HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 97-03
ORDINANCE NO. 97-3
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SUNNY ISLES BEACH,
FLORIDA, IMPLEMENTING THE UTILITY TAX
AUTHORIZED BY SECTION 166.231, ET SEQ., FLORIDA
STATUTES, TO LEVY AND IMPOSE UTILITY TAX UPON
THE PURCHASE WITHIN THE CITY OF SUNNY ISLES
BEACH OF ELECTRICITY, WATER, METERED GAS,
BOTTLED GAS, COAL, FUEL OIL AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE; PROVIDING FOR
SEVERABD...ITY; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 8.4 of the City Charter of the City of Sunny Isles Beach (the
"City"), and until otherwise modified by the City Commission, all municipal taxes and fees imposed
within the City boundaries by Metropolitan Dade County (the "County) as the municipal government
for unincorporated Dade County, which taxes and fees were in effect on the date of adoption of the
City Charter, shall continue at the same rate and on the same conditions as if these taxes and fees had
been adopted and assessed by the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that the above-cited Charter provision is effective by
operation oflaw to continue the levy and imposition ofthe utility tax (the "Utility Tax") provided by
Section 29-36, et seq., of the Metropolitan Dade County Code (the "County Code") as authorized
by Section 166.231, et seq., Fla. Stat., upon the purchase in the City of electricity, water, metered
gas, bottled gas, coal, fuel oil and telecommunications service (the "Utility Services"), without the
necessity for adoption of an ordinance by the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission has been advised that certain providers of Utility Services
may have concerns regarding the application of City Charter Section 8.4 pertaining to the imposition
of the Utility Tax and may assert that the adoption of an enabling ordinance is necessary for the levy
and imposition by the City of such Utility Tax; and
WHEREAS, although the City Commission believes that no further action is necessary, it
wishes to expedite the payment of Utility Taxes to the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that the enactment of this ordinance will protect the
public health, safety and welfare of the residents and inhabitants of the City and secure revenues
which are due and owing to the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
Section
.1. Utility Tax Ordinance Adopted. An ordinance to be known as the "Utility Tax Ordinance" is
hereby adopted as an ordinance of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, to read as follows:
ARTICLE I. UTILITY TAX
Sec. 1.01.
Definitions
F or the purposes hereof, the following words and phrases shall have
the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
Bottled Gas: All types and kinds of natural, liquefied petroleum and
manufactured gas for lighting, heating, cooking, power or any other
purpose delivered to any purchaser thereof within the incorporated
area of the City.
City: City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.
Coal: All coal for lighting, heating, cooking, power, energy or any
other purpose competing with any other utility or energy source taxed
under this ordinance delivered to any purchaser thereof within the
incorporated area of the City.
Electricity: All electric current or energy for lighting, heating,
cooking, power or any other purpose delivered to any purchaser
thereof within the incorporated area of the City.
Finance Director: The City Manager or his designee.
Fuel Oil: All bunker C oil, number 1 and 2 fuel oil, and kerosene or
any combination thereof capable of being used for lighting, heating,
cooking, power or any other purpose and delivered to any purchaser
thereof within the incorporated area of the City.
Metered Gas: All types and kinds of natural and manufactured gas for
lighting, heating, cooking, power or any other purpose delivered to
any purchaser thereof within the incorporated area of the City.
Purchase: Every act or transaction whereby possession of, utilization
of, control over or title to electricity, water, metered gas, bottled gas,
coal, fuel oil, telecommunications service, and the duty and obligation
to pay therefor become vested in the purchaser within the
incorporated area of the City, but such term shall not pertain to nor
include any such act or transaction when undertaken or performed by
an agency or instrumentality of the United States Government, the
State, the County or a municipality.
Purchaser: Every person legally liable for the payment of electricity,
water, metered gas, bottled gas, coal or fuel oil delivery, or
telecommunications service rendered to him, by a seller, unless such
person is an agency or instrumentality of the United States
Government, the State, the County, a municipality, or a house of
public worship, which qualifies for exemption from the State sales tax
under Section 212.08(7)(c)(1), Florida Statutes.
Seller: Every person delivering electricity, water, metered gas, bottled
gas, coal or fuel oil, or rendering telecommunications service to any
purchaser thereof.
Taxable telecommunications service: Purchases within the
incorporated area of the City of telecommunications service which
originates and terminates in this State, excluding public telephone
charges collected on site, charges for any foreign exchange service or
any private line service except when such services are used or sold as
a substitute for any telephone company switched service or dedicated
facility by which a telephone company provides a communication
path, access charges, and any customer access line charges paid to a
local telephone company. However, purchases oftelecommunications
service as described in subsection (b) of the definition of
telecommunications service below shall be taxed only on the monthly
recurring customer service charges excluding variable usage charges.
