SR-6-X (5)
....
e
Santa Monica~ califoriii' March 31, 1980
/ I
~~
AfR 8 1980
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Income Limlt for Senior Citlzens Utl1ity
Tax Rebate Program Eligibility:
Amended by Ordlnance and Revised by Resolution
Introduction
This report transmits an ordinance for introduction which would penmlt the
lncome limits for el1gibility under the Senior Citizen Utility Tax Rebate
Program to be increased. The proposed ordinance will amend one subsection
of Ordlnance 1047 (ceS).
Background
In November of 1976, the City Council adopted Ordlnance 1047(CC5) providing
for a Senior Citizens Utility Tax Rebate. This ordinance provides that residents
62 years of age and over and disabled persons, regardless of age~ are eligible
to participate in the Utility Tax Rebate Program if their gross household income
does not exceed $7~500. Under the program, qualifying residents receive a
rebate of the City's 5% tax on the consumption of telephone, electrlclty and
natural gas.
During the FY 1979 - 80 budget review sessions last June, the City Councl1
expressed its desire to increase the income limitation prov;slon of the 1976
ordinance by $3,500 to a limit of $11,000 gross household income. In anticl-
patlan of thlS increase, the Council budgeted an extra $10,000 during FY 1979 - 80
to fund utility tax rebate payments to the additional Senior Citizens who
would qualify under the lncreased lncome limitatlon.
6Y;
APR 8 1980
. ,TQ:
Mayor and C~ty cou.
e
March 31~ 1980
-2-
The proposed ordinance amends the 1976 ordlnance(which is now Section 6633 (b)
of the Santa Monica Municipal Code) in only one respect. It eliminates the fixed
amount of $7,500 and allows future income llmits to be established by Clty Council
Resolution. Setting the dollar amount by resolution will allow the Council to
easily and qUIckly adjust the terms of the ordinance to keep pace with the economy.
This procedure also follows current City Council policy to establish fee setting by
resolution which has already been enacted with respect to parks~ the pier and land-
mark fees.
Alternatives
1. Introduce the ordinance now and subsequently adopt a resolution increasing
the maximum gross household income to $11,000.
2. Do not introduce the ordlnance and allow the present income llmit of
$7~500 to remain.
3. Amend the ordlnance to include the specified dollar amount and introduce it.
No resolution will be necessary.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Clty Council adopt alternative #1 by introducing the
ordinance to amend Section 6633 {b) of the Santa Monica Municipal Code today and
then at the second reading~ increase the income limit to $ll~OOO by adopting the
attached resolution to become effective upon the effective date of the ordinance.
Prepared by: KAY WATANABE
Acting Finance Director
JEANNE L. KENNEDY
Administrative Assistant
LYN BECKETT CACCIATORE
Deputy City Attorney
Attachments: Proposed Ordinance
Resolution
e
e
rei
ORDINANCE NO. 1155
(Clty Council--Senes)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF S~NTA MONICA AMENDING
SECTION 6633b OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE.
~
SECTION 1. Sectlon 6633b of the Santa Monica Munlcipal Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:
(b) To be ellglble for the speclal rebate provlded for herein,
a person must be sixty-two (62) years of age or older at the start of
each calendar year (January 1) for which the refund is clalmed, or
such person must meet the crlterla of disability as establlshed by
the Socla1 Security Administration's supp1emental income program for
the aged, blind and disabled (Tltle XVI of the Social Securlty Act, as
amended). In additlon, no person shall be eligible for the special rebate
provided for herein if such person's annual gross household rncoMe, as
herelnafter deflned, exceeds the maximum dollar amount for the calendar
year for WhlCh a refund is claimed. Such maximum dollar a~ot::1twll1 be
determlned periodically by Clty Counell resolution. For the purposes
of this section, "gross household income" shall be and lnclude the income
of every member of the household received during the year, lncluding, but
not limlted to, wages, salaries, bonuses, tips, gross amounts of penslons
and annuitles, retirement benefits, 50c1al secur1ty oayments, disability
paywents, llfe lnsurance benefits, interest, capital gains and lnheritances.
