ORDINANCE NO. 930580

Amending Chapter 21, Licenses and Miscellaneous Business Regulations by repealing Section 21.439 of the Code of General Ordinances (Electric light or power business -- Generally) and adopting in lieu thereof a new section of like number and subject matter to correct an omission.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. That Section 21.439 of the Code of General Ordinances of Kansas City is hereby amended by repealing said section and enacting in lieu of said section a new section to read as follows:

Section 21.439. Electric light or power business - Generally.

(a) Quarterly license fee. Every electric light or power company, and every corporation, company, association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating, controlling, leasing or manufacturing, selling, distributing or transmitting electricity for light, heat or power, shall, in addition to all other taxes, payments or requirements now or hereafter required by law or city ordinance, pay to the City a quarter-annual license fee to be due and payable to the City Treasurer on or before the thirtieth day of January, April, July and October, respectively, of each year, based upon the business done during the preceding period of three (3) calendar months ending, respectively, on the last day of December, March, June and September. The amount of such quarterly license fee (the "fee") shall be a sum equal to six (6) percent of the gross receipts derived from the sale of electrical energy within the City during the same preceding period of three (3) months ending as aforesaid, for consumption and not for resale; provided, however, that from July 1, 1988, through April 30, 2002, except as set forth below, the fee shall not be imposed upon, or with respect to, gross receipts derived from sales of more than three million dollars ($3,000,000.00) in any quarter to any one (1) user ("exempt gross receipts"), except for sales to public utilities which shall remain fully taxable. Ten percent (10%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee during the period from May 1, 1993, through April 30, 1994, and an additional ten percent (10%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee during each succeeding twelve (12) month period until exempt gross receipts are fully subject to the fee from and after May 1, 2002, as follows: during the period from May 1, 1994, through April 30, 1995, twenty percent (20%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 1995, through April 30, 1996, thirty percent (30%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 1996, through April 30, 1997, forty percent (40%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 1997, through April 30, 1998, fifty percent (50%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 1998, through April 30, 1999, sixty percent (60%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 1999, through April 30, 2000, seventy percent (70%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 2000, through April 30, 2001, eighty percent (80%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee; during the period from May 1, 2001, through April 30, 2002, ninety percent (90%) of exempt gross receipts shall be subject to the fee. From and after May 1, 1993, however, said fee shall not be imposed upon sales of more than 150,000,000 kilowatt hours in any quarter to any one (1) user, except for sales to public utilities which shall remain fully taxable. The sale of electrical energy to an owner or lessee of a building who purchases such electrical energy for resale to the tenants therein shall, for the purposes of this section, be considered as a sale for consumption and not for resale; but the resale to the tenants shall not be considered a sale for consumption.

(b) Reports. The licensee shall and he is hereby required to make true and faithful reports under oath to the Director of Finance and to the Commissioner of Revenue of the City, in such form as may be prescribed by the Director of Finance, and containing such information as may be necessary to determine the amounts to which the license tax shall apply, on or before the thirtieth day of January, April, July and October of each year, for all gross receipts for the three (3) calendar months ending, respectively, on the last day of December, March, June and September.

(c) Payment. Each fee shall constitute payment for the three (3) months beginning on the first day of the months of January, April, July and October, respectively, during which months such payment shall be due and payable as herein prescribed; provided, however, that the acceptance of such fee shall not prejudice the right of the City to collect any additional fee thereafter found to be due.

(d) Verification of reports, payments. The City, the Director of Finance thereof and his assistants, and any public accountants selected by the City Council or by the City Manager shall have the right, at all reasonable times during business hours, to make such examinations and inspections of the books of the licensee as may be necessary to determine the correctness of such reports; and the originals of all records, books, documents, accounts, contracts and vouchers, showing accurately the true condition of the gross income and business of the licensee, shall be kept in his office in the City, and the licensee shall not remove the same from the City except when necessary for temporary use or when temporarily required to do so by legal process, and in any such case of temporary use or process, the same shall be promptly returned at the conclusion thereof to the office of the licensee in the City. The City [shall have the right, at its own expense, to employ the same] accountants who make annual audit of the books, records and accounts of the business of the licensee to audit, at the same time, its accounts and records and certify as to correctness of any payments due and payable by the licensee to the City.

(e) Late payment penalty. For each and every month, or part thereof, any such license fee remains unpaid, after the same becomes due and payable, there shall be added to such license fee, as a penalty for such delayed payment, ten (10) percent of the amount of such license fee for the first month, or part thereof, the same is unpaid, and for each and every month thereafter two (2) percent of the amount of such license fee until the same is fully paid.

(f) Authority to trim trees. Permission is hereby granted to the licensee to trim trees upon and overhanging streets, alleys, sidewalks and public places of the City so as to prevent the branches of such trees from coming in contact with the wires and cables of the licensee, all such trimming to be done under the supervision and direction of any City official to whom such duties have been or may be delegated.

(g) Scope of section. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as giving to a licensee any exclusive privileges, nor shall it affect any prior to existing rights of a licensee to maintain an electric plant within the City.

(h) Effect of nonpayment of electric bill. Where an additional amount is added for failure to make payment of any electric bill within a prescribed period, the license fee shall be based on the total amount actually paid, as part of the "gross receipts" of the licensee.

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Approved as to form and legality:

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Acting City Attorney