Telecommunications service means:
(a) Local telephone service, toll telephone service, including wide-area
telephone service, telegram or telegraph service, teletypewriter or
computer exchange service, or private communication service; or
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(b) Cellular mobile telephone or telecommunications service; or
specialized mobile radio, and pagers and paging, service, including but
not limited to "beepers" and any other form of mobile and portable
one-way or two-way communication; but does not include services or
equipment incidental to telecommunication services enumerated in this
paragraph such as maintenance of customer premises equipment,
whether owned by the customer or not, or equipment sales or rental
for which charges are separately stated, itemized, or described on the
bill, invoice, or other tangible evidence of the provision of such
sefVlce.
Telegraph service: All types and kinds of service as are rendered by
telegraph companies to any purchaser of such service within the
incorporated area of the City.
Telephone service: All types and kinds of service as are rendered by
telephone companies to any purchaser of such service within the
unincorporated area, including service relating to coin-box telephones
installed within the incorporated area of the City, insofar as such
service requires the payment of a guaranteed amount, but such term
shall not pertain to nor include the service rendered at the time of and
in consideration of the deposit of money in the telephone coin-boxes.
Water service: The water supply furnished to all consumers in the
incorporated area of the City for retail use and not for resale, except
water delivered to a purchaser in a bottle or other container.
Sec. 1.02.
Rate and amount of excise tax on purchase of
public utility services: Collection of tax.
There is hereby levied and imposed by the City upon every purchase
in the incorporated area of electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal,
fuel oil, telecommunications service, and water service, included in or
reflected by any bill rendered by the seller to the purchaser an excise
tax which shall be determined as follows:
(1)
(a)
When the seller, in accordance with his rules
and regulations, renders a bill to the purchaser
to cover purchases, except for purchases of
taxable telecommunications services, made
during the period of time to which the bill is
applicable, the amount of excise tax shall be
ten (10) percent of the total amount shown on
any such bill due and payable on account of
such purchases (not exceeding four cents
($0.04) per gallon for purchases of fuel oil),
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exclusive of governmental charges, annual
service fees collected pursuant to Section
32-54 ofthe County Code (pertaining to water
service), and adjustments caused by the
increased cost of energy-producing fuels,
provided such governmental charges, service
fees, taxes and fuel adjustments are shown
separately on any such bill.
(b) When the seller, in accordance with rules and
regulations, renders a bill to the purchaser to
cover purchase of taxable telecommunications
service made during the period of time to
which the bill is applicable, the amount of
excise tax shall either be seven (7) percent of
the total amount charged for any taxable
telecommunications service provided within
the incorporated area of the City, or seven (7)
percent of the total amount billed for such tax-
able telecommunications service to a telephone
or telephone number or telecommunications
number or device, or customer's billing address
located within the incorporated area of the
City, if the location of the taxable telecommu-
nications service provided cannot be de-
termined.
(2) In the use and application set out in this section,
purchases of electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal,
fuel oil, telecommunications service and water service,
shall be considered and treated as constituting and
being distinct and unrelated classes of purchases, and
in the event that more than one (1) such class shall be
shown upon the same bill, the amount of excise tax
payable pursuant hereto shall be determined and
computed for each such class separately.
(3) The seller is required and it shall be his duty to render
to each purchaser bills covering all such purchases
made, and the amount of such excise tax shall be
entered and shown by the seller as a separate item on
each such bill and shall become due and payable to the
City whenever such bill becomes due and payable
under the rules and regulations of the seller. Each such
bill shall include purchases applicable to but one (1)
location, or to but one (1) family or business where
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more than one (1) family or business uses separate
metered services at one (1) location in the
incorporated areas of the City.
(4) The purchaser is required and it shall be his duty to
pay such excise tax to the seller, as agent for the City,
at the time of the payment of each such bill, and in the
event that the purchaser shall fail, neglect or refuse to
pay such excise tax to the seller when such bill
becomes due and payable, the seller is hereby
empowered to discontinue forthwith to make any
further sales or to render any further service to the
purchaser until the total amount, including such excise
tax, shown upon such bill has been paid in full. The
seller is hereby authorized and required and it shall be
his duty to collect such excise tax from such purchaser
at the time of the payment of each such bill and to
remit the same to the Finance Department in
accordance with the provisions hereinafter stated,
provided that the seller shall have the right and
privilege of assuming and paying such excise tax
himself in lieu of collecting the same from the
purchaser; and that whenever the seller shall fail or
neglect to collect such excise tax from the purchaser
within one (1) year from the date of the bill on which
such tax was or should have been imposed, the seller
shall be deemed to have assumed such excise tax
himself and shall thereupon become liable for the
payment of the amount thereof to the City to the same
extent as if such excise tax had been collected from the
purchaser, with further recourse to the purchaser
therefor.
(5) This section shall be applicable to all bills for
electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal, fuel oil,
taxable telecommunications service, and water service;
except that any bills for the purchase of sixteen (16)
ounces or less of bottled gas in a container or less than
one (1) gallon of fuel oil and all purchases set forth in
~ 166.23(5), F.S. (1997) shall be exempt from taxation,
and further in reference to those purchases enumerated
in Section 166.231, Florida Statutes, this article shall
only apply to the extent permitted therein; the sale of
fuel oil and coal to a public or private utility; either for
resale or for use as fuel in the generation of electricity;
or the sale of fuel used for the propulsion of land,
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water or air vehicles or as fuel for other engines, the
use of which does not compete with those utilities or
energy sources specified in Section 166.231, Florida
Statutes. There is further exempted from the tax
hereby imposed, fuel and electricity used to operate
farm machinery, irrigation pumps and agricultural
first-processing machinery.
