1995 SPE MIN SEP 25 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Attorney Biggs said that nothing in the ordinance can stand if it is in conflict with the Constitution. The issue arises as to whether churches are exempt and City Attorney Biggs said the jurisdictions are split on this question. There is no appellate court decision and the Municipal Handbook stated that the excise tax is held to be exempt. She said that the City of Riverside cited Sacramento v. County of Sonoma, a 1991 case, where the analysis held that if an entity was exempt from property tax, it was exempt from excise tax. The City of Riverside determined it if was able to impose a cable tax, it could impose the excise tax. City Attorney Biggs said Finance Director Vega had surveyed surrounding cities and found that all of the cities that impose a Utility Tax are charging the Utility Tax to churches and non-profit organizations. Councilmember Sanders inquired about the status of schools and City Attorney Biggs said that schools are specifically exempt. As to government entities, she advised that they were exempt by Article XIII, Section 3, wherein the property owned by state and local government applied to excise tax. City Attorney Biggs identified a non-profit organization as a group that qualified under state law as non-profit. Councilmember Beltran asked who set the criteria regarding exemption. If City Council granted relief as sought, he wanted to know the impact on the City's fiscal well-being and figures on that impact. Finance Director Vega said there are 30 churches in the community and as she did not do an analysis she did not know the number of non-profit organizations in the City. Motion by Councilmember Beltran to direct staff to do research and return with a report regarding the churches, government entities and non-profit organizations and the impact on the fiscal plan. Mayor Fulp seconded the motion. Ms. Jean Hart, 952 E. Palm, asked if the utility tax was the same for all. Mayor Fulp responded that the rate is 6% of usage. City Manager Martinez said he had no problem providing the information by October 3, 1995. 3. Explanation of Itemized Utility Bills Finance Director Vega reported the City has moved to monthly billing to collect its revenue in an efficient and timely manner. She indicated that with the former system, some bills were paid after 60 days which caused the City to prepare a second billing. She informed that with once a month billing, there was a need for an additional meter reader for water/electric and the only cost for this conversion was for the meter reader. She said the City can count on revenue coming in a timely basis which will decrease the non -collectible bills. She reminded Council that customers are receiving bills which are higher because of the hot weather and high consumption and usage. Mayor Fulp said that when the City went to monthly billing, the impact was suffered by the residents. City Manager Martinez said decision to go to monthly billing was not based on ratepayers but the need for cash flow. Mayor Fulp remarked that the usage threshold dropped 2 SEP P. 3 1995