ORDINANCE 1164ORDINANCE NO. 1164
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF EL SEGUNDO, CALI-
FORNIA AMENDING SECTIONS 3.24.030, 3.24.035,
3.24.040, 3.24.050, 5.08.020, 5.08.195 AND
5.08.665 OF THE EL SEGUNDO MUNICIPAL CODE
REGARDING MUNICIPAL REVENUE SOURCES
WHEREAS, the City of E1 Segundo presently finds itself
without sufficient revenues to adequately and completely fund the
fundamental municipal services necessary for continued mainten-
ance of public health safety and welfare; and
WHEREAS, projections indicate that this situation will
worsen in the future;
WHEREAS, the City, after consulting with the local
business community, has determined that it would be acceptable to
the business community to increase certain of the municipal
taxes;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EL
SEGUNDO DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION I. Sections 3.24.030, 3.24.035, 3.24.040 and
3.24.050 of Title 3 of the E1 Segundo Municipal Code are hereby
amended as follows:
113.24.030 ELECTRICITY USERS TAX.
(a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every
person in the city using electrical energy in
the city. The tax imposed by this section
shall be at the rate of three percent (3 %) of
the charges made for such energy and shall be
paid by the person paying for such energy.
"Charges," as used in this section, shall
include charges made for: (1) metered
energy, and (2) minimum charges for service,
including customer; charges, service charges,
demand charges, standby charges and annual
and monthly charges, fuel cost adjustments,
etc.
(b) As used in this section, the term "using
electrical energy" shall not be construed to
mean the storage of such energy by a person
in a battery owned or possessed by him for
use in an automobile or other machinery or
device apart from the premises upon which the
energy was received, provided however, that
the term shall include the receiving of such
energy for the purpose of using it in the
charging of batteries; nor shall the term
include electricity used and consumed by an
electric utility supplier in the conduct of
its business as an electric public utility;
nor shall the term include the mere receiving
of such energy by an electric public utility
or governmental agency at a point within the
city of E1 Segundo for resale; or the use of
such energy in the production or distribution
of water by a public utility or a governmen-
tal agency.
(c) The tax imposed by this section shall be
collected from the service user by the person
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providing such energy. The amount of the tax
collected in one (1) month shall be remitted
to the tax administrator on or before the
last day of the following month. Remittance
of tax may be predicated on a formula based
upon the payment pattern of the supplier's
customer.
3.24.035 TAX ON COGENERATED ELECTRICITY.
(a) There is hereby imposed a tax on every
person in the city using cogenerated electri-
cal energy in the city. The tax imposed by
this section shall be at the rate of three
percent (3 %) of the value of the cogenerated
energy. The value shall be equal to the
price an electrical corporation, serving the
city, would pay to purchase electrical energy
from a cogenerator. The cogenerator shall
install and maintain an appropriate utility -
type metering system which will enable com-
pliance with this section.
(b) The tax shall be collected and paid by
the cogenerator if the cogenerator consumes
the energy. If the cogenerator sells the
energy, the tax shall be paid by the person
to whom the energy is sold and collected by
the cogenerator.
(c) The amount of the tax collected in one
(1) month shall be remitted to the tax admin-
istrator on or before the last day of the
following month.
3.24.040 GAS USERS TAX.
(a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every
person in the city other than a Gas Corpora-
tion, using in the city, gas which is deliv-
ered through mains or pipes. The tax imposed
by this section shall be at the rate of three
percent (3 %) of the charges made for such gas
and shall be paid by the person paying for
such gas. "Charges," as used in this
section, shall include: (1) gas which is
delivered through mains or pipes; (2) minimum
charges for services, including customer
charges, service charges, and annual and
monthly charges.
(b) There shall be excluded from the base on
which the tax imposed in this section is
computed: (1) charges made for gas which is
to be resold and delivered through mains or
pipes; (2) charges made for gas sold for use
in production or distribution of water by a
public utility or governmental agency; (3)
charges made by a gas public utility for gas
used and consumed in the conduct of the busi-
ness of gas public utilities; (4) charges
made for gas used in the propulsion of a
motor vehicle, as that phrase is defined in
the Vehicle Code of the State of California,
utilizing natural gas; and (5) charges
related to late payments and returned checks.
