(A) Public Service Tax. There is levied on each and every purchase in the city of electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; and fuel oil, a tax in the amount of 10% of the charge made by the seller and on the purchase of water service, a tax in the amount of 6%. However, in the case of fuel oil, the tax shall not exceed $.04 per gallon. The tax shall, in every case, be paid by the purchaser, for the use of the city, to the seller of electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; water service; and fuel oil, at the time of paying the charge to seller but not less often than monthly. For the purposes of this section, FUEL OIL is defined as all diesel fuel; #1, #2, #4, #5, and #6 fuel oil; and kerosene or any combination thereof purchased for home, industrial, commercial, or agricultural purposes.
('58 Code, § 45.13)
(B) Telecommunications Service Tax. There is levied on each and every purchase in the city of taxable telecommunication services, as defined herein, a tax in the amount of 7% of the charge made by the seller. Purchases in the city of telecommunication services, as defined in F.S. § 203.012(5), shall be taxed only on a monthly recurring customer service charge, excluding variable use charges.
(1) The following definitions shall apply for the purposes of division (B) herein:
(a)
PURCHASE. Every act or transaction whereby possession of, utilization of, or control over taxable telecommunication services become vested in the purchaser within the city for which payment is made, pursuant to a duty and obligation therefor; but such term shall not apply to purchase of local telephone service or other telecommunication service for hire or otherwise for resale.
(b)
PURCHASE WITHIN CITY. A purchase is within the city if a communication originates or terminates within the city and it is billed to a purchaser, telephone or telephone number, or telecommunications number or device within the city.
(c)
PURCHASER. Every person legally liable for the payment of taxable telecommunication services rendered to him, by a seller, excluding a purchaser of local telephone service or other telecommunication service for use in the conduct of a telecommunication service for hire or otherwise for resale.
(d)
SELLER. Every person rendering taxable telecommunication services to any purchaser thereof.
(e)
TAXABLE TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES. Purchases within the city of telecommunication services which originate and terminate in this state, or if the location of the telecommunications service cannot be determined as part of the billing process, the total amount billed for such telecommunications service to a telephone or telephone number, a telecommunications number or device, a service address, or a customer's billing address located within the municipality; excluding public telephone charges collected on-site, charges for any foreign exchange service or any private line service except when such services are used or sold as a substitute for any telephone company switch service or dedicated facility by which a telephone company provides a communication path, access charges, any customer access line charges paid to a local telephone company, and intrastate toll charges billed to a telephone number other than the originating or terminating telephone number located within a municipality; provided, purchasers within the city of telecommunication services as defined in F.S. § 203.012(5) shall be taxed only on a monthly recurring customer service charge, excluding variable use charges. Purchases made by any religious institution that possesses a consumer certificate of exemption issued under Chapter 212, Florida Statues, shall be exempt.
(2) For the purpose of compensating the seller of taxable communication services, the seller shall be allowed 1% of the amount of the tax collected due to the city in the form of a deduction from the amount collected for a remittance. The deduction is allowed as compensation for keeping of records and collection of tax and remitting the same. This 1% deduction shall not be allowed in the event of an untimely return made pursuant to the requirements set forth in division (E) below, unless the seller has in writing requested and been granted an extension of time for filing such return. Such extensions may be granted by the city for the due date of a return or a payment if reasonable cause is shown.
(C) Sellers to collect and remit tax. It shall be the duty of every seller of electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; fuel oil; water service; or taxable telecommunication services to collect from the purchaser, for the use of the city, the tax hereby levied, at the time of collecting the selling price charged for each transaction, and to report and pay over, on or before the twentieth day of each calendar month, to the City's Treasury Division, all taxes levied and collected during the preceding calendar month, except where quarterly remittance is authorized as provided herein.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any seller to collect the price of any sale of electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; fuel oil; water service; or taxable telecommunication services, without at the same time collecting the tax hereby levied in respect to the sale or sales, unless the seller elects to assume and pay the tax without collecting it from the purchaser.
(2) Any seller failing to collect the tax at the time of collecting the price of any sale, where the seller has not elected to assume and pay the tax, shall be liable to the city for the amount of the tax in the same manner as if it had been actually paid to the seller. Nothing in this section shall be construed as barring the seller from later recovering the amount of such taxes from the purchasers at any point in time if otherwise permitted under Florida Law. The City Commission shall cause to be brought all suits and actions and to take all proceedings in the name of the city as may be necessary for the recovery of the tax from the seller or purchaser. The seller shall not be liable for the payment of the tax on uncollected bills.
(3) If any purchaser shall fail, neglect, or refuse to pay to the seller, the seller's charge, and the tax imposed and required, on account of the sale for which the charge is made, or either, the seller shall have and is vested with the right, power, and authority immediately to disconnect further service to the purchaser until the tax and the seller's bill have been paid in full.
('58 Code, § 45.14)
(4) Any seller who fails to pay any tax when due, or to file any required return, shall be liable to the city for interest and penalties. Interest on delinquent tax payments shall be assessed at 1% per month of the delinquent tax from the date the tax was due, until paid. The penalty for a delinquent return shall be at the rate of 5% per month of the tax which is due for that reporting period, not to exceed a total penalty of 25%. However, the minimum penalty for failure to file a return shall be $15. No penalty for a delinquent return shall be assessed absent willful neglect, willful negligence, or fraud. In the case of a fraudulent return or a willful intent to evade payment of the tax, the seller making such fraudulent return or willfully attempting to evade payment of the tax, shall be liable for a penalty of 100% of the tax. All interest and penalties shall be computed based on the net tax due.
