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Sacramento Overview
Sacramento, CA Code of Ordinances
SACRAMENTO CITY CODE
CHARTER
Title 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
Title 2 ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL
Title 3 REVENUE AND FINANCE
Chapter 3.04 FISCAL PROVISIONS GENERALLY
Chapter 3.08 BUSINESS OPERATIONS TAX
Chapter 3.12 REAL PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX
Chapter 3.16 ADDITIONAL REAL PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX
Chapter 3.20 GENERAL TAX ON CITY UTILITIES
Chapter 3.24 SALES AND USE TAX
Chapter 3.27 TRANSACTIONS AND USE TAX
Chapter 3.28 UNIFORM TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX
Chapter 3.32 UTILITY USER TAX
Chapter 3.36 BUILDING EXCISE TAX
Chapter 3.40 TAX ON CONSTRUCTION OF MOBILEHOME LOTS AND RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS
Chapter 3.44 MAILED BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS AND FEES
Chapter 3.48 ANN LAND AND BERTHA HENSCHEL MEMORIAL FUNDS
Chapter 3.52 E.B. CROCKER ART GALLERY AND WILLIAM LAND PARK FUND
Chapter 3.54 NON-DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYEE BENEFITS BY CITY CONTRACTORS
Chapter 3.56 PROCUREMENT
Chapter 3.58 LIVING WAGE
Chapter 3.60 ADDITIONAL PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC PROJECTS
Chapter 3.62 PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDERING CRIMINAL CONVICTION INFORMATION IN THE EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION PROCESS
Chapter 3.64 PARTICIPATION OF LOCAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
Chapter 3.68 LEASES OF CITY-OWNED REAL PROPERTY
Chapter 3.72 CONCESSION CONTRACTS
Chapter 3.74 FRANCHISES
Chapter 3.76 REVOCABLE PERMITS
Chapter 3.80 DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY
Chapter 3.82 DISPOSITION OF WEAPONS, BADGES AND CANINES
Chapter 3.84 LOST AND UNCLAIMED PROPERTY
Chapter 3.88 SALE OF CITY-OWNED REAL PROPERTY
Chapter 3.92 SPECIAL ASSESSMENT PROCEEDINGS FOR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
Chapter 3.96 OLD SACRAMENTO BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA
Chapter 3.100 FRANKLIN BOULEVARD BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA
Chapter 3.104 DOWNTOWN PLAZA BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA
Chapter 3.106 SUTTER BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA
Chapter 3.108 DEL PASO BOULEVARD BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA
Chapter 3.112 STOCKTON BOULEVARD BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA
Chapter 3.116 NONPROFIT PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION FACILITIES FINANCING LAW
Chapter 3.120 FINANCING OF PUBLIC FACILITIES IN URBAN AREAS
Chapter 3.124 MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENT DISTRICTS AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICTS FOR MAINTENANCE SERVICES
Chapter 3.128 MAINTENANCE BENEFIT AREAS
Chapter 3.132 ASSESSMENT DISTRICT FOR ADDITIONAL POLICE SERVICES
Chapter 3.136 ASSESSMENT DISTRICT FOR ADDITIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES
Chapter 3.140 ASSESSMENT DISTRICT FOR FRANKLIN VILLA NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION AND RELATED SERVICES
Chapter 3.144 STORM DRAINAGE FEES AND SANITARY SEWER FEES FOR THE BELL AVENUE BENEFIT AREA
Chapter 3.148 PARCEL TAX FOR LIBRARY SERVICES
Chapter 3.152 ENTERPRISE REVENUE BOND LAW
Chapter 3.154 TOT REVENUE BOND LAW
Title 4 ETHICS AND OPEN GOVERNMENT
Title 5 BUSINESS LICENSES AND REGULATIONS
Title 6 (RESERVED)
Title 7 (RESERVED)
Title 8 HEALTH AND SAFETY
Title 9 PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE
Title 10 VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC
Title 11 (RESERVED)
Title 12 STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES
Title 13 PUBLIC SERVICES
Title 14 (RESERVED)
Title 15 BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION
Title 16 (Reserved)
Title 17 PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT CODE
Title 18 ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS
TABLES
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3.08.010   Business operations tax.
   It is unlawful for any person, either for himself or for any other person, to commence, transact, engage in or carry on any business, trade, profession, calling, occupation or gainful activity in the city without having paid the applicable business operations tax and procured a valid business operations tax certificate. Compliance with such requirements shall not be construed to be a condition precedent to engaging in any business or occupation within the city where the imposition of such a condition precedent would be contrary to law. (Prior code § 23.01.101)
3.08.020   Definitions.
   For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning respectively ascribed to them by this section, unless otherwise specifically provided:
   "Administrative headquarters" means a location where the principal business transacted consists of providing administrative or management-related services such as, but not limited to, record keeping, data processing, research, advertising, public relations, personnel administration, legal and corporate headquarters services, to other locations where the operations of the same business are conducted which lead more directly to the production of gross receipts.