Sec. 1.03.
Remittance of tax to City by seller.
Every seller, unless exempt from Florida Statutes, is hereby required
to execute and file not later than the twentieth day of each month at
the office of the Finance Department of the City a certified statement
on a form prescribed by such Department, setting forth the amount of
such excise tax to which the City became entitled under the provisions
hereof on account of bills paid by purchasers during the preceding
fiscal month, and contemporaneously with the filing of such
statements, shall pay the amount of such excise tax to the Finance
Department. Failure to timely remit the tax shall obligate the seller to
pay to the City a penalty of one (1) percent thereof per month or
fraction thereof during the period of delinquency; and in accordance
with ~166.234(7), F.S. (1997) provided, however, that the City
Commission may, by resolution, waive all or part of said penalty. All
collected tax and penalties shall be deposited to the credit of the
general fund of the City to be expended for City purposes.
Sec. 1.04.
Records to be kept.
(a) Every seller is hereby required to establish and maintain
appropriate accounts and records showing the amount of such
excise tax payable to the City under the provisions hereof, and
such accounts and records shall be open to inspection by the
Finance Director or his duly authorized agent at all reasonable
times and in accordance with 9 166.234, Florida Statutes
(1997)
(b) Every seller is hereby required to file a return with the City
each month in a form to be determined by the seller, and the
return shall be deemed sufficient if it identifies the name and
address of the seller, the period of the return, the amount
collected from the sale, any collection allowance taken, the
amount of tax remitted with the return and name and number
of a person authorized by seller to respond to inquiries for
Seller's administration of the tax.
Sec. 1.05.
Reports of deliveries for resale.
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Every manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or seller who shall deliver
electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal, fuel oil, or water service, to
any seller or other person having a place of business in the
incorporated area of the City, or licensed to do business therein, to be
sold or resold to ultimate purchasers, shall report to the Finance
Department semi-annually, as of June 30th and December 31st, the
names and addresses of such sellers or other persons, and the
quantities received by each of them during the preceding six (6)
months, such reports to be filed not later than one month after the
close of each semi-annual period.
Sec. 1.06.
Recognition of expense in regulation of rates.
(a) All reasonable expense incurred by a seller in making the
collections and remittances and in fulfilling the duties prescribed
herein is hereby declared to be and to constitute an operating expense
and shall be accorded full recognition as such in the establishment of
rates and charges for rendering electric, metered gas, bottled gas, coal,
fuel oil, or water service in the City.
(b) For the purpose of compensating the seller of taxable
telecommunications service, the seller shall be allowed one (1) percent
of the amount of the tax collected and due to the City in the form of
a deduction from the amount collected for remittance. The deduction
is allowed as compensation for keeping of records and collection of
tax and remitting the same. To the extent that City officials will deem
it necessary to travel out of the City to examine the seller's books and
records required to be kept under subsection 1.04 of this ordinance,
out of pocket expenses as a result of such travel shall be reimbursed
to the City by the seller out of this one (1) percent service charge.
Sec. 1.07.
Violations.
It shall be unlawful and a violation hereoffor any purchaser to evade
the payment of the excise tax provided for herein or any part thereof,
or to fail or neglect to pay such excise tax within thirty (30) days after
the same has become due and payable; or for any seller to fail or
refuse to pay to the City all amounts of excise tax payable to the City
by the seller, or to fail or refuse to file the monthly certified statement
or to set forth any erroneous or false information therein with intent
to defraud the City, or to refuse to pennit the Finance Director or his
duly authorized agent to examine the accounts and records to be kept
as required hereby.
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Section 2. Severability. The provisions ofthis Ordinance are declared to be severable and
if any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance shall for any reason be held to be invalid
or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections, sentences,
clauses, and phrases of this Ordinance but they shall remain in effect, it being the legislative intent that
this Ordinance shall stand notwithstanding the invalidity of any part.
Section 3. Effective Date. This ordinance shall apply to Utility Services purchased on or after
June 16, 1997 and shall be effective on October 1, 1997.
The foregoing Ordinance was offered by~. ,^-0VlI'cn0\J , who moved its adopted on
second reading. The motion was seconded by ~o ~
and upon
being put to a vote, the vote was as follows:
Mayor David Samson
Vice Mayor Irving Turetsky
Commissioner Lila Kauffman
Commissioner Daniel Iglesias
Commissioner Connie Morrow
(yes) V
(yes)~
(yes)~
(yes)~
(yes)~
(no)_
(no)_
(no)_
(no)_
(no)_
PASSED AND ADOPTED on first reading this 7th day of August 1997.
PASSED AND ADOPTED on second reading this 11th day l7~
DAVID SAMSON, MAYOR
ATTEST:
~Ck~~~~nJi
INTERIM CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM
AND LEGAL~JJFfJ<;lENCY:
" -111
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