SECTION 2. Any prov151ons of the Santa Moncla Munlcipal Code, or
appendices thereto inconsistent herewlth, to the extent of such incon-
slstencles and no further, are hereby repealed or modlfied to that extent
necessary to effect the prOV1Slons of th1S ordinance.
..;:
e
e
SECTION 3. If any section, subsect1on, sentence, clause or
phrase of th1s ordinance 1S for any reason held to be inval1d or
unconstitutional by a decision of any court of cO~P2~ent jurisdiction,
such decision shall not affect the valid1ty of the remainlng portIons
of the ordlnance. The Clty CouncIl hereby declares that It would have
passed thlS ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence,
clause or phrase not declared invalid or unconst1tutional without regard
to whether any port1on of the ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalld or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the CIty Clerk shall attest
to the passage of thlS ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same
to be publlshed once ln the offlcial newspaper within fifteen (15) days
after its adoption. The ordinance shall become effectlve after thlrty
(30) days from its adoption.
/~PflO'l", I.AS :0 Fr;.fl /'
~ ^A" I r!d---{r j /
, 'Vvrl'" ~ ,.ALA-<fA~(rl
-R1'CHARD L. \tncKER~OCKER. ~
City Attorney
e
e
.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED THIS 22nd
...r DAY
OF
Aprll
) 19~O.
X!it /1 (3/ ,..
0," '. /, A, I '.
'~f Ww t.f> . \ji4u/~
1/) MAYOS/ I
~
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE)
No. 11S5} WAS DULY AND REGULARLY INTRODUCED AT A MEETING OF
THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE 14thDAY OF Aprll
.J 198Dj THAT
THE SAID ORDINANCE WAS THEREAFTER DULY ADOPTED AT A MEETING
OF THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE 2Znd DAY OF Apr~l
BY THE FOllOWING COUNCIL VOTE:
} 1980
~
AYES:
(OUNC I U'EHBERS :
Yannatta Gold~ay, Jennlngs, Reed,
Rhoden, Scot t, van den Steenho'"en,
Bambrick
NOES;
COUNC I U'1El'1BERS:
None
ABSENT:
COUNC I U"a-1BERS :
Xone
ATTEST:
~1~
--~ -
'---- CITY CLERK
.4//J~
6.~
/
--
e
~
PROOF OF PUBLICA liON
(20155 C C p )
STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
County of Los Angeles,
I am a citizen of the United States and a
resident Of the County aforesJld. I am over
the age of elql1teen ',ears, and not a party to
or Interested In the above entitled matter I
am the prlncpal C'e"-k. of the printer of the
EVENING OUTLOOK
a newspaper of general c'rculat,on, p:'lnted
and puhllshed
d~ily exc~p~S~d~1
SANTA MONICA
In the City of
County of Los Angeles, and which
newspaper has been adludged a newspaper
of genNal Circulation by the Superior Court
of the County of Los Angeles, State of
Callformd.underthedateofJ8';1- 2~ 19.~1,
Case Number . ~143l:? ,that the notice,
of which the annexed IS a printed copy (set
In type not smaller than nonpareil), has
been publIshed In each regular and entIre
Issue of saId newspaper and not In any
supplement thereof on the following dates,
to-WIt
May 3
all In the year 1980
I certify (or declare) under penalty of
perJury that the foregoing IS true and
correct
SANTA MONICA
Dated at
~
California, thiS ~y 3
1980
Fr.e COI"'SO' th.s bJjnk 'arm ml'lvlle secured from
CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER SERVICE
BUREAU,INC
Legal Advertising Clearing House
South Spring Sf, Los Angeles, Calif 90012
Telephone 625-2141
Pluse reCluesl GENE Il:AL Proof 01 Pubhcl'IllOn
when ordering fhls form
e
ThiS space IS for the County Clerk's Filing Stamp
Proof of PublIcation of
.~.~ ~ ......~.I.~~........~..,..._.............I...