   "Administrator" means the revenue officer or designee.
   "Business" means any business, commercial enterprise, trade, calling, vocation, profession, or any means of livelihood whether or not carried on for gain or profit, and includes the offering of real property for rental by the owner of such property.
   "Certificate" or "business operations tax certificate" means the receipt given by the department of finance, city of Sacramento, which indicates that the tax imposed by this chapter has been paid.
   "City" means the city of Sacramento, a municipal corporation, in the state of California.
   "Director of finance" means the director of the department of finance of the city of Sacramento or designee.
   "Engaged in business," "carrying on business," or "transacting business," herein used interchangeably, means commencing, conducting, operating, managing, engaging in or carrying on of a business by any person, whether done as owner or by means of an officer, agent, manager, employee, servant, or lessee of any of them, whether operating from a fixed location in the city or coming into the city from an outside location to engage in said activities.
   "Gross receipts," except as otherwise in this chapter specifically provided, means the gross receipts of the preceding calendar year or part thereof or such other fiscal year approved by the administrator, and is defined as follows:
   The total amount actually received or receivable from all sales; the total amount of compensation actually received or receivable for the performance of any act or service, of whatever nature it may be, for which a charge is made or credit allowed, whether or not such act or service is done as part of or in connection with the sale of materials, goods, wares or merchandise; and gains realized from trading in stocks or bonds, interest discounts, rents, royalties, fees, commissions, dividends, or other emoluments, however designated. Included in "gross receipts" shall be all receipts, cash, credits and property of any kind or nature, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, interest paid or payable, or losses or other expenses whatsoever, except that the following shall be excluded therefrom:
      1.   Cash discounts allowed and taken on sales;
      2.   Credit allowed on property accepted as part of the purchase price and which property may later be sold, at which time the sales price shall be included as "gross receipts";
      3.   Any tax required by law to be included in or added to the purchase price and collected from the consumer or purchaser;
      4.   Such part of the sale price of property returned by purchasers upon rescission of a contract of sale as is refunded either in cash or by credit;
      5.   Receipts of refundable deposits, except that such deposits when forfeited and taken into income of the business shall not be excluded;
      6.   Amounts collected for others where the business is acting as an agent or trustee to the extent that such amounts are paid to those for whom collected, provided the agent or trustee has furnished the administrator with the names and addresses of the others and the amounts paid to them. This exclusion shall not apply to any fees, percentages, or other payments retained by the agent or trustee;
      7.   As to a retail gasoline dealer, a portion of his receipts from the sale of motor vehicle fuels equal to the motor vehicle fuel license tax imposed by and previously paid under Part 2 of Division 2 of Revenue and Taxation Code of the state of California;
      8.   As to a retail gasoline dealer, the special motor fuel tax imposed by Section 4041 of Title 26 of the United States Code if paid by the dealer or collected by him or her from the consumer or purchaser;
      9.   Cash value of sales, trades or transactions between departments or units of the same business.
   As to any person engaged in the business of manufacturing or processing any goods, wares, merchandise, article or commodity at a fixed place of business within the city which does not generate gross receipts as defined herein within the city, gross receipts shall be deemed to include the total of all expenses incurred in the manufacturing or processing of such goods at the business location within the city for payroll, utilities, depreciation, and/or rent.
   As to any person engaged in the business of operating an administrative headquarters at a fixed place of business within the city who does not have gross receipts as defined herein within the city, gross receipts shall be deemed to include the total gross payroll of all persons employed at such administrative headquarters.
   "Manufacture" or "process" embraces all the activities of a commercial or industrial nature wherein labor or skill is applied, by hand or machinery, to materials so that as a result thereof of a new, different, or useful article of tangible personal property or substance of trade or commerce is produced. Manufacture shall include the production or fabrication of specially made or custom made articles.
   "Person" includes all domestic and foreign corporations; associations; syndicates; joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind; clubs, Massachusetts business or common law trusts; societies, and individuals, transacting and carrying on any business in the city, other than strictly as a salaried employee.
