APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT TO UTILITY USER TAX CODE

REGARDING COLLECTION BY ELECTRICITY PROVIDERS

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the City Council introduce Ordinance 98- , amending Subsections A and C of Section 3.36.050 of Chapter 3.36 of Title 3 of the Hermosa Beach Municipal Code to provide for collection of the Utility Users Tax (UUT) by the business who provides billing services for electricity.

Background:

The utility users tax ordinance was implemented in an environment where only one company provided electricity.

Analysis:

The current Code requires collection of the tax by the energy supplier. With the advent of restructuring in the electric industry, the company supplying electric energy within the City may not be the company who bills for such services. The amendment to the Code provides for collection of the tax by the company who does the billing for the services, which is the most logical choice.

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ORDINANCE NO. 98-

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA REGARDING COLLECTION OF THE UTILITY USERS TAX BY ELECTRICITY PROVIDERS AND AMENDING CHAPTER 3.36 OF THE HERMOSA BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Findings

A. The City of Hermosa Beach imposes a tax upon every person in the City using electricity in the City.

B. As a result of the restructuring of the electric power industry in California, an electrical energy supplier may be a different entity than the person, business or entity providing billing services for such electrical use.

C. The person, business or entity providing billing services is the logical entity to collect electrical utility user taxes.

D. This ordinance does not impose, increase or extend the electrical utility user tax, and thus is not subject to voter approval.

SECTION 2. Subsection A of Section 3.36.050 of Chapter 3.36 of Title 3 of the Hermosa Beach Municipal code is amended to read as follows:

A. There is imposed a tax upon every person in the City using electrical energy in the City. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of six percent of the charges made for such energy and shall be paid by the person paying for such energy.

"Charges" as used in this section, shall include charges made for: (1) energy; (2) distribution and transmission; (3) metering; (4) stand-by reserves, firming, ramping, voltage support, regulation, emergency, or other similar services; (5) minimum charges for such services, including customer charges, service charges, demand charges, fuel or other cost adjustments, independent system operator (ISO) charges, stranded investment or competitive transition charges (CTC), public goods surcharge, franchise fee, franchise surcharge; and (6) all other annual and monthly charges or surcharges for electricity services or programs, which are authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, whether or not such charges appear on a bundled or line item basis on the customer billing. "Charges" shall also include the value of any other services, credits, property, or other consideration provided by the service user in exchange for the energy or services related to the provision of such energy.

SECTION 3. Subsection C of Section 3.36.050 of Chapter 3.36 of Title 3 of the Hermosa Beach Municipal Code is amended to read as follows:

C. The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the billing agent, or person, business or entity that provides billing collection services for electrical power generation and distribution within the City. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of the following month; or at the option of the person, business or entity required to collect and remit the tax, an estimated amount of tax, measured by the tax billed in the previous month, shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of each month. Remittance of tax may be predicated on a formula based upon the payment pattern of the supplier's customers.

SECTION 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason deemed or held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance. The City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or other portions might subsequently be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

SECTION 5. This ordinance shall become effective and be in full force and effect from and after thirty (30) days of its final passage and adoption.

SECTION 6. Prior to the expiration of fifteen (15) days after the date of its adoption, the City Clerk shall cause this ordinance to be published in the Easy Reader, a weekly newspaper of general circulation published and circulated, in the City of Hermosa Beach in the manner provided by law.

SECTION 7. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance, shall enter the same in the book of original ordinances of said city, and shall make minutes of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted.

PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED this ---day of July, 1998.

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