Ordinance - 1486ORDINANCE NO. 1426
AN. ORD I NANCE OF. THE ; C I TY C.OUN.CI L OF' THE C I.TY:.OF.. WEST COVI NA, AMENDING
THE' WEST COV:I id'A: MUN,1-C I PAL CODE RELATING TO THE BUSINESS LICENSE TAX
The City Council of the City of West Covina does ordain as
follows:
SECTION 1. Section 14-22 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended
to read as follows:
"Whenever any license tax mentioned in this article is based on the
number of employees, the term 'employee''shall..incl.ude:..all'!proprietors,
partners, managers, officers, office and directional personnel and all
other employees who are actively engaged in the business within the city,
whether permanent or temporary, full or parttime. The number of employees
shall be the average number engaged in the business during the preceding
calendar year or during any such portion thereof as the business was in
operation. The average number shall be that number of employees that
were employed during the week prior to December 15 plus the number
employed during the week prior to June 15 and divided by two. In the
case of beginning businesses, the number shall be estimated by the appli-
cant and the tax paid on the estimate but. shall be adjusted to the actual
number within thirty (30) days after the close of the calendar year. The
application for business license each year shall correctly set forth the
number of employees applicable to the determination of the license fee."
• SECTION 2. Section 14-28 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended
to read as follows:
"No license granted or issued under the provisions of this article shall
be in any manner transferred or assigned nor shall it authorize any person
other than those therein mentioned or named to do business, without the
written consent of the license collector endorsed thereon; at the time
any such license is assigned or transferred, the person applying for such
transfer or assignment shall make application for a license showing that
he is continuing the.same business already licensed and paying a transfer
fee as established in the schedule of fees."
SECTION 3. Section 14-33 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended
to delete the following:
"(c) He shaI I make a charge ;of- two-doI Ia'rs ($2:00)' fo-r.:each dupI icate:
.li.cense.:issued b:y h-im;unde,r "thi,s=tarticle;.;in cases where...the o'riginaa�.
,has been .lost or --destroyed'':; .s
SECTION 4. Section 14-56 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended to
add the following:
"Such operation maintenance, and conduct of games of skill and science are
subject to the fees specified in Section 5-84 of this code."
^� SECTION 5. Section 14-57 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended to
read as follows:
"(a) Each operator of a microwave pay television transmission system
which has one or more receiving terminals within the city shall pay a
business license tax in an amount as established by the schedule of fees."
SECTION 6. Section 14-66 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended
to add the following:
"The amounts set forth in section 14-68 of this code can be adjusted, sus -
suspended, or amended by Resolution of the City Council."
SECTION 7. Section 14-67 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended to
read as follows:
"(b) All annual license fees shall be due and payable in lawful money of
the United States in advance on the first day of January of each year. Any
person without a fixed location in the City but that is doing business within
the City for less than the full year and for which business an annual license
fee is provided shall be required to pay the amount of the license fee for a
full year, except that the fee for any such license issued on or after July
first of any year for the remainder of such calendar year to a person not
subject to be licensed by the city for the conduct of such business during
any part of the first six (6) months of such year shall be fifty (SO) percent
of the annual license fee prescribed for such business."
SECTION 8. Section 14-68 of the West Covina Municipal Code is amended to
read as follows:
"The several rates for licenses for the pursuit of businesses, trades and
occupations hereinafter set forth, and to be paid by the owners or agents
thereof, shall be those fees fixed and established from time to time by the
City Council by resolution and are subject to the category codes and restrictions
as follows:
"CATEGORY CODE A.
A-1 RESIDENTIAL RENTALS. -
Apartments, hotels, motels, mobile home parks, convalescent homes, nursing
homes, hospitals and businesses of a like nature or similar character.
Any hospital, the property of which is exempt from taxation pursuant to
Section lc of Article Xlll of the Constitution of the State of California,
shall be exempt from the payment of the license fee prescribed by this
section. An application for exemption shall be filed annually during
the month of January. The application shall declare whether or not the
property of the hospital was exempted from the payment of property taxes
for the current calendar year. The license collector shall transmit the
application to the City Council. If the application meets the requirements
for exemption, the exemption shall be allowed by the City Council.
