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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4031 ORDINANCE NO. ~;/0~ AN ORDINANCE establishing an admissions tax levied when there is an admission charge and repealing Ordinance Nos. 1521, 3625 Sec. 14, 3893, 2548 and al/ prior ordinances. THE CITY Council of the City of Bremerton does hereby ordain: SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS For purposes of this chapter, words and phrases shall have the following meanings: (a) "ADMISSION CHARGE", in addition to its usual and ordinary meaning, shall include but not be limited in meaning to a charge made for season tickets or subscriptions, a cover charge or a charge made for use of seats and tables, reserved or other- wise, and similar accommodations; a charge made for food and re- freshments in any place where any free entertainment, recreation or amusement is provided, a charge made for rental or use of equipment or facilities for purposes of recreation or amusement, including, but not limited to golf, archery, pool, billiards, shuffleboard, picture machines, amusement rides (whether such rides are restricted to tracks or not), automatic baseball, table-type bowling games, all other ball operated games, and where the rental of the equipment or facilities is necessary to the enjoyment of the privilege for which a general admission is charged, the combined charge shall be considered as the admission charge; and a charge made for automobile parking where the amount of the charge is determined according to the number of passengers in an automobile. A donation for admittance shall be deemed an admission charge. (b) "TREASURER" means the city treasurer. (c) "PLACE" includes, but is not restricted to, thea- ters, dancehalls, amphitheaters, auditoriums, stadiums, athletic pavilions and fields, baseball and athletic parks, circuses, side shows, swimming pools, outdoor amusement parks, and carnivals. (d) "PERSON" means any individual, receiver, assignee, firm, copartnership, joint stock company, association, society, corporation, or any Group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, non-profit or otherwise. (e) "NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION" means any organization organized and operated for charitable, educational or other purposes, which is exempt from taxation pursuant to Section §01(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended. SECTION 2. IMPOSITION (a) There is hereby levied and imposed upon any person (including children, without regard to age) who pays an admission charge to any place, including a tax on persons who are admitted free of charge or at reduced rates to any place, except theaters and bowling lanes, for which other persons pay a charge or a regular higher charge for the same or similar privileges or accommodations, which said tax shall be in the amount of one cent for each twenty cents or fraction thereof paid for the admission charge. The tax on theater admissions shall be in the amount of one cent for each twenty-five cents or fraction thereof paid for admission. The tax on bowling lanes and bowling alleys admissions shall be in the amount of one cent for each fifty cents or fraction thereof paid for admission, except this tax shall not be imposed on students who bowl at regularly scheduled times as part o~ the school's intramural program and those persons under eighteen years of age who bowl through the auspices of the American 3unior Bowling Congress. (b) No tax shall be levied on any person who is admit- ted free and from whom no compensating payment is obtained. The tax on reduced admission charges shall be charged on such reduced charge and not on the regular admission charge. (c) Whenever tickets or cards of admission are sold elsewhere than at the ticket or box office of the place, any price or charge made in excess of the established price or charge therefor at such ticket or box office shall be taxable ~n a sum equal to ten percent of the amount of such excess, which tax shall be in addition to the tax on the ticket or box office admission charge, shall be paid by the person paying the admission charge, and shall be collected and remitted in the manner provided in Section 7 by the person selling such tickets. (d) Any person having the permanent use of boxes or -2 - seats or a lease for the use of any box or seat in any place for which an admission charge is made, in l~eu of the tax imposed herein, shall pay a tax equivalent to ten percent of the amount for which a similar box or seat is sold for each performance or exhibition at which the box or seat is used or reserved by or for the lessee or holder, the same to be collected and remitted ~n the manner provided in Section 7, by the owner or the operator of the place. (e) Any non-profit orGanizatlon that promotes and pro- duces its own public performance and charges an admission fee to attend is exempt from collecting an admission tax from persons paying the admission charge. Persons attending these public performances are exempt from paying an admissions tax. (f) Such tax shall not apply to any person paying an admission to any athletic event sponsored or conducted by an elementary or secondary school wherein the athletic participants are students in such a school. For purposes of this chapter, elementary or secondary schools shall mean schools enrolling students in Grades kindergarten through twelve. SECTION 3. PUBLIC PERFORMANCE Any person who pays an admission charge to any public performance fo~ profit where the cha~ge of admission is wholly or in part included in the price paid fo~ ~efreshments, service or merchandise shall pay a tax of one and one-half cents for each ten cents or fraction thereof of the amount paid for admission, and the amount paid ~or such admission shall be deemed to be twenty percent of the amount paid for~ refreshment, service or merchandise. And if a fixed admission charge, including a "cover charge", is imposed upon each person admitted, and it is fair and ~easonable in comparison with chamges Generally made for similar performances or entertainments, such cha~Ge is taxable at the rate of one cent for each twenty cents or fraction thereof; provided, that