(5) In the event the total amount of tax anticipated to be collected within the calendar quarter by any seller does not exceed $120 for all aggregate sales, the seller of such service may, with the written consent of city, remit the taxes collected during such calendar quarter to the city quarterly, and may file the return on a quarterly basis. In such case, the return and the accompanying tax shall be due on or before the 20th day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter in which the taxes were collected.
(D) Record keeper by sellers. Each and every seller of electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; fuel oil; water service; and taxable telecommunication services, shall keep at its official place of business complete and applicable records showing all sales in the city of those commodities or service, which shall show the price charged on each sale, the date of the sale, the date of payment therefor by purchaser, the date such tax was remitted to the city by seller, the period of time covered by such remittance and other related information that may be required to verify proper collection and remittance of the taxes. These applicable records shall be preserved by the seller until the expiration of the time within which the city may make an assessment with respect to that tax.
(E) Audit of sellers' sales records. To assure proper administration of the provision this section, the city may, where possible and practical, conduct a periodic audit of such sales records of all businesses in connection with which the tax is imposed under this section. Failure to conduct such an audit will not eliminate the liability of the seller for collection and remittance of such tax, city may, during normal business hours at the official location of the seller's books and records, audit the records of any seller of a service that is taxable by the city under this section, for the purpose of ascertaining whether taxable services have been provided or the correctness of any return that has been filed or payment that has been made, if the city's power to assess tax or grants a refund is not barred by the applicable limitations period. The seller must provide to the city, upon 60 days' written notice of intent to audit, access to applicable records for such service, except an extension of this 60-day period may be granted if reasonably requested by seller. The seller may, at its option, waive the 60-day notice requirements. If either the city or seller requires an additional extension, it shall give notice to the other no less than 30 days before the existing extension expires, except in cases of bona fide emergency or waiver of the notice requirements by the other party. As used herein, “applicable records” means records kept in the ordinary course of business which establish the collection and remittance of taxes due. City shall assess and collect from the seller the reasonable travel expenses incurred by or charged to city in connection with performing an audit of the seller's books and records in accordance with the above requirements, and the seller failed or refused to allow such access and did not propose an alternative date on which the audit could commence, or if seller and city agreed in writing to an alternative date on which the audit was to commence but seller then failed or refused to permit reasonable access to the books and records on that alternative date.
(F) Seller to file monthly return. In addition to making the records available, every seller, except a seller who is eligible under (C)(5) for quarterly reporting and has received written consent from the city, is required to file not later than the twentieth day of each month, at the office of the City's Treasury Division, a return showing at a minimum, the name and address of the seller, the period of the return, the amount collected from the sale of taxable services, any collection allowance taken, the amount of tax remitted with the return, and the name and telephone number of a person authorized by the seller to respond to inquiries from city officials concerning the seller's administration of the tax. Contemporaneously with the filing of the return shall be paid the amount of the tax to which the city is entitled to the City's Treasury Division to be deposited to the credit of the funds of the city to be utilized for those purposes the City Commission may prescribe by ordinance or resolution.
('58 Code, § 45.15)
(G) Exemption from tax. The United States, State of Florida, and the political subdivisions and agencies, boards, commissions, and authorities thereof, are exempted from payment of any tax levied by this chapter. Any recognized church in this state, when purchasing electricity, metered natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas either metered or bottled and manufactured gas either metered or bottled, exclusively for church purposes, shall similarly be exempted. Any purchaser, other than a governmental entity, who claims an exemption hereunder shall certify to the seller that he or she qualifies for the exemption, which certification may encompass all purchases after a specified date or other multiple purchases.
('58 Code, § 45.16)
(H) Monthly tax computation. In all cases where the seller of electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; fuel oil; or taxable telecommunication services collects the price thereof at monthly periods, the tax may be computed on the aggregate amount of sales during the period, provided the amount of tax to be collected is the nearest whole cent to the amount computed.
('58 Code, § 45.17)
(I) Sales within city. For the purpose of this section a sale shall be determined to be made in the city in every instance where electricity; bottled gas, natural or manufactured; metered gas, natural or manufactured; water service; and fuel oil, is delivered to a purchaser residing within the limits of the city regardless of whether the residence, business, or headquarters of the seller is located within the limits of the city or elsewhere.
('58 Code, § 45.18)
(J) Use of public service tax monies. An amount equal to 20% of the tax collected pursuant to division (A) excluding, however, the tax collected on water service hereof shall become revenue to the Capital Improvement Fund of the city and shall be used for such purpose only. The remainder of the monies derived from the taxes collected pursuant to this section may be used by the city for any lawful municipal purpose.
('58 Code, § 45.19)
(Ord. 483, passed 5-22-51; Am. Ord. 79-20, passed 11-21-78; Am. Ord. 85-88, passed 9-10-85; Am. Ord. 86-86, passed 9-9-86; Am. Ord. 87-16, passed 12-30-86; Am. Ord. 92-33, passed 4-7-92; Am. Ord. 93-66, passed 9-7-93; Am. Ord. 97-54, passed 5-13-97; Am. Ord. 98-15, passed 12-9-97) Penalty, see § 10.99