   "Sale" or "sell" includes and refers to the making of any transfer of title, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, to tangible personal property or other property for a consideration; and to the serving, supplying or furnishing, for a consideration, of any tangible personal property or other property fabricated or made at the special order of consumers who do or do not furnish directly or indirectly the specification therefor. A transaction whereby the possession of property is transferred but the seller retains the title as security for the payment of the price shall likewise be deemed a sale. The foregoing definitions shall not be deemed to exclude any transaction which is or which, in effect, results in, a sale within the contemplation of law. "Sale" includes both wholesale and retail and sales by vending machines dispensing tangible personal property.
   "Valid certificate" means a certificate which complies with all the requirements set forth in this chapter, and any certificate which does not comply with said requirements shall not be deemed to be a valid certificate for the purposes of this chapter or any of its sections. (Prior code § 23.01.102)
3.08.030   Exemptions.
   A.   General. Business operations taxes imposed by this chapter do not apply to a person transacting and carrying on a business exempted by the constitution or statute of the United States or of the state of California from the payment of the tax prescribed.
   Any person claiming an exemption under subsections B or C of this section shall file a sworn statement with the administrator stating the facts upon which exemption is claimed. In the absence of such statement substantiating the claim, the person is liable for the payment of the taxes imposed by this chapter.
   Upon a proper showing contained in the sworn statement, the administrator shall issue a certificate to a person claiming exemption under subsections B or C of this section without payment to the city of the tax required by this chapter.
   The administrator, after giving notice and a reasonable opportunity for hearing to a taxpayer, may revoke a certificate granted under this section upon information that the business is not entitled to the exemption as provided.
   B.   Charitable and Nonprofit Organizations. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the following organizations and activities are exempt from payment of the business operations tax:
      1.   Business conducted by a charitable, nonprofit or eleemosynary corporation, association or organization if the net proceeds of said business are used exclusively by such corporation, association or organization for a purpose which would qualify as a charitable deduction under Section 17214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State of California if said net proceeds were received as a gift by said organization.
      2.   The conduct of entertainment, concert, exhibition or lecture on scientific, historical, literary, religious or moral subject, whenever the receipts are for a religious, educational or charitable purpose.
      3.   The conduct of entertainment, dance, concert, exhibition or lecture by a religious, charitable, fraternal, educational, amateur theatrical group, military, state, county or municipal organization or association, whenever the receipts are for the purpose and objects for which the organization or association is formed, and from which profit is not derived, directly or indirectly, by any individual.
   C.   Disabled Veterans. A disabled veteran holding an honorable discharge from a branch of the military service of the United States is exempt from the payment of the business operations tax prescribed by this chapter, if such person is physically unable to earn a livelihood by other means.
   D.   Permit Requirements. The exemption from payment of business operations tax granted by this section does not exempt the person conducting the business from complying with any and all other requirements of this code or city ordinances.
   E.   Business conducted by participants in trade shows and trade exhibitions at which three or more separate businesses participate as exhibitors. (Prior code § 23.01.103)
3.08.040   Revenue measure only.
   The taxes prescribed by this chapter constitute taxes for revenue purposes only, and are not regulatory permit fees. Such taxes shall be in addition to any regulatory permit fee imposed by this code or ordinances adopted by the city. (Prior code § 23.01.104)
3.08.050   Effect on other ordinances.
   The payment of a tax required by the provisions of this chapter and its acceptance by the city, and the issuance of a certificate to any person, shall not entitle the holder thereof to carry on any business unless he has complied with all other applicable laws of the city, or to carry on any business in any building or on any premises designated in the certificate in the event that such building or premises are situated in a zone or locality in which the conduct of such business is in violation of this code. The payment of such tax and its acceptance by the city shall in no way relieve the taxpayer from complying with the applicable laws of the city, nor shall it be construed as authorizing the conduct or continuance of any illegal business or of a legal business in an illegal manner, nor as requiring the payment of a license tax for the doing of any act which would constitute an unlawful burden upon or an unlawful interference with interstate or foreign commerce, or which would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or of the state of California. (Prior code § 23.01.105)
Article II. Certificates and Records
3.08.060   Contents of certificate.
   All business operations tax certificates shall be prepared and issued by the administrator upon payment of the sum required by the provisions of this chapter to be paid therefor. Each certificate so issued shall contain the following:
   A.   The name of the person to whom it is issued and the name under which the business is to be operated;
   B.   The type of business taxed and the business classification number;
   C.   The address of the location from which the business is conducted, or where no fixed place of business is maintained, the mailing address of the person to whom the certificate has been issued. A post office box shall not be sufficient address for this purpose. The mailing address so appearing shall be the address to which all notices required or authorized in this chapter shall be sent unless the business obtaining the certificate shall request in writing that another address be used for such purpose;
   D.   A receipt for the amount of tax paid;
   E.   The date of expiration of the certificate. (Prior code § 23.02.201)
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