if no fixed admission charge o~ cover charge is imposed, but the prices cha~Ged for refreshments, service or merchandise are higher during the time entertainment or dancing is p~ovided than at other times, or if the prices charged are substantially higher -- ~ -- than are charged by other places furnishing the same class of food or services but which do not furnish entertainment or dancing, an admission charge shall be deemed included in the price paid for refreshments, service or merchandise, and twenty percent of the total amount so paid shall be subject to the tax at the rate of one and one-half cents for each ten cents or fraction thereof. SECTION 4. AMOUNTS MORE THAN TEN CENTS FOR ADMISSION TO BUILDING Whenever an amount of more than ten cents is required to be paid to gain admission to any building or enclosure in which a swimming pool or skating rink is located or to the pool or rink itself, the amount paid, plus the amount, if any, paid for rental or use of equipment or facilities supplied to the person paying for the admission and necessary to the enjoyment of the prdvi]ege for which the admission is charged, shall be deemed the admission charge, and a tax is hereby levied on such admission charge of one cent for each twenty cents or fraction thereof, which shall be paid by the person paying the admission charge and which shall be collected and remitted by the person to whom the same is paid in the manner provided in Section 7. SECTION 5. AMOUNTS MORE THAN TEN CENTS FOR PICNIC AND RESORT AREAS Whenever an amount of more than ten cents is required to be paid to gain admission to any resort or picnic grounds the whole amount so paid is subject to a tax of one cent for each twenty cents or fraction thereof, even though such amount includes a charge for use of equipment and facilities such as tables, stoves, and bath houses. If a lesser amount is charged to persons who do not use such equ. ipment and facilities than those who do use such equipment and facilities, the lesser charge is deemed the admission charge. Where a separate charge is made for the use of equipment and facilities, such charge is not subject to the tax herein levied unless it constitutes or is part of an "admission charge" or is a "place", as defined in Section 1. Whenever a non-profit organization or club acquires the sole -- 4 -- right to use a resort or picnic grounds, solely for the enjoyment of its members or employees and their friends, the amount paid for such right does not constitute an admission charge subject to the tax herein levied. Amounts paid for the privilege of parking cars in a resort or picnic grounds do not constitute an admission charge unless the amount of such charge is determined by the number of passengers in the automobile or the same charge is made to all persons who enter the resort or grounds, whether on foot or by other means of transportation. If a charge is made for eacn passenger in an automobile, in addition to a charge for parking facilities, the amount paid for the passengers is an admission charge and subject to the tax herein levied. The tax herein levied shall be paid by the person paying the admission charge and shall be collected and remitted by the person to whom the same is paid in the manner provided in Section 7. SECTION 6. PRICE TO SHOW ON TICKET Whenever a charge is made for admission to any place, a serially numbered or reserved seat ticket shall be furnished the person paying such charge unless written approval has been obtained from the Tax and License Division to use a turnstile or other counting device which will accurately count the number of paid admissions. The established price, city tax, and total price at which every such admission ticket or card is sold shall be conspicuously and indelibly printed or written on the face or back of that part of the ticket which is to be taken up by the management of the place to which admission is gained. It shall be unlawful for anyone to sell an admission ticket or card on which the name of the person conducting the event and the price is not so printed, stamped or written, or to sell or offer to sell an admission ticket or card at a price in excess of the price printed, stamped or written thereon. The Admission Tax due shall be based on the established price printed on each ticket. When a charge is made for admission, a sign must be posted in a conspicuous place on the entrance or ticket office which breaks down the admission charge as follows: Established Price ............. - 5 - City Tax ............. Total Price ............. SECTION 7. COLLECTION AND PAYMENT OF TAX Anyone, including any municipal or quasi-municipal corporation, who receives any payment for admissions on which a tax is levied under this chapter shall collect the amount of the tax imposed from the person making the admission payment and shall remit the same as herein provided. The tax required to be collected under this chapter shall be deemed to be held in trust by that one required to collect the same until paid to the City of Bremerton as ~erein provided. Anyone required to collect the tax imposed under this chapter who fa~ls to collect the same, or having collected the same, fails to remit the same to the City of Bremerton in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure be the result of his or her own act, or the result of acts or conditions beyond his or her control, shall nevertheless be personally liable to the city for the amount of such tax, and shall, unless remittance be made as herein required, be guilty of a violation of this chapter. The tax imposed hereunder shall be collected at the time admission charge is paid by the person seeking admission to any place and shall be reported and remitted by the person receiving the tax to the Treasurer in quarterly installments, and remittance therefor, on or before the thirtieth day of the month next succeeding the end of the quarterly period on which the tax is collected or received. Provided, that the Tax & License Official may extend the time for makinG and filing the return and remittance of the tax for a period not to exceed thirty days. Payment or remittance of the tax collected may be made by check, unless