ORDI'\A"'lCE NO 1155
IClty Council Series)
A'\ OHm>,;.\ '\CE OF THE CITY COV,\.CIL OF
THE CITY OF SA'TA \1O,\;ICA AMENDl~G SEC-
TlO\; 6633b OF THE \n.;:'\ICIPAL CODE
'iFCnm'i 1 SectIOn 66330 of the Santa Momca
:\-lumclpal Code IS hereby -amended to read as
f<JI I fJW!>
, b; co be ellglble tor the specud rebate
pn)\"llled tor herem, a person must be Slxty-
l\.n) 'b2 I yea r:-. at age or older at the start of
ca( h calt'nddr rear i January 1 i for wInch the
H'lund I~ d':llmed. or such person must meet
the l fIlc! 1.1 01 dlsablhty as estabhshed by the
~O( tal SP{ lllltr AdmllJistratwn's supplement
mCWl1C pro~am for the aged. blind and dis-
dbled ,Title XVI of the SOCial Secuntv Act, as
dmended' In addmon. no person shill be ell-
PIlIl,' fm thp \;oeClal rebate orovlded for here-
---- '
....
-
_ HIFORt/,ATlON
2IZ~OD3
Santa t'1onica~ California, Nay 17, 1979
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Mayor and City Council
City Staff
Report on Senior Citizen Utillty Tax Rebate Program
INTRODUCTION
This report provides Council wlth the status of the Senior Citizen Utility Tax
Rebate Program as requested by Councilmember Goldway at the regular City Council
meeting of r4ay 8, 1979.
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Monica currently levies a 5% tax on the consumption of telephone,
electricity and natural gas. The estimated 1979-80 Utility Tax Revenue based on
this tax rate will yield approximately 2.1 million dollars. Since May of 1976 the
finance Department has administered the Senior Citizen Utillty Tax Rebate Program.
To qualify each May and June, residents 62 and over with a gross income of less
than $7,500 bring gas, telephone and electric receipts to City Hall. Those who
are disabled with an income of less than $7,500 also qualify regardless of age.
The refunds average $15.00 per household and checks are currently issued
immediately. As of Friday, May II, 1979, 553 refund checks were issued totaling
$7,700. In 1978, l~OO refund checks were issued totaling ~15~482 and in 1977
1,100 refund checks were issued totaling $15.003. If applicants do not have
bills or receipts they are glven $9.00 or $12.00, dependlng on the number of
persons in the household. If an individual cannot come to City Hall, the City
sends a person to their home to insure they receive the rebate. In addition
to thlS refund, the Clty provides information, appllcatlon forms and counseling
on other State and Federal Refund Programs for the elderly. Many Seniors who
are and were eligible for those other programs would not have known about them
"
-
--
< -.
TO: Mayor and City Council
- 2 -
t'lay 17, 1979
without coming to City Hall. This asslstance has averaged $100 and has been as
high as $325 per applicant. In addition, through our outreach program, over fifty
shut-ins were identif1ed and have been referred to the various social agencies
within the City. The cost of administration for the two previous years have
averaged $3,000. The City has used Senior Citlzens to process and assist the
applicants. Over the three years there have been less than half a dozen
complaints concerning the operation of the program. ~bst have expressed their
appreciation to the City for providing, not only the rebates) but information
on and assistance with other State and Federal programs. It has enabled them
to tlget out" and see thew City Hall for the first time.
An alternative to this form of program is an exemption program similar to that
of Los Angeles. An eligible senior would apply once and the tax would be
deleted from their bills. Th1S would enable those applicants to apply once and
not return to City Hall. The L.A. plan would eliminate individual human contact
between the Seniors and the City and reduce the procedure to a paper exercise.
The exemption procedure would not acknowledge the fact that the City is paying
the rebate; rather it glves the 111uslon that utility companies are reducing
their rates.
It is staff's opinl0~ that the program should cont1nue as 1S but cons1der raising
the income level to $11,000 thus making more Seniors eli~ible. If Council
desires, staff can conduct a written survey to determine the opinlons of those
applying.
"
#'
-
--
TO: Mayor and City Councll
- 3 -
May 17~ 1979
RECOt~r1ENDATION
It is recommended that the program contlnue as is~ but consider raislng the
income limit to $11~OOO for next years program. Also~ if it is Council's
desiret staff will conduct a wrltten survey.
Prepared by: Robert H. Nash~ Director of Finance
Alan P. Melcher~ Budget Analyst
Joe Kushnert Rebate Coordlnator
--..