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(c) The tax imposed by this section shall be
collected from the service user by the person
selling the gas. The person selling the gas
shall, on or before the 20th of each calendar
month, commencing on the 20th day of the
calendar month after the effective date of
this part, make a return to the tax adminis-
trator stating the amount of taxes billed
during the preceding calendar month. At the
time such returns are filed, the person sell-
ing the gas shall remit tax payments to the
tax administrator in accordance with sched-
ules established or approved by the tax
administrator.
3.24.050 WATER USERS TAX.
(a) There is hereby imposed a tax upon every
person in the city using water which is
delivered through mains or pipes. The tax
imposed by this section shall be at the rate
of three percent (3%) of the charges made for
such water and shall be paid by the person
paying for such water.
(b) There shall be excluded from the base on
which the tax imposed in this section is
computed charges made for water which is to
be resold and delivered through mains or
pipes; and charges made by a municipal water
department, public utility or a county or
municipal water district for water used and
consumed by such department, utility or dis-
trict.
(c) The tax imposed by this section shall be
collected from the service user by the person
selling the water. The amount collected in
one (1) month shall be remitted to the tax
administrator on or before the last day of
the following month."
SECTION II. Section 5.08.020 of the E1 Segundo Munici-
pal Code is hereby amended as follows:
115.08.020 BUSINESSES GENERALLY.
Every person engaged in a business not spe-
cifically mentioned or classified in this
chapter shall pay a license fee in accordance
with the following schedule:
(a) A basic fee of one hundred and three
dollars ($103) per year, which shall cover
the first five (5) employees and one hundred
twenty seven dollars ($127) per year for each
employee in excess of five employees; and
(b) In addition, each such person shall pay
a fee of $0.25 per square foot of floor area
occupied for a business purpose in excess of
5,000 square feet. A fee of $0.10 per square
foot shall be imposed on vacant space avail-
able for rent or lease for business purposes,
said fee to be payable by the person with the
right to possession of the property; and
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(c) In addition, each such person shall pay
$11.00 per year for each additional business
location within the city.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a credit
shall be granted against the tax imposed by
this section whenever a business subject to
the tax imposed by this chapter generates
sales and /or use tax in the year immediately
preceding the year in which the tax is due.
The credit shall be applied to the business
registration tax due for the following year.
The credit shall be equal to fifty percent
(50 %) of the portion of the sales and /or use
tax generated which was awarded to the City
of E1 Segundo during the twelve month period
ending on the June 30th preceding the date
the tax is due. However, the amount of said
credit shall under no circumstances be calcu-
lated to be greater than the total amount of
tax due.
For the purpose of this section, the term
"employee" shall mean any person employed by
the business; and shall include an indepen-
dent contractor and persons employed by the
independent contractor, unless the indepen-
dent contractor and /or persons employed by
the independent contractor has a valid City
of E1 Segundo business license as prescribed
in Chapters 5.04 and 5.08 of the E1 Segundo
Municipal Code.
The total number of employees for each busi-
ness for purposes of this section shall be
determined by averaging the total number of
employees employed by each business during
each of the four calendar quarters preceding
the date the tax is paid.
For the purpose of this section, 11floor areal)
means the total floor space in terms of
square footage occupied by owner, lessee or
renter in a building except:
1. Elevator shafts;
2. Stairwell;
3. Courts or atrium, uncovered and open to the sky;
4. Rooms exclusively housing building operating
equipment; and
5. Parking areas."
SECTION III. Section 5.08.195 of the E1 Segundo Munic-
ipal Code is hereby amende as follows:
115.08.195 CHEMICAL, PETROLEUM, CEMENT OR
CRYOGENIC PRODUCTS; SMELTERS OR REFINERIES.
Every person owning or operating a business
engaged in the processing or manufacturing of
chemical, petroleum, cement or cryogenic
products; and every person owning or opera-
ting a business engaged in smelting or refin-
ing shall pay a business license fee in
accordance with the following schedule:
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(a) A basic fee of one hundred and three
dollars ($103) per year which shall cover the
first five (5) employees;
(b) $127 per year for each employee in
excess of five (5) employees;
(c) $1,531 per year per square acre of space
owned, leased or rented for the purpose of
producing, manufacturing or processing chemi-
cal, petroleum, cement or cryogenic products;
or for the purpose of smelting or refining;
(d) $36 per year for each vehicle in excess
of six thousand pounds (gross vehicle weight)
owned or operated in the conduct of the busi-
ness;
(e) $11 per year for each additional busi-
ness location within the city.