A -II OFFICE AND COMMERCIAL RENTALS
Offices, stores, industrial plants or any building or structure of any
kind on land located in the City and rented to a tenant for purposes
other than dwelling, sleeping or lodging. This includes the letting of
every kind and character, whether by an owner, lessee or sublessee, of
such types of rentals. Where a land lease is in effect for the purpose
of effectuating the use of the property for the purposes noted in this
category, then such rents from said land shall also be subject to the
business licensing provisions herein.
All rentals received by one individual or entity can be combined in one
license.
• The.City Council may, by resolution, suspend all or any portion of said
tax imposed under Group A-11 for a period of time as it determines to be
equitable in order to adjust the impact of said tax. At the end of said
period of suspension, the tax shall automatically be reinstated in accord-
ance with the amounts set forth in the schedule of fees.
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•
A -III COMMERCIAL TENANTS OCCUPANCY TAX.
For the privilege of occupancy of offices, stores, industrial plants;
any building or structure of any kind on land located in the City of
West Covina and rented to a tenant for purposes other than dwelling,
sleeping, or lodging, an excise tax is hereby imposed upon every
tenant of such premises.
Where a land lease is in effect for the purpose of effectuating the
use of the property for the purposes noted in this Category, then
such charges for said land shall also be subject to the excise tax
provided for in the schedule of fees.
Exempted under this Group A -III are tenants of an entity subject to
taxation under Groups A-1 or A-11.
CATEGORY CODE P
P-1 PROFESSIONS -
Attorney
Accountant, Public
Architect
Certified Public Accountant
Chemical Engineer
Chemist
Chiropodist
Chiropractor
Civil Engineer
Construction Engineer
Consulting Engineer
Dentist
Electrical Engineer
Geologist
Landscape Architect
Mechanical Engineer
Mortician
Oculist
Optometrist
Oral Surgeon
Osteopath Physician
Physician
Physician and Surgeon
Sanitation Engineer
Surgeon
Veterinarian
Similar and like professions are to be included as well in this cate-
gory.
P-II SERVICES
Advertising Counsel
Abstractor of Title
Agricultural Advisor
Appraiser
Assayer
Auditor
Bail Bond Broker
Barber Shop
Beauty Shop
Business Management Consultant
Bookkeeper
Car Washing
Child Nurseries
Claim Adjuster
Dancing Academy
Dealers in Securi,ties
Dental Labs
Designer,
Detective
Detective Agency
Draftsman
Drugless Practitioner
Dry Cleaner
Dry Cleaner Service
Electrologist
Employment Agency'
Fine Arts or Music School
Herbalist
Industrial Relations Consultants
Insurance Adjuster
Insurance Agent or Broker
Interior Decorator
Investment Counselor
Escrow Office
Laundries (Professional)
Lapidary
Naturopath
Private Patrol
Photographer
Real Estate Offices
Stock and Bond Broker
Surveyor
Swimming Instructor
Taxidermist
Trade or Business School
Travel Bureau
Tree Removing
Tree Surgery
Tree Trimming
Swimming Pool Maintenance
Rental of Vehicles or Equipment
Watch Repairing
X-Ray Technician
Wholesale Jobbing
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P-II SERVICES (cont'd.)
Similar and like professions are to be included as well in this
category.
CATEGORY CODE C
• CONTRACTORS -
All contractors who perform construction work in the city and who are
subject to the job fee described in this paragraph shall pay an annual
license fee according to the schedule of fees. Such fee shall not be
prorated. In addition, all general contractors shall pay as a part of
the business license, a job fee, which fee shall be a sum equal to the
building permit fee or other general contracting permit fee. The job
fee shal.1 be due and payable at the time of the issuance of the permit
and shall be paid at the same time the permit fee is paid as required
by Chapters 12 and 13, Article II of Chapter 23; Chapter 9, Chapter 19,
Articles I through III, and Chapter 24, Article II (limited to permits
for finish grading, retaining walls, and sewer connections); and Chapter
7 and Chapter 19, Article IV of this Code.
Exceptions:
(1) An owner builder shall be exempt from paymentlof any license fee.
or job fee if all work performed under a permit is done exclusively
by such owner upon his own property.
(2) Permits for work within the public right-of-way or future right-of-
way shall be exempt from application of a job fee.
Contractors not subject to the job fee referred to above in this section
• shall pay an annual business license tax per the fee schedule. There
shall be no proravions�:of :.the`. business; l icense-,.taxrreferr.ed, to'.herein.
Contractors shall not be subject to the business improvement area taxes
levied pursuant to section 14-84 of this Code.
