None of the fees provided for by this Article shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of California.
In any case where a fee is believed by a certificate holder to place an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of such constitutional clauses, the certificate holder may apply to the City Clerk for an adjustment of the fee. Such belief shall not excuse failure to pay the applicable fee when due. Such application may be made before, at the time of, or within six months after, payment of the prescribed fee. A certificate holder shall, by sworn statement and supporting testimony, show his or her method of business and the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and such other information as the City Clerk may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of such undue burden or violation. The City Clerk shall then conduct an investigation, and, after having first obtained the written approval of the City Attorney, shall fix as the fee for the certificate holder, an amount that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory, and if the fee has already been paid, shall order a refund of the amount over and above the fee so fixed. In fixing the fee to be charged, the City Clerk shall have the power to base the fee upon a percentage of gross receipts or any other measure which will assure that the fee assessed shall be uniform with that assessed on businesses of like nature, so long as the amount assessed does not exceed the fee as prescribed by this Article. Should the City Clerk determine the gross receipts measure of license fee to be proper basis, he or she may require the certificate holder to submit, either at the time of termination of the certificate holder's business in the City, or at the end of each quarter, a sworn statement of the gross receipts and pay the amount of the fee therefor, provided that no additional fee during any one calendar year shall be required after the certificate holder shall have paid an amount equal to the annual fee as prescribed in this Article.
(Ord. MC-817, 1-07-92; Ord. MC-302, 9-07-83)