(1) In this Chapter the following definitions apply:
(a) Amusement. Any theatrical or operatic performance, concerts, motion picture shows, vaudeville, circuses, carnivals, side shows, exhibitions, shows, displays, dancing, all forms of entertainment at fair grounds, amusement parks and athletic contests, including wrestling matches, boxing and sparring exhibitions, baseball, football and basketball games, golfing, tennis, hockey, archery and shooting, where a charge, donation, contribution or monetary charge of any character is made for admission. The term amusement shall not apply to persons participating in any athletic game or contest or to the exceptions specified in subsection 19-601(2). 119
(b) Established Price. 120 The regular monetary charge of any character whatever, including donations, contributions, and dues, or membership fees (periodical or otherwise), fixed and exacted, or in any manner received by producers, as herein defined, from the public, or a limited selected number thereof, directly or indirectly, for the privilege to attend or engage in any amusement, except if:
(.1) such amusement is conducted at a social club or fraternal organization which also furnishes entertainment for which a separate charge is made, the "established price" shall be fifty percent (50%) of the gross receipts or ten percent (10%) of the dues, whichever is higher.
(c) Place of Amusement. Any place, indoors or outdoors, within the City, where the general public, or a limited or selected number thereof, may, upon payment of an established price, attend any of the amusements set forth in subsection (a) above. 121
(d) Producer. Any person conducting any place of amusement where the general public, or a limited or selected number thereof, may, upon the payment of an established price, attend or engage in any amusement.
(2) The term "amusement" shall not include:
(a) the reception and exhibition of television broadcasts where no charge, direct or indirect, is made for admission thereto;
(b) any form of entertainment, regardless of the nature thereof, where the proceeds thereof, after payment of reasonable expenses, inure:
(.1) exclusively to the benefit of religious, educational, and charitable institutions, societies, or organizations, societies, or organizations for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, or societies or organizations conducted for the sole purpose of maintaining symphony orchestras, opera performances, and artistic presentations, including, but not limited to, musical presentations, and receiving substantial support from voluntary contributions, societies or organizations conducted and maintained for the purpose of improving any municipal corporation, for the purpose of maintaining a cooperative or community center, moving picture theater, or swimming pool; provided that no part of the net earnings of the institutions, societies, or organizations inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or person; provided that these exemptions shall not apply to athletic games or contests between universities or colleges, or to wrestling matches, boxing, sparring or other pugilistic matches or exhibitions, except where the net proceeds shall inure to the benefit of a nonprofit organization other than and in no way connected with the universities or colleges participating in such athletic contest; 122
(.2) exclusively to the benefit of organizations or persons in the military or naval forces of the United States, or of National Guard organizations, reserve officers' associations, or organizations, posts or associations of war veterans, or auxiliary units or societies of such posts or organizations, if such posts, organizations, units or societies are organized in the Commonwealth and if no part of their earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or person;
(.3) exclusively to the benefit of organizations or associations created and maintained for the purpose of benefiting the members, or the dependents of, or the heirs of, members of the police, or any paid or volunteer fire department of any political subdivision of the Commonwealth.
(c) Legitimate theater shows. Legitimate theater shows are presentations of traditional forms of drama, comedy, musical comedy, tragedy, repertoire works, dramatic recitation of recognized works of literary art of the kind and in the nature normally associated with traditional and contemporary American theater. 123
Notes
| 119 | Amended, 1958 Ordinances, p. 1173; amended, 1961 Ordinances, p. 52; amended, 1993 Ordinances, p. 467. |
| 120 | Amended by repealing former subsection (.1) and renumbering former subsection (.2), 1993 Ordinances, p 1211. |
| 121 | Amended, 1961 Ordinances, p. 52. |
| 122 | Amended, 1956 Ordinances, p. 691. |
| 123 | Added, 1979 Ordinances, p. 280; renumbered, 1993 Ordinances, p. 467. |
(1) No producer shall conduct any amusement, any permanent or temporary place of amusement, or any itinerant form of amusement unless he has obtained an amusement license from the Department of Licenses and Inspections for each such activity that he conducts.
(2) No exemption authorized by subsection 19-601(2)(b) shall be allowed unless the producer thereof complies with such regulations as the Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Department of Collections may promulgate with respect to applications for approval of such exemptions.
(3) No amusement license required under subsection 19-602(1) shall be issued unless the applicant:
(a) Furnishes such information as the Department of Collections and the Department of Licenses and Inspections may require, including the nature of the amusement to be conducted, its location, and whether permanent, temporary or itinerant;
(b) Pays a non-refundable application fee of twenty dollars ($20), which fee shall be credited toward the annual fee if the license is issued; 124
(c) Pays an annual license fee of fifty dollars ($50), or such other amount as may be established by regulations of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, to cover costs of program administration, provided that the fee shall not be increased to an amount higher than the fee as it existed on July 1, 2017, multiplied by the CPI Multiplier, as defined in Section 9-102 of the Code. 125
(4) All producers licensed under this Section shall as a condition to the retention of their licenses:
(a) comply with such regulations as the Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Department of Collections may promulgate to implement the provisions of this Chapter;
(b) pay the tax imposed by this Chapter.
