(a) Upon every person engaging or continuing within the City in the business of producing for sale, profit or commercial use any natural resource products, the amount of such tax to be equal to the value of the articles produced as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer, except as hereinafter provided, multiplied by the respective rates per one hundred dollars ($100.00), as follows; Coal, one dollar ($1.00); limestone or sandstone, quarried or mined, one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50); oil, three dollars ($3.00); natural gas, in excess of the value of five thousand dollars ($5,000), six dollars ($6.00); blast furnace slag, three dollars ($3.00); timber, one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50); other natural resource products, two dollars ($2.00). The measure of this tax is the value of the entire production in the City, regardless of the place of sale or the fact that delivery may be made to points outside of the City; provided, that for the purposes of the production of oil classification, and the production of natural gas classification, as set forth in this section, multiple co-owners of oil or natural gas, in place, lessees thereof, or others being vested with title and ownership to part or all of the oil and gas, as personal property,, immediately after severance, extraction, reduction to possession and production, except royalty recipients, in kind, shall be deemed to be a "group or combination acting as a unit" and one "person," as defined in Section 745.01, if not otherwise defined therein, whenever engaged in the business of producing oil or natural gas through common use, by joint or separately executed contracts, of the same independent contractor, driller or operator's services; and notwithstanding provisions of private contracts for separate deposit of gross receipts in separate members' accounts or for members of such group or combination to take in kind any proportionate part of such natural resources.
(b) Lessees, sublessees or other denominated lessees are considered to be producers of all of the oil or natural gas produces, regardless of any payment, in kind, to lessors, sublessors or other denominated lessors of a part of such natural resources as rents or royalties. Recipients of royalties or rents, in kind, in cash or otherwise are taxable on their gross income pursuant to the provisions of Section 745.12. (10-11-83)