SR-212-003 (4)
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SEP 1 3 1983
CA : R'1M : r
Clty Councll Meetlng 9-13-83
Santa Honlca, Californla
STAFF REPORT
TO:
Mayor and Clty Councll
FROM:
Clty Attorney
SUBJECT:
Ordlnance Amendlng Munlcipal Code Bectlon 6633
Relatlng to Utlllty Tax Rebate and Exemptlon
At lts meetlng on Aprll 5, 1983, the Clty Councll dlrected
the Clty Attorney to prepare an ordl.nance provldlng for an
exemptl.on procedure from payment of the Clty'S utiIlty tax. In
response to thlS dlrectlon, the accompanying ordlnance has been
prepared and is presented for City Counell conslderatlon.
MUnl.Clpal Code Seclton 6620 et seq. currently provldes for
a 5% utillty tax.
MUnl.Clpal Code Sectlon 6633 provldes a
spec lal rebate procedure for senlor Cl tl. zens and 581 reClplents
who meet establlshed lncome requirements.
The speclal rebate
procedures provl.de that ellglble lndlVl.duals can flle a claiM
between May 1 and June 30 of each year for a rebate of the
utlllty tax pal.d during the prlor calendar year.
In order to avold lnconvenlence to ellgl.ble l.ndi vldual s,
the City Councll deSlres to provide for an exemptlon procedure.
Eligl.ble lndlvl.duals would flIe a one-tl.me exemptlon appIlcatlon.
Upon the approval of the appllcatlon, the utlllty suppllers would
be dlrected to dlscontinue collectlon of the tax frOM the
ellglble lndlVl.dual.
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SEP 1 3 1983
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The proposed ord~nance al'1ends Mun1.c1.pal Code Section 6633
to prov l.de for an
Council dl.rect10n.
exemptl.on procedure conSl.stent w1th Cl.ty
The exempt~on procedure 1.5 contal.ned ~n
subdiv1.sion (e).
Wh1.1e provl.dl.ng for an exemptl.on procedure, Sect~on 6633
reta1.ns the prov1.s1.ons relat1.ng to rebates. (See subdlV1.sion
(d) . ) Retention of th1.s prov 1.51.0n 1.S necessary to prov 1.de for
reba tes of taxes pa ld 1n cal endar year 1983 pr 10 r to the
implementatlon of the new exempt1.on procedure. In addLtion, the
rebate procedure wlll remaln In place for those ellgl.ble
indlv1duals who, for any number of reasons, do not apply for the
necessary exemption and pay the tax.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompany~ng
ord1nance be l.ntroducted for f1.rst readlng.
PREPARED BY:
Robert M. Myers, City Attorney
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CA:RNM:r
Clty Councll Meetlng 9-13-83
Santa Monlca, Callfornla
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(Clty Caunell Serles)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 6633
RELATING TO UTILITY TAX REBATES
AND EXEMPTIONS
SECTION 1.
Sectlon 6633 of the Santa Monlca Munlclpal
Code lS a~ended to read as follows:
SECTION 6633.
Speclal Rebates and
Exemptlon.
( a) In
addltion to the refund
procedures set forth In SeetLon 6632.
there lS hereby establlshed special
rebate and exemptlon procedures for
natural persons rneet~ng the ellglblllty
crlterla establLshed by thLS Sectlon.
(b) To be ellgLble for the speclal
rebate or exemption provlded for In thlS
Bectlon, a person must be Slxty-two (62)
years of age or older. or such person
must Meet the crl terla of dlsablll ty as
establlshed by the Soclal Securlty
Admllllstratlon's supplemental securlty
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J.ncorne program for the aged, blind and
d 1. sa b 1 e d (T l tIe XV I 0 f the So c 1. a 1
Securl.ty Act, as amended). In addl.tlon,
no person shall be ellglble for the
specl.al rebate or exemptl.on provlded for
In thlS Sectlon If such person's annual
gross household lncome, as hereJ.nafter
deflned, exceeds the maXlIDum dollar
amount for the calendar year for whlch a
refund J.s clalmed. The maXlmum dollar
amount wlll be establJ.shed and from tJ.me
to tlme anended by resolutJ.on of the Clty
Councll. For the purposes of this
Seetlon, "gross household lncome" shall
be and lnclude the lncorne of every member
of the household recelved durlng the
year, J.ncluding, but not lJ.rnlted to,
wages, salarles, bonuses, t.LpS, gross
amounts of pens1.ons and annU1.tles,
retlrement benefJ.ts, soclal securlty
payments, dlsablllty payments, llfe
lnsurance benef 1. ts, 1.nterest, capi ta 1
gaJ.ns and lnherltances.
