HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 0893CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON
Ordinance No. 893
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON,
AMENDING SECTIONS 5.04.030 OF THE MEDINA MUNICIPAL CODE
RELATING TO UTILITY TAXES; INCREASING THE UTILITY TAX RATE FROM THREE TO
FOUR PERCENT; EXTENDING THE UTILITY TAX RATE REDUCTION FROM FOUR PERCENT
TO ZERO PERCENT, TO JANUARY 31, 2014; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND,
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF JANUARY 14, 2013
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 a code 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 "[t]o 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 tax is codified at Chapter 5.04 of the Medina Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the City Council approved Ordinance No. 879 extending the three percent utility
tax rate upon gross revenues, but reduced the three percent annual tax rate to zero on January 31,
2013; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to increase the utility tax rate upon gross revenues
from three percent to four percent; 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, 2013 by extending the time period for reduction
in the tax rate until January 31, 2014; 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 not 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).
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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:
(( for 12:01jaRuaFy ))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 every person engaging in or carrying on telephone business there shall be levied a tax
equal to ((#fee)) four percent of the total gross income derived from the operation of such
business in the city. In computing the tax imposed under this subsection, there shall be
deducted from total gross income the amounts derived from transaction in interstate or foreign
commerce and any amounts upon which the city is prohibited from imposing such tax under the
Constitution or laws of the United States or the Constitution or laws of the state of Washington.
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 ((#:ee)) four 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. There 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 ((#fie)) four 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 ((twee)) four 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 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 ((#wee)) four percent of the
total gross revenue derived from solid waste collection, transportation, or disposal within the
city.
F. 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
((thFee)) four 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.
G. Leasehold Excise Tax. Pursuant to the authorization of RCW 82.29A.040, from and after 12:01
a.m. on January 8, 2011, there is hereby imposed a leasehold excise tax on the act or privilege
of occupying or using publicly owned real or personal property within the city, through a
leasehold interest as defined in RCW 82.29A.020. The tax shall be paid, collected, and remitted
to the Washington State Department of Revenue at the time and in the manner prescribed in
RCW 82.29A.050, as it now exists or may hereafter be amended. The rate of the leasehold
excise tax imposed shall be four percent of the taxable rent, as defined in RCW 82.29A.020(2)
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as it now exists or may hereafter be amended; provided, that the credits specified in RCW
82.29A.120, as it now exists or may hereafter be amended, shall be allowed in determining the
tax payable. Leasehold interests exempted by Chapter 82.29A RCW, as it now exists or may
hereafter be amended, shall be exempt from the leasehold excise tax imposed pursuant to this
section.
The annual tax rate of ( percent of the total gross income shall be reduced to zero
on January 31, ((- ))2014.
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
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. Severabillity. 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 on January 14, 2013.
ENACTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL ON THIS 13 DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2012 AND SIGNED IN
AUTHENTICATION OF ITS PASSAGE ON THE 13 DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2012.
Approved as to form:
Kari Sand, City Attorney
Date Passed: it t .12-
Date Published:
Date Effective: in L4
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Michael Luis, Mayor
Attest:
Rdchel Elraker, City Clerk