(a) Registration and Fee Requirement. All weighing and measuring devices used for commercial purposes, as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 12500, subdivision (e), shall be registered annually with the County Sealer of Weights and Measures (“County Sealer”). A registration may not be transferred between persons or locations. The fee charged by the County Sealer for such registration shall be used to offset the costs of inspecting and testing of said devices pursuant to California Business and Professions Code Section 12240 and to recover the cost of carrying out California Business and Professions Code Section 12211. The initial fee shall be due and payable immediately upon the commencement of the commercial use of the device 1
Thereafter, the fee shall be due and payable annually on or before March 31, pursuant to Section 76.1 of Article 2 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code for the upcoming registration term commencing April 1. All registrations for weighing and measuring devices issued prior to November 1, 2021, that were effective on November 1, 2021, shall continue to be effective through March 31, 2022.
(b) Calculation of Fee. The amount of the fee shall be set to recover the total costs of inspection and testing incurred by the County Sealer for each annual registration, but shall not exceed the maximum annual charges authorized under California Business and Professions Code Section 12240. Each registration fee shall include a business location fee component; a device fee component; and a State of California administrative charge. The registration fee shall be according to the following schedule:
Beginning January 1, 2013, and thereafter, the registration fee shall be $100 per business location, plus a device fee listed in subsections (c)(1) through (c)(11) below.
(c) Device Fees.
(1) For large capacity weighing devices, other than livestock, with capacities of 10,000 pounds or greater, the device fee shall not exceed $250 per device;
(2) For smaller capacity weighing devices, other than livestock scales, with capacities of at least 2,000 pounds but less than 10,000 pounds, the device fee shall not exceed $150 per device;
(3) For livestock scales with capacities of 10,000 pounds or greater, the device fee shall not exceed $150 per device;
(4) For livestock scales with capacities of at least 2,000 pounds but less than 10,000 pounds, the device fee shall not exceed $100 per device;
(5) For liquefied petroleum gas meters, truck mounted or stationary, the device fee shall not exceed $185 per device.
(6) For wholesale and vehicle meters, the device fee shall not exceed $75 per device;
(7) For computing scales, the device fee shall not exceed $23 per device. For purposes of this subsection (7), a computing scale shall be a weighing device with a capacity of less than 100 pounds that indicates the money value of any commodity weighed, at predetermined unit prices, throughout all or part of the weighing range of the scale. For the purposes of this subsection, the portion of the annual registration fee consisting of the business location fee and the device fees authorized by this subsection shall not exceed the sum of $1,000 for each business location.
(8) For jewelry and prescription scales, the device fee shall not exceed $80 per device. For purposes of this subsection (8), a jewelry or prescription scale is a scale that meets the specifications, tolerances, and sensitivity established pursuant to California Business and Professions Code Section 12107.
(9) For weighing devices, other than computing, jewelry, and prescription scales, as defined in subsections (7) and (8), with capacities of at least 100 pounds, but less than 2,000 pounds, the device fee shall not exceed $50 per device.
(10) For vehicle odometers utilized to charge mileage usage fees in vehicle rental transactions or in computing other charges for service, including, but not limited to, ambulance, towing, or limousine services, the device fee shall not exceed $60 per device.
(A) This subsection (10) does not apply to odometers in rental passenger vehicles, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 465, that are subject to California Civil Code Sections 1939.01 et seq. If a person files a complaint with the County Sealer regarding the accuracy of a rental passenger vehicle odometer, the County Sealer may charge a fee to the operator of the vehicle rental business sufficient to recover, but not to exceed, the reasonable cost of testing the device in investigation of the complaint.
(B) For vehicle odometers utilized to charge mileage usage fees in vehicle rental transactions involving nonpassenger vehicles that are not subject to California Civil Code Sections 1939.01 et seq., the portion of the annual registration fee consisting of the business location fee and the device fee authorized under this subsection (10) shall not exceed $340 for each business location.
(11) For all other commercial weighing or measuring devices not listed above, the device fee shall not exceed $20 per device. For purposes of this subsection (11), the total annual registration fee shall not exceed the sum of $1,000 for each business location.
