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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance No. 0879CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON Ordinance No. 879 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON, AMENDING SECTION 5.04.030 OF THE MEDINA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO UTILITY TAX RATES WHEREAS, the City of Medina is classified as a non -charter code city under title 35A RCW; and WHEREAS, RCW 35A.21.160 provides that anode city shall have all of the powers which any city of any class may have; and WHEREAS, RCW 35.22.280(32) authorizes any city of the first class "[tjo grant licenses for any lawful purpose, to fix by ordinance the amount to be paid therefore, and to provide for revoking the same ...."; and WHEREAS, the Washington Supreme Court in Fleetwood v. Read, 21 Wash. 547, 552-553 (1899) and subsequent decisions has interpreted this language as authorizing licenses for revenue purposes as well as regulation; and WHEREAS, pursuant to the above authority, code cities are authorized to impose taxes upon gross revenues earned by utility and service providers within their jurisdictional boundaries, and WHEREAS, the City Council approved Ordinance No 861, on November 8, 2010, adopting a three percent utility tax rate upon gross revenues derived from telephone and telegraph businesses, electric utilities, natural gas, sewer utility, solid waste and cable service operators, which utility taxis codified at Chapter 5.04 of the Medina Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, Section 2 of Ordinance No. 861 reduced the three percent annual tax rate to zero on January 31, 2012; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the City Code relating to the limitation of reducing the annual tax rate to zero on January 31, 2012; and WHEREAS, state law provides at RCW 35.21.865 that a change in the rate of tax it imposes on the privilege of conducting an electrical energy, natural gas, or telephone business may take effect before the expiration of sixty days following the enactment of the ordinance establishing the change; and WHEREAS, the adoption of an ordinance pertaining to enforcement relates solely to governmental procedures and contains no substantive standards respecting use or modification of the environment and is therefore exempt from the requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act pursuant to WAC 197-11-800(19). 1 of 3 NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS Section 1. Amendment of Section 5.04.030. Section 5.04.030 of the Medina Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: From and after 12.01 a.m. on January 8, 2011, there is levied upon and there shall be collected from every person engaged in carrying on the following business for hire or for sale of a commodity or a service within or partly within the corporate limits of the city the tax for the privilege of so doing business as hereinafter defined. A. Upon any telephone business there shall be levied a tax equal to three percent of the total gross subscriber station exchange revenues from business and residence telephone service (excluding message units) from business in the city. B. Upon every person, firm or corporation engaged alone or in conjunction with another in the business of selling or leasing telephone or telegraph or related communication equipment at retail or to or for the public and thereafter installing, maintaining or repairing the same, a fee equal to three percent of the total gross income from such business in the city; provided further, that this fee or tax shall not be imposed on any business otherwise subject to fee or tax under this chapter nor on the business of selling or installing telephone or telegraph or related communication equipment to telephone or telegraph companies taxed under this chapter. C. These is levied a tax on the sale, delivery or distribution of electricity or electrical energy and for the privilege of carrying on said business, such tax to be equal to three percent of the total gross revenue derived from sales of such electricity to ultimate users within the city; provided, however, that there shall not be any tax levied for the installation charges of electrical units. D. There is levied a tax on the sale, delivery, distribution or furnishing of natural gas for domestic, business or industrial consumption and for the privilege of carrying on said business, such tax to be equal to three percent of the total gross income from such business in the city; provided, however, that there shall not be any tax levied for installation charges of gas energy units. E. There is levied a franchise fee on the business of the operation and sale of water and water service and for the privilege of carrying on said business, such franchise fee to be equal to zero percent of the total gross revenue derived from the sale of water within the city. F. There is levied a franchise fee on the business of the operation and sale of services for sewer utilities and for the privilege of carrying on said business, such franchise fee to be equal to zero percent of the total gross revenue derived from the sale of sewer services within the city. G. There is levied a tax on the business of solid waste collection, transportation, or disposal and for the privilege of carrying on said business, such tax to be equal to three percent of the total gross revenue derived from solid waste collection, transportation, or disposal within the city. H. There is levied upon and there shall be collected from every person engaged in the business of providing cable television service for a monetary consideration, within or partly within the corporate limits of the city, an annual tax for the privilege of so doing, such tax to be equal to three percent of the total gross income derived from subscribers' revenues from such cable television service provided in the city. Cable television services" means the one-way transmission of video programming and associated nonvideo signals to subscribers together with subscriber interaction, if any, which is provided in connection with video programming. (( Innuary 31, 2017_)) Section 2. Referendum authorized. A referendum petition to repeal this ordinance may be filed with the City Clerk within seven days of passage of this ordinance. Within ten days of such filing, the City Clerk shall confer with the petitioner concerning form and style of the petition, issue the petition an identification number, and secure an accurate, concise, and positive ballot title from 2of3 the designated local official. The petitioner shall have thirty (30) days in which to secure the signatures of not less than fifteen (15) percent of the registered voters of the city, as of the last municipal general election, upon petition forms that contain the ballot title and the full text of the measure to be referred. The City Clerk shall verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition and, if sufficient valid signatures are properly submitted, shall certify the referendum measure to the next election ballot within the city or at a special election ballot as provided pursuant to RCW 35.17.260(2). Except as otherwise provided herein, all provisions set forth at RCW 35.17.250 through RCW 35.17.360 that are applicable to the character and form for an initiative petition, to the examination and certification thereof, and to the submission to the vote of the people of the ordinance proposed thereby, shall apply to the referendum petition authorized herein and to this ordinance. Section 3. Severability. If any section, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance should be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity of any other section, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance. Section 4. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect five (5) days after its publication or the publication of a summary of its intent and contents. ENACTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL ON THIS 14 DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2011 AND SIGNED IN AUTHENTICATION OF ITS PASSAGE ON THE 14 DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2011. Bret Jordan, Mayor ApprovL��. s to form: Bruce Disend, City Attorney Passed: 11 /14/2011 Published:1ft Effective Date: Attest: Raqfiel Baker, City Clerk 3of3