3.10.060 Electricity users tax.
A. There is hereby imposed a tax upon every person using electricity in the City. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of 3.75 percent of the charges made for such electricity, and for any supplemental services or other associated activities directly related to and/or necessary for the provision of electricity to the service user, which are provided by a service supplier or nonutility service supplier to a service user. The tax shall be collected from the service user by the service supplier or nonutility service supplier, or its billing agent.
B. As used in this section, the term “charges” shall apply to all services, components and items that are: (1) necessary or common to the receipt, use and enjoyment of electric service; or (2) currently, or historically have been, included in a single or bundled rate for electric service by a local distribution company to a class of retail customers. The term “charges” shall include, but is not limited to, the following charges:
1. Energy charges;
2. Distribution or transmission charges;
3. Metering charges;
4. Standby, reserves, firming, voltage support, regulation, emergency, or other similar charges for supplemental services to self-generation service users;
5. Customer charges, late charges, service establishment or reestablishment charges, termination or early termination charges, demand charges, fuel or other cost adjustments, power exchange charges, independent system operator (ISO) charges, stranded investment or competitive transition charges (CTC), public purpose program charges, nuclear decommissioning charges, trust transfer amounts (bond financing charges), franchise fees, franchise surcharges, annual and monthly charges, and other charges, fees and surcharges which are necessary to or common for the receipt, use and enjoyment of electric service; and
6. Charges, fees, or surcharges for electricity services or programs, which are mandated by the California Public Utilities Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or by any State or Federal law, whether or not such charges, fees, or surcharges appear on a bundled or line item basis on the customer billing, or whether they are imposed on the service provider or the customer.
C. As used in this section, the term “charges” shall include the value of any other services, credits, property of every kind or nature, or other consideration provided by the service user in exchange for the electricity or services related to the provision of such electricity.
D. The Tax Administrator, from time to time, may survey the electric service suppliers to identify the various unbundled billing components of electric retail service that they commonly provide to residential and commercial/industrial customers in the City, and the charges therefor, including those items that are mandated by State or Federal regulatory agencies as a condition of providing such electric service. The Tax Administrator, thereafter, may issue and disseminate to such electric service providers an administrative ruling identifying those components and items which are: (1) necessary or common to the receipt, use or enjoyment of electric service; or (2) currently, or historically have been, included in a single or bundled rate for electric service by a local distribution company to a class of retail customers. Unbundled charges for such components and items shall be subject to the tax of subsection A of this section.
E. As used in this section, the term “using electricity” shall not be construed to include the mere receiving of such electricity by an electric public utility or governmental agency at a point within the City for resale, or the use of such energy in the production or distribution of water by a public utility or a governmental agency.
F. The tax on electricity provided by self-production or by a nonutility service supplier not under the jurisdiction of this chapter shall be collected and remitted in the manner set forth in SMC 3.10.080. All other taxes on charges for electricity imposed by this section shall be collected from the service user by the electric service supplier or its billing agent. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the Tax Administrator, and must be received by the Tax Administrator on or before the twentieth day of the following month; or, at the option of the person required to collect and/or remit the tax, such person shall remit an estimated amount of tax measured by the tax billed in the previous month or upon the payment pattern of the service user, which must be received by the Tax Administrator on or before the twentieth day of the following month; provided, that the service user shall submit an adjusted payment or request for credit, as appropriate, within 60 days following each calendar quarter. The credit, if approved by the Tax Administrator, may be applied against any subsequent tax bill that becomes due.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the tax imposed under this section shall not apply to any individual who qualifies, and has been accepted, for the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program pursuant to California Public Utilities Code Sections 327 and 739.1 et seq., and as it may be amended from time to time. In the event that the CARE program is repealed or otherwise ceases to exist in a substantially similar form, the exemption granted under this subsection shall automatically terminate. (Ord. 1072 § 1, 2014)