(d) Business Locations. For purposes of this Section 1.13-5, a single business location is defined as:
(1) each vehicle, except for those vehicles that are employed in vehicle rental transactions containing one or more commercial devices; or,
(2) (A) for vehicles that are employed in vehicle rental transactions that are not subject to California Civil Code Sections 1939.01 et seq., each business location at which vehicles are stored or maintained by a vehicle rental company for the purposes of renting vehicles to customers.
(B) A facility that meets all of the following criteria shall not be considered a business location for the purposes of this subsection (d)(2):
(i) The facility is not wholly, or in any part, owned, leased, or operated by the vehicle rental company.
(ii) The facility is not operated or staffed by an employee of the vehicle rental company.
(iii) The facility stores or maintains, on a temporary basis, vehicles at the location for customer convenience.
If a person files a complaint with the County Sealer regarding the accuracy of an odometer in a vehicle found or located at a facility described in this subsection (B), the County Sealer may charge a fee to the operator of the vehicle rental company sufficient to recover, but not to exceed the reasonable cost of testing the device in investigation of the complaint; or,
(3) each business location that uses different categories or types of commercial devices that require the use of specialized testing equipment and that necessitates not more than one inspection trip by aWeightseights and Measureseasures 1
official.
(e) Utility Meters. For marinas, mobile home parks, recreational vehicle parks, and apartment complexes, where the owner of the marina, park, or complex owns and is responsible for the utility meters, the device fee shall not exceed the following:
(1) For water submeters, $2 per device per space or apartment.
(2) For electric submeters, $3 per device per space or apartment.
(3) For vapor submeters, $4 per device per space or apartment.
Marinas, mobile home parks, recreational vehicle parks, and apartment complexes, for which the above fees are assessed, shall be inspected and tested as frequently as required by California Code of Regulations, title 4, Section 4070.
(f) State of California Fees. In addition to the fees set forth above, the California Code of Regulations, title 4, Section 4075, requires each County Sealer to collect the fees therein, as amended from time to time, on behalf of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”) for recovery of CDFA’s administrative costs, and to remit these funds to CDFA.
(g) Rules and Regulations. The County Sealer shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are reasonable and necessary to implement this Section 1.13-5.
(h) Penalties. The penalty for fees not paid within 30 days of billing shall be 100% of the unpaid fees. The penalties in the foregoing sentence shall not be effective for fees in subsection (a) for registrations effective on or after April 1, 2022. Rather, fees in subsection (a) for registrations effective on or after April 1, 2022, shall be subject to the penalties under Section 76.1 of Article 2 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code.
(i) Temporary Waiver of Fees for Businesses with Taximeter Devices.
(1) The business location fee and device fee components of the annual registration fees billed by the Tax Collector on or after January 1, 2019, through fees otherwise due prior to March 31, 2025, shall be waived for each business with a taximeter device.
(2) This subsection (i) shall be retroactive to January 1, 2019.
(3) This subsection (i) shall expire by operation of law on March 31, 2025. After that date, the City Attorney shall cause this subsection (i) to be removed from the Administrative Code.
(j) Refund for Businesses with Taximeter Devices of Waived Fees and Associated Penalties Paid to the City.
(1) If a business with a taximeter device pays or has paid to the City any fee waived under subsection (i), the Department of Public Health shall refund or cause to be refunded the amount of that fee, plus any penalties paid with respect to that fee, without interest, upon request of that business. Any refund requested under this subsection (j) must be filed in writing with the Department of Public Health within the later of: (1) one year of payment of the fee or penalty; or (2) November 1, 2022.
(2) This subsection (j) shall expire by operation of law on March 31, 2025. After that date, the City Attorney shall cause this subsection (j) to be removed from the Administrative Code.
(Amended by Ord. 20-86, App. 2/7/86; Ord. 236-88, App. 6/10/88; Ord. 421-94, 12/23/94; Ord. 30-06, File No. 060030, App. 2/23/2006; Ord. 175-10, File No. 100717, App. 7/23/2010; Ord. 81-13
, File No. 130132, App. 5/15/2013, Eff. 6/14/2013; Ord. 75-14
, File No. 140226, App. 5/28/2014, Eff. 6/27/2014; Ord. 170-21, File No. 210938, App. 10/15/2021, Eff. 11/15/2021, Retro. 11/1/2021)
CODIFICATION NOTE
1. So in Ord. 170-21.