CATEGORY CODE V
SANITARY LANDFILLS AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES
All sanitary landfill and disposal facilities and sites shall pay a
monthly business license tax in an amount set forth in the schedule of
fees. The first such payment filed with a statement of gross receipts
from the operation of any sanitary landfill and disposal site which is
subject to taxation pursuant to this section shall be due and payable
by the last day of the following month in which the statement of gross
receipts applies, and monthly thereafter. Such statement of gross receipts
shall not be conclusive as to the matter set forth therein, nor shall
the filing of the same preclude the city from collecting, by appropriate
action, such sums as are actually due and payable. Such statement and
each of the several items therein contained shall be subject to audit
and verification by the city tax collector to inspect the books and
records of the licensee as may be necessary to verify or ascertain the
amount of the license fee due.
CATEGORY CODE R
• Retail businesses listed below and all other persons engaged in the busi-
ness of making sales at retail where seventy-five (75) percent of the
total revenues of such business are derived from such sales, except as
otherwise provided in this article:
Appliance stores Auto accessories
ME
•
•
C
CATEGORY CODE R (cont'd.)
Bakeries
Bookstores
Candy shops
Carpet and rug stores
Children's wear
Department store
Drugstores
Florists
Furniture
Gift shops
Hardware
Health food stores
Ice cream stores
Jewelry stores
Ladies wear
Liquor stores
Mattress shops
Men's stores
CATEGORY CODE M
Music stores
Newspaper offices
New car dealers
Pet stores
Pool supply stores
Printers
TV -Radio stores
Restaurants
Taverns and bars
Service stations
Shoe stores
Shoe repair
Sporting goods
Toy stores
Variety stores
Wallpaper and paint stores
Yardage and draper stores
Manufacturers, wholesalers, newspaper publishing, grocers, meat markets,
transfers and storage companies, and businesses of a like nature or similar
character.
CATEGORY CODE S
Special businesses. Fixed fees shall be as established in the schedule
of fees for the below:
1. Finance companies
2. Savings and loan associations
3. Dance permit:
(a) Public
.(b) Cabaret dancing
4. Skating and roller. rink
5. Theatres and movies
6. Gyms and figure salons
7. Billiard parlors
8. Bowling alleys
9. Mailing and telephone service
10. Laundromats and coin -operated washers and dryers:
(a) Laundromat: Coin -operated
(b) A11 other coin -operated washers and dryers:
(1) Installed and maintained by the owner of
the property or his lessee.
.(2) Installed and maintained by an individual or
company not the owner or lessee of the property.
11. Vending machines: Every person who is exclusively engaged in the busi-
ness of renting, leasing or operating, coin -operated vending machines,
shall pay an annual license tax on each such machine located within
the city, calculated upon the gross receipts from the machine, as
established in the schedule of fees.
(a) A cigarette vending machine
(b) A photo -machine
(c) A stamp machine
(d) A bulk vending machine -as used in this paragraph, a bulk vending
machine is a nonelectrically operated vending machine containing
unsorted nuts, confections or merchandise which, upon insertion
of the coin, dispenses the same in portions.at random without
selection by the customer.
(e) Any other coin -operated vending machines:
(1) Requiring ten cents ($0.10) or less to operate.
(2) Requiring more than ten cents ($0.10) to operate.
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CATEGORY CODE S
The fees prescribed in this subsection for the first unit of gross
receipts shall be due and payable at the time the application for the
license is filed. Within thirty (30) days after the end of the calendar
year for which the license is issued or at the time an application is
filed for the renewal of the license, whichever, is earlier, the licensee
or applicant, as the case may be, shall file a declaration under penalty
of perjury specifying the total amount of gross receipts received from the
operation of the machine during the license period. If any additional
taxes are due upon the basis of the gross receipts from any such machine,
the additional tax shall be paid at the time the declaration is filed
and before any renewal license is issued. In addition, the license col-
lector may require the licensee to submit a copy of the sales and use tax
return filed relative to each licensed machine or may require any other
substantiating information specified in Section 16002.5 of the Business
and Professions Code. As used in this subsection "gross receipts" means
the total number of dollars actually removed from the machine during the
license period without any deduction whatsoever.
12. Vending machines, alternative tax: As an alternative to paying the
licenses specified in subsection 11 of this Category Code S, every person
who is exclusively engaged in the business of renting, leasing or operating
coin -operated vending machines within the city may elect to, or if the
provisions of.subsection 11 are held to be invalid for any reason, shall,
pay an annual license tax calculated on the gross receipts from all such
machines located in the city as established in the schedule of fees.