(f) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a credit
shall be granted against the tax imposed by
this section whenever a business subject to
the tax imposed by this chapter generates
sales and /or use tax in the year immediately
preceding the year in which the tax is due.
The credit shall be applied to the business
registration tax due for the following year.
The credit shall be equal to fifty percent
(50 %) of the portion of the sales and /or use
tax generated which was awarded to the City
of E1 Segundo during the twelve month period
ending on the June 30th preceding the date
the tax is due. However, the amount of said
credit shall under no circumstances be calcu-
lated to be greater than the total amount of
tax due."
SECTION IV. Section 5.08.665 of the E1 Segundo Munici-
pal Code is amended as follows:
"5.08.665 WAREHOUSES.
Every person engaged in the business of oper-
ating a warehouse or storage facility shall
pay a license fee of one hundred and three
dollars per year plus fourteen cents per
square foot of space used for such purpose
for each business location within the city."
SECTION V. Severability. If any section, subsection,
subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitu-
tional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such
decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
of the ordinance or any part thereof. The E1 Segundo City Coun-
cil hereby declares that it would have passed each and every
section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or
phrase, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or
phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional. Provided,
however, that if the effect of any such decision is to effec-
tively invalidate any tax imposed herein then the business
license tax which was in effect prior to the passage of this
ordinance shall be reinstated in its entirety effective as of the
effective date of this ordinance.
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SECTION VI. This ordinance shall become effective on
December 31, 1991. All amounts affected by this ordinance which
are due and payable to the City thereafter shall be calculated
pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION VII. The City Clerk shall certify to the
passage and adoption of this ordinance; shall cause the same to
be entered in the book of original ordinances of said city; shall
make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the records
of the meeting at which the same is passed and adopted and shall
within 15 days after the passage or adoption thereof, cause the
same to be published in the E1 Segundo Herald, the weekly news-
paper of general circulation, published and circulated within
said City of El Segundo and which is hereby designated for that
purpose or posted in conformance with the law.
1991. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 4th day of JUNE
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss.
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO )
I, Ronald L. Hart , City Clerk of the City of EL
SEGUNDO, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No.
1164 was regularly introduced and placed upon its first reading
at a regular meeting of the City Council on the 18th day of
MAY , 1991. That thereafter, said Ordinance was duly
adopted and passed at a regular meeting of the City Council on
4th day of JUNE , 1991, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS : JACOBSON, DANNEN, WISE, CLUTTER, WEST
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS : NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS NONE
CITY 6LERK
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO )
I, Ronald L. Hart, City Clerk of the City of El Segundo, California, DO HEREBY
CERTIFY that the whole number of members of the City Council of the said City is five;
that the foregoing ordinance, being Ordinance No. 1164 is a full, true correct original of
Ordinance No. 1164 of the said City of El Segundo, California, entitled:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EL SEGUNDO
AMENDING SECTIONS 3.24.030, 3.24.035, 3.24.040, 3.24.050, 5.08.020,
5.08.195 AND 5.08.665 OF THE EL SEGUNDO MUNICIPAL CODE
REGARDING MUNICIPAL REVENUE SOURCES
which was duly passed and adopted by the said City Council, approved and signed by the
Mayor or said City, and attested by the City Clerk of said City, all at a regular meeting of
the said Council held on the 4th day of June, 1991, and the same was so passed and
adopted by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Dannen, Clutter, West, Wise and
Mayor Jacobsen
NOES: None
ABSTENTIONS: None
I do hereby further certify that pursuant to the provisions of Section 36933 of the
Government Code of the State of California, that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1164 was
duly and regularly published according to law and the order of the City Council of said
City of El Segundo Herald, a weekly newspaper of general circulation, printed, published
and circulated within said City and that the same was so published therein on the
following day, to wit:
Ronald L. Hatt
City Clerk of the
City of El Segundo, California
(SEAL)