(c) Notwlthstandlng subsections
(a) and (b), persons who receive taxable
utlllty serVlce from master meters, or
for whom utJ.lity charges are J.ncluded In
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house, apartment, or other rental charges
shall not be ellglble for the special
rebate or exemptlon provlded for 1n th1S
Sect1on. Persons recelving funds from
any publ1C agency spec1f1cally for the
payment of such ut1l1ty taxes shall,
likewlse, not be ellg1ble for the rebate
prov~ded for here1n.
(d) Spec1al Rebates.
(1) A clalM for a rebate of
the utll1ty tax pa1d pursuant thlS
Chapter shall be flIed w.lth the Dlrector
of Flnance between May 1 and June 30 of
each year for the taxes paid durlng the
prevlOUS calendar year. Cla1ms shall be
submltted on forms prov1ded by the City
and all statements made thereln shall be
under oath and subject to penalty of
perJury. No rebate shall be pald under
the provlslons of thlS Sectlon unless the
clalmant establlshes hlS r1ght thereto by
wrltten record show1ng ent1tlement
thereto, and the Dlrector of F1nance may
requ1re such add1tlonal eVldence as he or
she deems necessary or approprlate 1U
determ.Lnlng such ent.L tlement. Only one
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clal.I'1ant from each household each year
shall be entltled to a rebate.
(2) The Dlrector of Flnance
shall reVlew each clalM and shall cause a
rebate to be made to the clalmant of the
utlllty taxes pald by such claimant
pursuant to thls Chapter, or that portlon
of sald taxes pald whlch 1.S found to be
due and oWlng to the claimant. If the
Dlrector of Flnance determlnes that a
clalm 15 faulty or that the clalmant has
falled to truthfully set forth the
requlred fac ts, the clalm for reba te
shall be rejected In wrltlng to the
cla1mant.
(3) If a cla1m for a rebate
1S not flIed W1 thln the perlod set forth
In subsect10n (d) (1) all r1ghts to such
reba te for the prev lOUS calendar year
shall be walved, deemed vOld and
permanently ext1.ngulshed.
(e) special Exemptlon.
(1) Any person ellglble
under subsectlons (a) and (b) may flle an
appllca tlon for an exemptl.on Wl th the
Dlrector of F1nance. The appl1catl.On
shall be subm1tted on the forms provided
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by the C~ty and all statements made
there~n shall be under oath and subject
to penalty of perjury. No appll.Catlon
shall be granted unless the appllcant
establ:Lshes hl.s or her rlght thereto by
wrltten record showlng entltlement
thereto.
The Dl.rector of Flnance may
reqUlre such addltlonal eVldence as he or
she de ems nee es sa ry or appropr la te 1.n
deterMlnl.ng entltleMent.
(2) The Dlrector of Flnance
shall reVl.ew all such applicatlons and
shall certify as exempt those applicants
determ~ned to qualify therefor. The
Director of Fl.nance shall notlfy all
5erVlce suppliers affected that such
exemptlons have been approved. For each
exernptl.on, the followl.ng informatl.on
shall be transml.tted to the serVlce
suppller:
(1.) Name
of
exempt
appllcant.
(11.) Account number shown on
utl.llty blll.
(l1.i) Address
to
wh 1. c h
exempt service 15 be~ng supplled.
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(lV) Any other lnformatlon
as may be necessary for the serVlce
suppLler to remove the exempt service
user from ltS tax bl1l1ng procedure.
(3) Upon recelpt of such
notlflcatlon, the serVlce suppller shall
not be required to contlnue to blll any
further tax lmposed by thls Chapter from
such exempt serVlce user, untll further
notlce
by the
The
Dlrector of Flnance
lS
glven.
ellffil.nate
service
suppller
shall
such exempt
serVlce
user
from
lts tax bJ.lllng procedure no later than
60 days after recelpt of such notlce from
the Dlrector of Flnance.