payment or remittance is otherwise required by the Tax & License Official, said check being made payable to the City Treasurer. Payment by check shall not relieve the person collecting the tax from liability for payment and remittance of the tax to the City off Bremerton unless the check is honored and in the full and correct amount. Anyone receiving any payment for admissions shall make out a return upon such forms and setting forth such information as the Tax & License - 6- Official may require, showinG the amount of the tax upon admissions for which he is liable for the preceding quarterly period and shall sign and transmit the same to the Tax & License Official with a remittance for said amount. Provided, that the Tax and License Official may, at his discretion, require returns from any one receiving admission payments, setting forth such additional information as he may deem necessary to determine correctly the amount of tax collected and payable. Whenever any theatre, circus, show, exhibition, entertainment or amusement makes an admission charge which is subject to the tax herein levied, and the same is of a transitory or temporary nature, of which the Tax & License Official shall be the judge, the Tax and License Official shall require the report and remittance of the admission tax immediately upon the collection of same, at the conclusion of the performance or exhibition, or at the conclusion of a series of performances or exhibitions, or at such other time as the Tax & License Official shall determine; and, prior to a permit beinG G~ven of a temporary or transitory nature, the applicant shall deposit a sum of money or bond in lieu thereof conditioned upon the faithful compliance with the provisions of this chapter in an amount to be determined by the Tax & License Official sufficient to cover the amounts which shall become due and owing to the city upon conclusion. Failure to comply with any requirements of the Tax & License Official as to report and remittance of a tax as required, shall be a violation of this chapter. The books, records and accounts of any one collecting a tax herein levied, shall, as to admission charges and tax collections, be, at all reasonable t~mes subject to examination and audit by the Tax & License O~flcial. SECTION 8. PENALTY FOR LATE PAYMENT (a) If payment of any tax due under this chapter is not received by the treasurer by the last day of the month in which the tax was due, there shall be added to such tax a penalty as follows: 1-30 days, 10% of tax due, minimum penalty of $3.00; - ? - 31-60 days, 1§% of tax due, minimum penalty of $4.00; 61 days or more, 20~ of tax due, minimum penalty of $5.00. (b) The treasurer shall notify the taxpayer by mail of the amount of any penalties so added or assessed, and the same shall become due and shall be paid within ten days from the date of such notice. (c) In addition to this penalty, the city treasurer may charge the taxpayer interest of one percent of all taxes due for each thirty-day period or portion thereof that such amounts are past due. (d) Failure to make payment in full of al/ tax amounts and penalties within sixty days following the day the tax amount inJtialiy became due, shall be both a civil and criminal violation of this section. SECTION 9. BUSINESS LICENSE REQUIRED Any person conducting or operating any activity for which an admission charge is made shall make application to and procure from the Tax and License Official a City of Bremerton Business License, the fee for which shall be an annual $25.00, prorated monthly on a calendar year. SECTION 10. SUCCESSOR TO BUSINESS Whenever any person required to pay a tax under this chapter shall quit business or otherwise dispose of his or her business, any tax payable hereunder shall become immediately due and payable and such person shall immediately make a return and pay the tax due; and ~f such tax is not paid by said person within ten days from the date of such sale, exchange or disposal, said purchaser or successor shall likewise thereupon become liable for the payment of the full amount of such tax plus accrued penalties. SECTION 11. KEEPING OF RECORDS It shall be the duty of every person liable for any tax imposed by this chapter to keep and preserve for a period of four years, plus the current year, such suitable records as may be necessary to determine the amount of any tax for which he or she may be liable under the provisions of this chapter. -- 8 -- SECTION 12: RULES AND REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY TAX AND LICENSE OFFICIAL The Tax & License Official shall have power to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistant with the terms of this chap- ter for carrying out and enforcing the payment, collection and re- mittance of the tax herein levied; and a copy of the rules and regula- tions shall be on file and available for public examination in the Treasurer's office. Failure or refusal to comply with any such rules and regulations shall be deemed a violation of this chapter. SECTION 13: EFFECTIVE DATE FOR TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS This Ordinance applies retroactively to any tax-exempt organization as defined in Section 1 above which has incurred tax- able activity prior to the effective date of this Ordinance for which activity no tax has yet been paid. Nothing in this Section shall operate to cause refunding of taxes already collected by the City. SECTION 14: PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS Anyone who shall violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and each day any person shall continue to violate or fail to comply with the provi- sions of this chapter shall be deemed and considered a separate offense. SECTION 15: SEVERABILITY CLAUSE The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision hereof shall, in no way, affect the validity or enforceability of any other provisions. APPROVED by the City Council on the first reading this I 2-- day of ~V~-~~ , 19 ~ . PASSED by the City Council of the City of Bremerton, signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this _. /~ . _ ~ day of ~~~ , 19 %~ G~NE L~BE',-M~y0r ' ATTEST: KATHLEEN' L. McCLUSKEY, CitY 'c[e~k--