The fees prescribed therein for the first unit of gross receipts shall
be due and payable at the time the application for the license is filed.
Within thirty (30) days after the end of the calendar year for which the
license is issued or at the time an application is filed for the renewal
• of the license, whichever is earlier, the licensee or applicant, as the
case may be, shall file a declaration under penalty of perjury specifying
the total amount of gross receipts received from the operation of all
machines within the city during the license period. If any additional
taxes are due upon the basis of the gross receipts from such machines,
the additional tax shall be paid at the time the declaration is filed
and before any renewal license is issued. In addition, the license col-
lector may require the licensee to submit a copy of the sales and use
tax return filed relative to all machines operated by the licensee within
the city during the license year or may require any other substantiating
information specified in Section 16002.5 of the Business and Professions
Code.
As used in this subsection "gross receipts" means the actual number of
dollars actually removed from all machines operated in the city during
the license period without any deduction whatsoever.
13. Peddlers and solicitors
14. Junk dealers
15. Bankruptcy, liquidation.and like sales
16. Carnivals and circuses
17. Other coin -operated machines:
(a) Game and amusement machines:
(1) Requiring less than ten cents ($0.10) to operate.
(2) Requiring ten cents ($0.10) or more to operate.
• (b) Any other coin -operated vending machine which is not licensed
under subsections 11 or 12 of.this Category Code S.
(1) Requiring ten cents ($0.10) or less to operate.
(2) Requiring more than ten cents ($0.10) but less than twenty-
five cents ($0.25) to perate.
(3) Requiring twenty-five cents ($0.25) or more to operate.
18. House movers
M
CATEGORY CODE S (cont'd.)
19. Taxicab operators
20. De'livery or sale of goods or services by vehicle or on foot within
the city:
• (a) Wholesale delivery
(b) Retail delivery
(c) Food vendors
(d) Laundry, dry cleaning or uniform service routes
(e) All other route sales or rentals
21. Service vehicles, (place of business not in the city)
22. Shoe shine stand, if not inside other business
23. Amusement shows
24. Gardeners
t shall be una awf; u l + for. -,the l c i ty tax:.and "license co-1 lector. or. any .=person
having an administrative duty under the provisions of this section to
make known in any manner whatsoever the business affairs, operations or
information obtained by an investigation of records of any license or
the amount or source of income, profits, losses, expenditures, or any
particular thereof, set forth any declaration required to be filed by
this section. However, nothing contained herein shall prevent the dis-
closure of the names and addresses of persons to whom licenses have been
issued and the general type or nature of their business, the disclosure
of general statistics regarding taxes collected or business done in the
city or the disclosure by way of public meetings, or otherwise, of such
information as may be necessary to the City Council in order to permit
it to be fully advised as to the facts when a taxpayer files a claim for
refund of license taxes or submits an offer of compromise with regard to
a claim asserted against him by the city for license taxes or when acting
upon any other matter.
The business license taxes levied pursuant to this section shall be sub-
ject to the business improvement area taxes levied pursuant to Section
14-84, except as noted elsewhere in this code.''
SECTION 9. The provisions of this ordinance shall take effect 30 days after
its adoption.
SECTION 10. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance
and cause the same to be published in the manner required by law.
APPROVED and ADOPTED this 25th day of August 1980.
ATTEST:
City Clerk I
•
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Mayor
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
• COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS.
CITY OF WEST COVINA )
I, HELENE M. MOONEY, City Clerk of the, City of West Covina, do hereby
certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1486. was regularly introduced
and placed upon its first reading at a regular meeting of the City Council on
the llth day of August 1980. That thereafter, said Ordinance was
duly adopted and passed at a regular meeting of the City Council on the 25th
day of August 1980, by the following vote of the City Council, to
wit.
AYES: Tennant, Tice, Chappell, Shearer, Browne
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney
•
C E R T I F I C A ,r I O N
State of California. )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of west Covina. )
I, JANET BERRY, Deputy City Clerk of the City of
West Covina., State of California, do hereby certify
that a true and a.ccura.te copy of Ordinance No. /51 8-
was published, pursuant to law, in the west Covina.
Tribune, a newspaper of general circula.tion published
and ci.rcula.ted in the City of west Covina..
Dated
'.", z
Janet Orry,
Deputy
y Clerk
City of
west
Covina,
alifornia