CC RES 2014-080 RESOLUTION NO. 2014-80
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS
VERDES APPROVING OPTIONS FOR CLAIMANT REFUND OF UTILITY USER
TAXES COLLECTED BY TELECOMMUNICATION PROVIDERS FROM THE CITY'S
TAXPAYERS BETWEEN AUGUST 1, 2013 AND DECEMBER 31, 2014, AND
REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 2014-70.
WHEREAS, on August 19, 2014, the City Council directed Staff to notify the
entities that provide telecommunications services to City residents and businesses to
cease collecting the UUT on behalf of the City until such time as revisions to the City's
Utility User Tax are approved by a majority of the City's voters; the City Council further
directed Staff to establish a separate account commitment encumbrance of the City's
General Fund, which shall be referred to as the "Utility User Tax Telecommunication
Claim Account" or "UUT Claim Account," and to place within that account the estimated
amount of the total Utility User Tax collected by telecommunication providers from
taxpayers in the City and remitted to the City during the twelve (12) month period
beginning August 13, 2013, along with all Utility User Tax received from
telecommunication providers after August 19, 2014, through December 31, 2014; and
WHEREAS, on October 21, 2014, a process for presenting and paying claims for
refunds of UUT was presented to the City Council; and
WHEREAS, on October 21, 2014, Resolution No. 2014-70 was adopted identifying
three options whereby residents could make a claim for refund; and
WHEREAS, in November 2014 the City Council received citizen input proposing
an option allowing residents and business claimants to contribute their refund to the City
as a donation;
WHEREAS, on December 16, 2014, a revised process for presenting and paying
claims for refunds of UUT that incorporated the option for claimants to contribute their
refund amount to City was presented to the City Council;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS
VERDES DOES HEREBY FIND, RESOLVE AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The following process for administering claims for refunds of UUT on
telecommunications services, which shall be administered by a claims administrator that
will be selected by the City Council, for UUT that was paid and collected during the period
from August 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014 ("Refund Recovery Period"), is hereby
approved:
Mailed notices shall be sent to every address in the City. In addition, notices shall be
published in both the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and the Daily Breeze and on the
City's website. Claims may be submitted by mail or electronically within six months of the
date of the notice. A City taxpayer may submit a claim for a refund for each
telecommunications account pursuant to any one of the following three options:
1. Submit a claim form provided by the City either electronically, by fax, or by mail,
including the telecommunications provider(s), account number(s), and a signature
releasing the City from any further claims and costs related to the payment of
utility user tax on telecommunications services during the Refund Recovery
Period. A flat-rate refund of $25 would be issued for each landline account and
wireless account, as applicable.
If a resident or business has paid more than $25 for a telecommunications account during
the claim period and wishes to seek a refund for the higher amount, instead of using
option 1 above, the taxpayer may submit a claim for the account pursuant to one of the
two following options:
2. Submit a claim form provided by the City either electronically, by fax, or by mail,
including the telecommunications provider(s), account number(s), and a signature
releasing the City from any further claims and costs related to the payment of utility
user tax on telecommunications services during the Refund Recovery Period,
along with a copy of a single bill for each telecommunications account (note: a
single account may include service for multiple telephone numbers). The UUT
listed on the single bill would be multiplied by 17 months to establish the refund
amount.
3. Submit a claim form provided by the City either electronically, by fax, or by mail,
including the telecommunications provider(s), account number(s), and a signature
releasing the City from any further claims and costs related to the payment of
utility user tax on telecommunications services during the Refund Recovery
Period, along with full documentation of telecommunications service for each
telecommunications account for all of the months of the claim period to obtain a
refund equal to the actual amount of telecommunications UUT paid during the
period covered by the Claim Account.
Under each of the three refund options, eligible claimants may elect either to receive a
check for payment of the approved refund amount or to contribute the refund amount to
the City as a donation to the City's Gifts for Parks Program.
SECTION 2. Resolution No. 2014-70, adopted on October 21, 2014, is hereby
repealed.
SECTION 3. Staff is hereby directed to cause claims to be processed and refunds
to be paid pursuant to the process set forth above.
Resolution No. 2014-80
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PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 16st day of December 2014.
or
ATTEST:
City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )ss
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES )
I, Carla Morreale, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, hereby certify that the
above Resolution No. 2014-80 was duly and regularly passed and adopted by the said
City Council at a regular meeting held on December 16, 2014.
City Clerk
Resolution No. 2014-80
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