the taxes imposed by this
ordinance 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
regular billing practice of the service supplier. Except in those
cases where a service user pays the full amount of said charges but
does not pay any portion of a tax imposed by this ordinance, if the
amount paid by a service user is less than 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 the tax from a service user shall
commence with the beginning of the first regular billing period
applicable to that person which starts on or after the operative
date of this ordinance. Where a person receives more than one
billing, one or more being for different periods than another, the
duty to collect shall arise separately for each billing period.
Section 21-iG9 Additional Powers and Duties of Tax Administrator
A. The Tax Administrator shall have the power and duty and
is hereby directed to enforce each and all of the provisions of
this ordinance.
B. The Tax Administrator shall have the power to adopt rules
and regulations not inconsistent with provisions of this ordinance
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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 ordinance 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 said agreements result in collection of the tax in
conformance with the general purpose and scope of this ordinance.
A copy of each agreement shall be on file in the Tax
Administrator's office.
D. The Tax Administrator shall determine the eligibility of
any person who asserts a right to exemption from the tax imposed
by this ordinance. The Tax Administrator shall provide the service
supplier with the name of any person who the Tax Administrator
determines is exempt from the tax imposed hereby, together with the
address and account number to which service is supplied to any such
exempt person. The Tax Administrator shall notify the service
supplier of termination of any person's right to exemption
hereunder, or the change of any address to which service is
supplied to any exempt person.
Section 21-110 Assessment - Administrative Remedy
A. The Tax Administrator may make an assessment for taxes
not remitted by a person required to remit.
B. If a service user fails to remit the tax to the service
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supplier with the utility payment, said tax is immediately
delinquent and is subject to penalties set forth in Section 21-110,
subsection D. Whenever the Tax Administrator determines that a
service user has deliberately withheld the amount of the tax owed
by him from the amounts remitted to a person required to collect
the tax, or that a service user has refused to pay the amount of
the tax to such person, or whenever the Tax Administrator deems it
in the best interest of the County, service supplier may be
relieved of the obligation to collect taxes due under this
ordinance from certain named service users for specific billing
periods.
C. The service supplier shall provide the County with
amounts refused and/or unpaid along with the names and addresses
of the service users neglecting to pay the tax imposed under
provisions of this ordinance. Whenever the service user has failed
to pay the amount of tax for a period of two or more billing
periods, the service supplier may be relieved of the obligation to
collect taxes due.
D. If the service supplier is relieved of the obligation to
collect taxes due, the Tax Administrator shall notify the service
user that he has assumed responsibility to collect the taxes and
penalties due for the stated periods and demand payment of such.
The notice shall be served on the service user by handing it to him
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 billing was made by the person required to collect
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the tax; or, should the service user have changed his address, to
his last known address. If a service user is deemed to be
delinquent, a penalty of ten percent (10~} of the amount of the tax
set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but not less than $15.00.
The penalty shall become part of the tax herein required to be
paid.
E. If a service supplier fails to remit any tax imposed by
this section within the time required, without the benefit of an
agreement made under the provisions of Section 21-109, subsection
C, a penalty of ten percent (10~} , of the amount of the tax but
not less than $100.00, in addition to the amount of the tax shall
be imposed.
Failure to remit any delinquent remittance on or before a
period of thirty days following the date on which the remittance
first became delinquent shall Constitute a second delinquency
penalty of ten percent (10~) of the amount of the tax, but not less
than $100.00, in addition to the amount of the tax and penalty
first imposed.
F. If the Tax Administrator determines that the nonpayment
of any remittance due under this chapter is due to fraud, a penalty
of twenty-five percent (25~}of the amount of the tax shall be added
thereto in addition to the penalties stated in subsections D and
E of this section.
G. In additian to the penalties imposed, any service
supplier who fails to remit any tax imposed by this chapter shall
pay interest at the rate of one-half (.5~} of ane percent per
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month, or fraction thereof, on the amount of the tax, exclusive of
penalties, from the date on which the remittance first became
delinquent until paid.
Every penalty imposed, and such interest as accrues under the
provisions of this subsection, shall become a part of the tax
herein required to be paid.
