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City Council Meeting 6- 1- 93
JUN 1
Santa Monica, California
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STAFF REPORT
TO: Mayor and city council
FROM: city Attorney
SUBJECT: Ordinances Amending the Santa Monica Municipal Code to Increase the utility User Tax and
to Establish a Parking Facility Tax
At its meeting on May 25, 1993, the city Council introduced for first reading two ordinances, one increasing the utility user tax, and the other establishing a parking facility tax. The ordinances are now presented to the city council for adoption.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying
ordinances be adopted.
PREPARED BY: Joseph Lawrence, Acting City Attorney
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ATTACHMENT E
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city Council Meeting 6- 1- 93 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 1683 ( CCS)
City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA ADDING CHAPTER 6. 70 TO THE
SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH A
PARKING FACILITY TAX
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
9 SECTION 1. Chapter 6. 70 is added to the Santa Monica Municipal Code to read as follows:
SECTION 6. 70. 010. Definitions.
Except where the context otherwise
i
requires, " the definitions in thlS Section
govern the construction of this Chapter.
a) Hotor vehicle. Motor vehicle"
means every self- propelled vehicle operated or
suitable for operation on the highway.
b) occupancy. occupancy" means the
use or possession or the right to the use or
possession of any space for the parking of a
motor vehicle or any other purpose in a
parking facility.
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c) Occupant. " Occupant" means a person
who, for a consideration, uses, possesses or
has the right to use or possess any space for
the parking of a motor vehicle in a parking
facility under any lease, concession, permit,
right of access, license to use or other
agreement or otherwise, whether voluntarily or
involuntarily. occupant shall be deemed to
include any person required to pay any valet
or service-labor charge in connection with the
parking of motor vehicles on public or private
property and any person required to pay a
charge for the occupancy of parking space by
another person by means of validation or
otherwise.
ed) Operator. Operator" means the
person who conducts a parking facility,
whether in the capacity of owner, lessee,
mortgage in possession, licensee, valet or
other service supplier or any other capacity.
When the operator performs his or her
functions through a managing agent of any type
or character other than an employee, the
managing agent shall also be deemed an
operator for purposes of this article and
shall have the same duties and liabilities as
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his principal. When the managing agent
collects parking fees and tax on behalf of his
or her principal and deposits the same into
the principal' s account in a financial
institution, such principal shall be
responsible for reporting and remitting the
tax to the City. It shall be the duty of the
manag ing agent to provide the Director of
Finance with the name and address of each
principal who will be responsible for
reporting\ and remitting the tax to the city.
Compliance with the provisions of this article
by either the principal or the managing agent
shall be considered to be compliance by both.
A person who qualifies as an operator shall
not, by reason of being exempt from the tax
imposed in. this article, be exempt from the
duties and liabilities of an operator imposed
under this article.
e) Parkinq Heter. nparking meter"
means any device which, when the recording
device thereof is set in motion, or
immediately following the deposit of any coin,
shall register the period of time that any
motor vehicle may be parked adjacent thereto.
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f) parkinq Facility. " Parking
facility" means any outdoor space or uncovered
plot, place, street, lot, parcel, yard or
enclosure, or any portion thereof, or any
building or structure, or any portion thereof,
where or in which a motor vehicle may be
parked, stored, housed or kept, for which any
charge is made.
g) Person. " Person" means any natural
person, partnership, joint venture, joint
stock company, corporation, estate, trust,
business trust, receiver, administrator,
executor, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy,
firm, company, association, club, syndicate,
society, municipal corporation, the state of
California, political subdivision of the state
of California, the United states,
instrumentality of the United states, or any
group or combination acting as a unit, whether
mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit or
otherwise.
h) Parking Fee. " Parking feell means
the consideration charged, whether or not
received, for the occupancy or use of space in
a parking facility valued in money, whether
received in money, goods, labor or otherwise,
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including all receipts, cash, credits and
property and services of any kind or nature,
without any deduction therefrom. The parking
fee shall be deemed to include the total
charges required to be paid by an occupant,
including, but not limited to, any valet or
service labor charge in connection with the
use or occupancy of parking space on public or
private property. Nothing shall be construed
to mean that a parking fee is charged to the
occupant of space in a parking facility for
the sale ' of petroleum products, automobile
parts or other tangible personal property, the
rendering of services, including car wash
services, ~ otally unconnected with the use or
occupancy of parking space, or where parking
space lS provlded to the occupant as a
compliment from the operator and where no
consideration is charged to or received from
any other person.
Section 7. 60. 020. Parking Facility Tax.
On or after July 1, 1993, there is hereby
imposed a tax upon every person in the city
who occupies a parking facility or who is
obligated to pay a parking fee. The tax
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imposed by this Chapter shall be at the rate
of ten percent ( 10%) of the total parking fee
charged by the operator for use of the parking
facility.
section 6. 70. 030. COllection.
a) On or after the effective date of
this Chapter, every operator or person
receiving any payment for use of a parking
facility shall collect the amount of the tax
imposed by this Chapter from the person paying
the parking fee or who is obligated to pay the
parking fee.
b) Unless otherwise prohibited by law,
every person occupying a parking space in a
parking facility shall be required to pay the
tax imposed by this Chapter to the operator or
the person collecting the parking fee. If the
parking fee is paid in installments, or if an
amount paid is less than the full amount of
the parking fee and tax accrued at the time of
payment, a proportionate share of the tax
shall be deemed to have been paid with each
such partial payment or installment.
c) The taxes required to be collected
pursuant to this Chapter shall be deemed to be
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held in trust by the operator or the person
required to collect the tax on behalf of the
City until the taxes are remitted to the city
as required by this Chapter and shall
constitute a debt owed by the operator to the
city.