Notes
| 124 | Added, Bill No. 170165 (approved April 4, 2017). |
| 125 |
(1) (a) A tax is hereby imposed upon the admission fee or privilege to attend or engage in any amusement, for the fiscal year of the City beginning July 1, 1988 and ending June 30, 1989, at the rate of seven hundred thirty- three thousandths of one cent ($.00733) for each ten cents ($0.10), or major fraction thereof, of the established price charged the general public or limited or selected group thereof, by any producer for such privilege, which shall be paid by the person acquiring such privilege. Provided that, in the event that a court of competent jurisdiction enters a final order from which all appeals have been exhausted, determining that City Council lacked the authority to impose this rate effective July 1, 1988, through June 30, 1989 the rate shall revert to one-half of once cent ($0.005) for each ten cents ($0.10), or major fraction thereof, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1988 and ending June 30, 1989. 126
(b) A tax is hereby imposed upon the admission fee or privilege to attend or engage in any amusement, for the fiscal year of the City beginning July 1, 1989 and ending June 30, 1990, and for each fiscal year thereafter, at the rate of one-half of one cent ($0.005) for each ten cents ($0.10) or major fraction thereof, of the established price charged the general public or limited or selected group thereof, by any producer for such privilege, which shall be paid by the person acquiring such privilege. 127
(c) Nothing herein contained shall operate to bar the right of the City to demand, sue for, or collect any tax due on admission fees or privileges to attend or engage in any amusement under any prior tax therein. 128
(2) In the case of persons, except bona fide employees of a producer, municipal or state officers on official business, or totally blind persons admitted free or at reduced rates to any place of amusement, at a time when and under circumstances where an established price is charged to other persons, the tax imposed by this Section shall be computed on the established price charged to such other persons of the same class for the same or similar accommodations, to be paid by the person so admitted.
(3) In the case of persons having the permanent use of boxes or seats in any place of amusement, or a lease for the use of such box or seat in such place of amusement, the tax imposed by this Section shall be computed on the established price 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, such tax to be paid by the lessee or holder.
(4) When any tax collected by a producer for the privilege of attending or engaging in any amusement is less than the amount of the tax imposed by this Section, the producer shall, at or before the time of holding or conducting said amusement, collect such additional sum as is required to reach the full amount of tax imposed by this Section.
Notes
| 126 | Amended, 1988 Ordinances, p. 694, effective July 1, 1988 (Bill No. 161). This subsection was subsequently amended to provide a rate of one-half of one cent ($0.005) for each ten cents ($0.10) effective July 1, 1989, by Bill No. 229, 1988 Ordinances, p. 997. Bill No. 229 was repealed and the rate of seven hundred thirty-three thousandths of one cent ($0.00733) for each ten cents ($0.10) reinserted by Bill No. 437, 1989 Ordinances, p. 767, effective July 1, 1989. Section 3 of Bill No. 437 includes further effective date provisions in the event of litigation; as of January 18, 2019, no such litigation has ensued. |
| 127 | Added, 1989 Ordinances, p. 767. |
| 128 | Renumbered, 1989 Ordinances, p. 767. |
(1) Producers shall collect the tax imposed by this Chapter and shall be liable to the City as agent thereof for the payment of the tax to the Department as provided in this Section.
(2) Where licenses are obtained for conducting temporary amusements by persons who are not the owners, lessees, or custodians of the places where the amusements are to be conducted, or where a temporary amusement is permitted by the owner, lessee, or custodian of any place to be conducted without the procurement of the license required by this Chapter, the tax imposed by this Chapter shall be paid by the owner, lessee, or custodian of such place where such temporary amusement is held or conducted, unless paid by the producer conducting the amusement.
(3) Every producer, except as hereinafter provided, conducting a place of amusement, shall transmit to the Department, on a form prescribed and prepared by the Department, a report of the amount of tax collected by him during the preceding month.
(4) Every producer conducting a temporary place of amusement or itinerant form of amusement shall file a report with the Department, or any duly authorized agent thereof, promptly after each performance, and all reports required under this Section shall contain such information as the Department shall require.
(5) Every producer, at the time of making every report required by this Section, shall compute and pay to the Department the taxes collected by him and due to the City during the period for which the report is made.
(6) The amount of all taxes imposed under the provisions of this Chapter shall, in the case of places of permanent amusement, be due and payable at such intervals as the Commissioner shall establish by regulation, and in the case of temporary or itinerant forms of amusement, be due and payable on the day the reports in such cases are required to be made under this Section. 130
Notes
| 129 | Amended, 1990 Ordinances, p. 1024. |
| 130 | Amended, 1956 Ordinances, p. 113; subsection (7) deleted, 1990 Ordinances, p. 1024. |