H. If a service supplier fails or refuses to collect such
tax, and to make, within the time provided in this ordinance, any
report and remittance of such tax or any portion thereof required
by this chapter, the Tax Administrator shall proceed in such manner
as he may deem best to obtain facts and information on which to
base his estimate of the tax due. As soon as the Tax Administrator
shall procure such facts and information as he is able to obtain,
he shall proceed to determine and assess against service supplier
the tax, interest, and penalties provided for by this chapter. In
case such determination is made, the Tax Administrator 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 service supplier so assessed at the last known place of
business. Such service supplier may within ten days after the
serving or mailing of such notice make application in writing to
the Tax Administrator for a hearing on the amount assessed. If
application for a hearing is not made within the time prescribed,
the tax, interest and penalties, if any shall become final and
conclusive, and immediately due and payable. If such application
is made, the Tax Administrator shall give not less than five days
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written notice in the manner prescribed herein to the operator to
show cause at a time and place fixed in such notice why such amount
specified therein should not be fixed for such tax, interest, and
penalties. At such hearing, the service supplier may appear and
offer evidence why such specified tax, interest, and penalties
should not be so fixed. After such hearing the Tax Administrator
shall determine the proper tax to be remitted and shall thereafter
given written notice to the person in the manner prescribed herein
of such determination and the amount of such tax, interest, and
penalties. The amount determined to be due shall be payable after
fifteen days, unless an appeal is taken as provided herein.
I. Any service supplier aggrieved by any decision of the Tax
Administrator with respect to the amount of such tax, interest,
and penalties, if any, may appeal to the Board of Supervisors by
filing a notice o£ appeal with the county clerk within fifteen days
of the serving or mailing of the determination of tax due. The
Board of Supervisors shall fix a time and place for hearing such
appeal, and the county clerk shall give notice in writing to such
operator at his last known place of address. The findings of the
Board of Supervisors shall be final and conclusive, and shall be
served upon the appellant in the manner prescribed above for
service of notice of hearing. Any amount found to be due shall be
immediately due and payable upon the service of notice.
Section 21-111 Records
It shall be the duty of every service supplier required to
collect and remit to the County any tax imposed by this Chapter to
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keep and preserve, for a period of three (3) years, all records as
may be necessary to determine the amount of such tax such service
supplier may have been required to collect and remit to the County,
which records the Tax Administrator and Auditor-Controller of the
County shall have the right to inspect at all reasonable times.
Section 21-112 Refunds
A. Whenever the amount of any tax has been overpaid or paid
more than once, or has been erroneously or illegally collected or
received by the Tax Administrator under this ordinance the Auditor-
Controller in agreement with the Tax Administrator may refund as
provided in this section.
S. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A of this
section, a service supplier may claim credit against taxes remitted
the amount overpaid, paid more than once, or erroneously or
illegally collected or received when it is established that the
service user from whom the tax has been collected did not owe the
tax; provided however, that neither a refund nor a credit shall be
allowed unless the amount of tax erroneously or illegally collected
has either been refunded to the service user or credited to charges
subsequently payable by the service user to the person required to
collect and remit. A service supplier that has collected any
amount of tax in excess of the amount of tax imposed by this
ordinance and actually due from a service user, may refund such
amount to the service user and claim credit for such overpayment
against the amount of tax which is due upon any other monthly
returns, provided such credit is claimed in a return dated no later
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than three (3) years from the date of overpayment.
C. 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 ordinance on the amount
of such refunded service charges may also be refunded to service
users by the 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 ordinance is repealed
amounts of any refundable taxes will be borne by the County to the
extent that such taxes collected have been remitted to the County
by the service supplier,
D. A service supplier may refund the taxes collected to the
service user in accordance with this section or by the service
supplier's customary practice.
Section 21-113 SeverPtbility
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence,
clause or phrase of this ordinance or any part thereof is for any
reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portion of this ordinance or any part
thereof. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would
have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact any
one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs,
sentences, clauses or phrases be declared unconstitutional.
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Section 21-114 Termination or Suspension of Utility User Tab
A. The service supplier sha11, upon notification, terminate
or suspend any utility user tax commencing with the first fu11
billing period which occurs after the effective date of such action
by the Board of Supervisors. Absent any earlier action by the
Board of Supervisors to suspend or terminate any utility user tax,
this ordinance is repealed as of January ~., 1996.
B. The Board shall review the tax during the annual budget
process, but in no event later than October 1 of each year.
Section 21-115 Operative Date
This ordinance sha11 become effective on the first day of
November, 1991 The tax imposed under this ordinance shall be
applied to bi11s issued for billing periods beginning on or after
the first day of November, 1991..
PARSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County
of Butte this 1st day of October , 19 91 by the following
vote:
AYES: Supervisors P1cInturf, Noux and Chair Dolan
NOES: Supervisors I~cLaughi i n and ~uI ton
ABSENT: None
NOT VOTING: None
JAN~DOLA3~, Chair
Butt County Board of Supervisors
ATTEST:
WILLIAM H. LPH, Chief Administrative Officer and
Cler of the Board of Supervisors
By
Deputy
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