Section 6. 70. 040. Reports and Tax
Remittance.
a) The person or operator collecting or
obligated ~ o collect any parking facility tax
pursuant to this Chapter, shall prepare a
report upon such forms and setting forth such
information as the Director of Finance may
prescribe and require to carry out the
purposes of this Chapter.
b) The person or operator collecting or
obligated to collect any parking facility tax
shall report the amount of parking fees
collected and, the tax required to be
collected along with a remittance of the tax.
c) The reports and tax remittances of
parking facility taxes shall be due no later
than the twenty- fifth day following the end of
each calendar quarter and shall cover the just
ended calendar quarter. For purposes of this
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Chapter, the calendar quarters begin January
1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 of each year
and end the last day of March, June, September
and December of each year.
Section 6. 70. 050. Interest and
Penalties.
If any person fails or refuses to remit
to the Director of Finance the tax required to
be collected by this Chapter, there shall be
added to such tax a penalty of ten percent
10%) of the amount of the tax due for each
thirty days that the tax is unpaid. If the
tax due remains unpaid for a period of ninety
90) days or longer, in addition to the
penalty prescribed by this section, the person
owing the tax shall pay to the City interest
on the amount due from the date the tax was
due, in the amount determined by the Director
of Finance as equal to the City' s actual rate
of return on its invested funds.
Section 6. 72. 060. Failure to Collect and
Report Tax.
If any person shall fail or refuse to
collect the parking facility tax or to make,
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within the time provided in this Chapter, any
report or remittance required by this Chapter,
the Director of Finance shall proceed in such
manner as he or she may deem best to obtain
facts and information on which to estimate the
tax due. As soon as the Director of Finance
shall procure such facts and information as he
or she is able to obtain upon which to base
the assessment of any tax payable by any
person who has failed or refused to collect
the same and to make such report or
remittance, the Director of Finance shall
proceed to determine and assess against such
person the tax and penalties provided for by
this Chapter and shall notify such person by
mail sent to his or her last known place of
address of the total amount of such tax
including interest and penalties, and the
total amount thereof shall be payable within
ten days from the date of such notice.
Section 6. 72. 070. Records.
It shall be the duty of every person
liable for the collection and payment to the
city of any tax imposed by this Chapter to
keep and preserve, for a period of two years,
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t
such suitable records as may be necessary to
determine the amount of such tax as he or she
may have been liable for the collection of and
payment to the City, which records the
Director of Finance shall have the right to
inspect at all reasonable times.
Section 6. 72. 080. Cessation of Business.
Whenever any person required to collect
and pay to the City a tax under this Chapter
shall cease to operate or otherwise dispose of
his or her business, any tax payable hereunder
to the City shall become immediately due and
payable and such person shall immediately make
a
report and pay the tax due.
Section 6. 72. 090. Exceptions.
No tax shall be payable hereunder in any
of the following instances:
a) On the parking fee paid by any
federal, State of California, or City of Santa
Monica, official or employees when on official
business provided that a tax exempt
certificate is executed no later than the time
when payment of the parking fee is due, on a
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form to be provided by the Director of
Finance.
b) On the parking fee deposited in any
parking meter owned or operated by the city.
ec) On the parking fee paid for any city
preferential parking permit.
d) On the parking fee paid as part of
any residential dwelling unit lease, rental
agreement or obligation, including on the
parking fee paid as part of any hotel, motel
or other lodging facility occupancy, but only
when the length of the occupant' s stay exceeds
thirty ( 30) consecutive days in the hotel,
motel or other lOdging facility.
Section 6. 72. 100. Penalty.
Any person violating or failing to comply
with any of the provisions of this Chapter,
shall upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a
misdemeanor and shall, in addition to any jail
sentence, be fined not more than five hundred
dollars. Each violation of this Chapter shall
constitute a separate offense. Any conviction
for violation of this Chapter shall not
relieve any person from the payment,
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collection or remittance of the parking
facility tax as provided in this Chapter.
Section 6. 72. 1~ O. Director of Finance--
powers and Duties.
It shall be the duty of the Director of
Finance to ascertain the name of every person
operating a parking facility in the City of
Santa Monica, liable for the collection of the
tax levied by this ordinance, who fails,
refuses or neglects to collect the tax or to
make, within the time provided by this
ordinance, the reports or remittances required
herein. In addition to any other remedy or
proceeding, the Director of Finance is
authorized to request that the city Attorney
commence any proceeding as may be appropriate
to obtain payment of any tax, including
penalty and interest, as may be due the city
under this Chapter.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to affect the provisions of this ordinance.
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SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The city Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective upon its adoption pursuant to Santa Monica Municipal Charter section 6l9.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Q~~/ w0-
t1~fEP~ LAW~ ENCE
i~
ing City Attorney
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Adopted and approved th~s 1st day of June, 1993.
o 4k
fi Mayor
I hereby certlfy that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1683 ( CCS) was duly and regularly ~ ntroduced at a meetlng of the City Council on the 25th day of May 1993j that the said Ordinance was thereafter duly adopted at a meeting of the C~ ty Counc~ l on the 1st day of June 1993 by the following Councll vote:
Ayes: CounCllmembers Abdo, Genser, Olsen, Vazquez
Noes- Councllmembers: Greenberg, Holbrook, Rosenstein
Absta~ n: Councllmembers: None
Absent: Councllmernbers None
ATTEST:
j
r.-/ City Clerk
ATTACHMENT E