(4) All exemptlons shall
contlnue and be renewed automatlcally by
the Dlrector of Flnance, so long as the
prerequl.site facts supportlng the ln1tlal
qual1f1cat1on for exemptlon shall
contl.nue. The exemption shall auto-
I'latlcally terml.nate wlth any change 10
the serVlce address or resldence of the
exempt serVlce user, except that such
serVl.ce user may apply for a new
exemptl.on.
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(5) The DLrector of F1nance
shall have the r~ght and the power to
demand eV1dence of contLnued ellglblllty
of a serv~ce user for exemptlon. FaLlure
to provlde any eVldence requested by the
Dlrector of Flnance as lS wLthln the
control of a serVLce user to so prov1de
shall be grounds for the lmmedlate
dlscontlnuance of the exemption.
EVldence provided to the Dlrector of
FLnance upon request may not be used
agalnst such serVlce user as eVLdence of
vlolatlon of the provls1ons of thlS
BeetloDr sueh eVldenee may only be used
as grounds for termlnat~on of the
exemptlon.
(6) Any lndlvldual exempt
from the tax shall notlfy the D1rector of
Flnance wlthln 10 days of any change 1n
fact or Clrcumstance whLch might
disqual1fy the lndlVldual from recelvlng
such exemptlon. No person shall
knowingly recelve the benefits of the
exemptlons provloed by thlS Sectlon, when
the baSlS for such exemption elther does
not eXlst or ceases to eXlst.
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(7) Notw1thstandlng any of
th e pro v 1 s 10 n s 0 f t h 1 sSe c t ion, any
serv lce suppller who detemlnes by any
means that a new or nonexempt serVlce
user is recelvlng serVlce through a meter
or connectlon exempt by virtue of an
exemptlon lssued to a prey lOUS user or
exempt user of the same meter or
connectlon, shall lmmedlately notlfy the
Dlrector of Flnance of such fact. The
Dlrector of Flnance shall conduct an
lnvestlgation to ascertaln whether or not
the provlsions of thlS Sectlon have been
complied wlth and, If approprlate, order
the serVlce supplier to commence
collectlng the tax from the nonexeITlpt
serVLce user.
(8)
If
the
Dlrector
of
Flnance deterITIl.nes that an appllcatlon
for an exemptl.on is faulty or that the
applicant has falled to truth fu lly set
forth the requlred facts, the appll.Catlon
for exemptlon shall be denled l.n wrlting
to the appll.cant.
(f) A
determl.natl.on
of
the
Dl.rector of Flnance to reJect a cla1m for
reba te or to deny an appll.ca t 10n for
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exemptlon may be appealed in accordance
wlth Munlclpal Code Seetlon 6126 w~thln
10 days after the date of mal1ing of the
.
rejeet.l.on of the cla.l.m or denial of the
applicatlon.
If an appeal by an
aggrieved elalmant or applicant 18 not
taken wlthln the 10 day perlod, no appeal
of the decision of the Dlrector of
Flnance made thereafter be taken, and the
determlnatlon of the Director of Finance
shall become flnal.
SECTION 2.
Any prOVl.S10n of the Santa Monlea Munlclpal
Code or appendlees thereto lnconslstent wlth the prOVl.S10nS of
thlS ordlnance, to the extent of such lnConSl.stenCl.es and no
further, are hereby repealed or modl.f~ed to that extent necessary
to affect the provlslons of thls ordlnance.
SECTION 3.
If any sectl.on, subsectlon, sentence, clause,
or phrase of thlS ordlnance ~s for any reason held to be lnval~d
or unconstltutlonal by a dec~s10n of any court of any competent
]urlsdlctl.On, such declslon shall not affect the validity of the
reP1a~nl.ng port1.ons of the ordinance.
The Clty Councll hereby
declares that It would have passed thlS ordlnance and each and
every sectlon, subsectlon, sentence, clause or phrase not
declared lnvalld or unconstltutlonal wlthout regard to whether
any portlon of the ordlnance would be subsequently declared
~nval1.d or unconstltutlonal.
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SECTION 4.
The Hayor shall s1.gn and the C1. ty Clerk shall
attest to the passage of th1.s ord1.uance.
Th1.S C1.ty Clerk shall
cause the same to be publ1.shed once J.n the off1.c1.al newspaper
wlthln 15 days after its adoption.
The ord1.nance shall become
effectlve after 30 days froM lts adopt1.on.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Robert M. Myers ~
Clty Attorney
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