(a) (1) A tax is levied and imposed on every person transmitting, distributing, manufacturing, producing, or supplying electricity, gas, steam, coal, fuel oil, or liquefied petroleum gas in the County.
(2) The County Council must set the rates for various forms of fuel and energy by a resolution adopted under Section 52-17(c). The Council may, from time to time, revise, amend, increase, or decrease the rates, including setting different rates for fuel or energy delivered for different categories of final consumption, such as residential or agricultural use. Each rate must be based on a weight or other unit of measure regularly used in the conduct of business. The rate for each form of fuel or energy should impose an equal or substantially equal tax on the equivalent energy content of each form of fuel or energy for a particular category of use.
(3) The tax does not apply to the transmission or distribution of electricity, gas, steam, coal, fuel oil, or liquefied petroleum gas in interstate commerce through the County if the tax would exceed the taxing power of the County under the United States Constitution. The tax does not apply to fuel or energy converted to another form of energy that will be subject to a tax under this Section. The tax must not be imposed at more than one point in the transmission, distribution, manufacture, production, or supply system. The rates of tax apply to the quantities measured at the point of delivery for final consumption in the County. For an electric company (as defined in state law), the rates of tax apply to the net consumption that is used to calculate each consumer bill.
(4) The tax does not apply to energy that is generated from a renewable source located:
(A) in the County and either used on the site where it is generated or subject to a net energy metering agreement (as defined in state law) with a public utility; or
(B) in the same electric service territory in Maryland as the subscriber using the energy and subject to a virtual net energy metering agreement (as defined in state law) with a public utility.
Renewable source means a “Tier 1 renewable source” as defined in Section 7-701(l) of the Public Utilities Article of the Maryland Code or any successor provision.
(b)
Person
as used in this Section means any individual or legal entity, and includes any corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, group of individuals acting as a unit, trustee, receiver, assignee or personal representative. Director in this Section means the Director of Finance or the Director’s designee.
(c) Every person who transmits, distributes, manufactures, produces, or supplies fuel or energy in the County must pay the tax and report any information required by the Director for each calendar month on or before the last day of the following month. With the written permission of the Director, a person who regularly owes taxes under this Section may pay the tax and make reports on a quarterly basis, on or before the 15th day of April, July, October, and January in each year for the preceding 3 months.
(d) If any person does not pay the tax due under this Section or file a proper return to the Director by the time and in the amount required, that person is liable for interest on the amount of tax due at the rate of ½ of one percent per month on the amount of the tax for each month or part of a month after the tax is due, and a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the tax. Any interest and penalty due may be collected as a part of the tax.
(e) If any person does not timely file any report and pay the tax required under this Section, the Director may use any available information to estimate the tax due. As soon as the Director obtains available information on which to base the calculation of any tax payable by any person who has not timely filed any report and paid the tax, the Director may assess against that person any tax, interest, and penalties due and must notify that person of the total amount due by regular mail sent to the person’s last known address. The total amount assessed is due and payable within 10 days after the notice is sent.
(f) Every person liable for any tax under this Section must preserve, for 2 years, any records necessary to calculate the amount of tax due, which the Director may inspect at any reasonable time.
(g) If any person required to pay a tax under this Section stops doing business or otherwise transfers ownership or control of the business, any tax payable under this Section is immediately due, and the person must immediately file a report and pay any tax due.
(h) The Director may adopt a regulation, by Method 2, to assess, collect, audit, and otherwise administer the tax imposed by this Section. If the Council by resolution establishes different rates for different categories of fuel-energy use, the regulations may specify how the Director will determine whether a taxpayer qualifies under the resolution for any rate that is less than the maximum rate.
(i) Any violation of this Section is a class A violation. Each violation is a separate offense. Any conviction does not relieve any person from paying any tax due.
(j) The Council must appropriate 10% of the revenue received by the County from the fuel-energy tax each year to the nonprofit corporation designated as the Montgomery County Green Bank under Section 18A-46.
(k) Any funds which under this section are given to the nonprofit corporation designated as the Montgomery County Green Bank under Section 18A-46 must only be used to promote the investment in clean energy technologies and to provide financing for clean energy technologies, including renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and must not be used for resiliency activities.
(1971 L.M.C., ch. 52, § 1; Res. No. 8-238; 1983 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 56; 2003 L.M.C., ch. 28, § 1; Res. No. 15-412; 2014 L.M.C., ch. 1, § 1; 2014 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 15, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 2, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1.)
Editor’s note—2022 L.M.C., ch. 2, §2, states: Sec. 2. Effective date; report. The amendments in Section 1 take effect on July 1, 2022. The Director of the Department of Environmental Protection must submit a report to the Council and the Executive on or before May 1, 2023 estimating the cost of converting fossil fuel mechanical energy equipment to electric power.
2014 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 2, states in part: (b) This Act applies to energy delivered before or after this Act takes effect.