(A) There is imposed and levied by the county, upon each purchaser of a utility service, with the exception of electrical service, a tax in the amount of 20% of the charge, exclusive of any federal tax thereon, made by the seller against the purchaser with respect to each utility service, which tax in every case shall be collected by the seller from the purchaser and shall be paid by the purchaser to the seller for the use of the County of Northampton at the time the purchase price or payment for such charge shall become due and payable under the agreement between the purchaser and the seller; provided, however, that in case any monthly bill of a residential user shall exceed $15, no tax shall be computed on such excess, and in case any monthly bill of a commercial user shall exceed $100, no tax shall be computed on such excess. In case bills are submitted by any seller for two months service, no tax shall be computed on so much of said bill as shall exceed $30 for a residential user or $200 for a commercial or industrial user. Bills shall be considered monthly bills if submitted 12 times per year for periods of approximately one month each.
(B) In accordance with the provisions of VA Code § 58.1-3814, all taxes on consumers of utility services provided by electric utility suppliers are to be based on kilowatt hours (kwh) delivered, including customer charges.
(C) Effective with the first bill for electric energy rendered for meter readings on or after January 1, 2001, the rate of tax on the electric energy delivered to an ultimate consumer shall be as follows:
(1) Residential customer: $0.015 per kilowatt hour (kwh), plus a minimum tax of $1.40 per month with a maximum tax of $3 per month;
(2) Commercial customer: $0.015 per kilowatt hour (kwh) plus a minimum tax of $1 per month with a maximum tax of $20 per month;
(3) Industrial customers: $0.015 per kilowatt hour (kwh) plus a minimum tax of $1 per month with a maximum charges of $20 per month.
(Ord. passed 8-11-1980; Am. Ord. passed 9-11-2000; Am. Ord. passed 5-14-2013)