Municipal Code Title 4
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Revenue and Finance
Chapters:
Chapter 4.08 Annual Financial Statement
Chapter 4.12 Management of Funds
Chapter 4.13 Gustavus Endowment Fund
Chapter 4.16
Fish Box Flat-tax
Chapter 4.17 Contracts and Purchasing
Chapter 4.01
Budget Generally
Section:
4.01.040 Budgeted Expenditures
Section 4.01.010 City Obligations
a. A bond, contract, lease, or other obligation requiring the payment of funds from the appropriations of a later fiscal year of more than one (1) fiscal year shall be made by ordinance and approved by the voters.
b. No payment may be authorized or made and no obligations may be incurred except in accordance with an appropriation made by ordinance. The Council may make supplemental and emergency appropriations.
c. The Council may authorize contracts for capital improvements to be financed wholly or partly by the issuance of bonds.
Section 4.01.020 Scope of Budget
a. The budget shall be a complete financial plan for the operation of the City during the next fiscal year, showing dollar reserves, anticipated revenues and proposed expenditures.
b. Adoption of the budget, together with appropriation of the required funds, constitutes the commitment of each sum identified as an
expenditure to the specified purchase or expense or class of purchases or expenses, and authorization and direction to the Mayor and the City’s appointed officials to expend each budgeted sum for the specified purpose.
c. Proposed expenditures shall not exceed anticipated revenues and reserves.
Section 4.01.030 Budgeted Revenues
Budget revenues shall be itemized as needed for proper accounting purposes.
Section 4.01.040 Budgeted Expenditures
Budgeted expenditures shall be itemized as needed for proper accounting purposes. Separate provisions shall be included in the budget for at least:
1. Interest, amortization of principal and redemption charges on the public debt for which the faith and credit of the City is pledged;
2. Administration, operation and maintenance of each committee, department or agency of the City;
3. The Council’s budgetary reserve; and
4. Expenditures proposed for capital projects, including provision for down payments on capital projects.
Chapter 4.02
Reserved
Chapter 4.03
Reserved
Chapter
4.04
Budget Procedure
Sections:
4.04.060 Amendment of Proposed Budget, Adoption, Appropriation of Funds
4.04.090 Excess Liability; Lapse of Appropriations
Section 4.04.010 Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the City government shall begin on the first day of July of each calendar year and end on the last day of June of the following calendar year. The fiscal year shall also constitute the budget and accounting year.
Section 4.04.020 Tax Schedule
The collection of Sales and Room Tax will be monthly unless otherwise prearranged.
Section 4.04.030 Public Records
The proposed budget and budget message, and upon adoption, the budget, shall be a public record open to inspection pursuant to Chapter 2.50.020 of the Gustavus Municipal Code.
Section 4.04.040 Proposed Budget
The Mayor, City Clerk or designated budget committee; shall prepare and submit to the Council no later than May 1st of each year, the proposed budget for the following fiscal year, together with a budget message. The “budget message” is a brief statement of the budget (surplus/deficit), and the direction the City Council would like to direct the budget for the coming year (surplus/deficit), while accomplishing which goals. The proposed budget shall set out estimates of all revenues expected to be received, and provide and appropriate for all anticipated expenditures of money, including contract and other commitments, except expenditures of construction funds derived from bonds or from special assessment. The budget shall be submitted as an ordinance. The Council may amend the budget estimate at any time prior to adoption.
Section 4.04.050 Reserved
Section 4.04.060 Amendment of Proposed Budget, Adoption, Appropriation of Funds
After the conclusion of the public hearing on the proposed budget, the Council may insert new items or may increase or decrease the items of the budget in proposed expenditures fixed by law. The Council shall adopt the budget and make the appropriation by ordinance not later than the fifteenth (15th) day of June. The Council shall then appropriate the money required for the approved budget.
Section 4.04.070 Amendment
The budget can be amended by the Council at any time after adoption provided no such amendment shall be made until after a public hearing.
Section 4.04.080 Encumbrance
No budget appropriations may be encumbered without prior certification by the Mayor that there is an unencumbered appropriation sufficient to cover such encumbrances and sufficient funds available to meet the expenditure.
Section 4.04.090 Excess Liability; Lapse of Appropriation
The Mayor and City Clerk shall not permit, without budget amendment, an expenditure or contract incurring a liability in excess of the amount appropriated for each department of the City during any budget year.
Chapter 4.05
Reserved
Chapter 4.06
Reserved
Chapter 4.07
Reserved
Chapter 4.08
Annual Financial Statement
Sections:
4.08.010 Annual Financial Statement
Section 4.08.010 Annual Financial Statement
a. The City Clerk shall prepare and submit for review and approval of the Council an annual financial statement. The statement shall contain the same basic information and accounts as the City Clerk’s monthly financial report.
b. The Mayor shall arrange for the preparation of a Statement of Annual Income and Expenditures and shall deliver the statement to the City Council before October first (1st) of each year.
Section 4.08.020 Audit
The City Council may require that an audit be conducted in place of or in addition to the Statement of Annual Income and Expenditures. The audit shall be completed and transmitted to the City Council prior to April first (1st) of the following year for which the audit has been prepared.
Chapter 4.09
Reserved
Chapter 4.10
Reserved
Chapter 4.11
Reserved
Chapter 4.12
Management of Funds
Sections:
4.12.020 Deposits and Withdrawals
Section 4.12.010 Treasurer
- As Treasurer, the City Clerk is the custodian of all municipal funds and shall be responsible for their management and shall develop and maintain such records, systems, and procedures as may, in his or her opinion be necessary for that purpose.
- All accounting functions for all City departments and offices are the responsibility of the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall provide the following statements to the Council on a monthly basis:
1. Profit and Loss Budget Overview
2. Balance Sheet
Section 4.12.020 Deposits and Withdrawals
- The City Clerk is authorized to deposit City funds in such federally insured commercial banks, savings and loan associations, or investment accounts as the Council may authorize by resolution. All such deposits shall be held in the name of the City of Gustavus. All Council members are authorized signatories on such accounts.
- All checks written on City funds shall be prepared by the City Clerk, or Mayor, and signed by two (2) City Council members.
- No check may be drawn unless there are sufficient funds in the account to cover the amount.
Section 4.12.030 Investments
The Council shall periodically determine necessary cash balances to be maintained in the City’s demand deposit accounts. The Council shall decide if and when to invest excess cash in securities of the United States, any state or local government, commercial paper, time certificates of deposit, or any other form of security as may be authorized by law.
a. All transactions shall be made and held in the name of the City of Gustavus, or its designate.
Chapter 4.13
Gustavus Endowment Fund
Sections:
04.13.010 Gustavus Endowment Fund Established
04.13.030 Deposits To The Fund
04.13.040 Long-term Goal of the Endowment Fund
04.13.060 Asset Allocation and Performance Benchmarks
04.13.070 Permissible Investments
04.13.090 Distribution of Earnings
04.13.100 Appropriating Principal
Section 04.13.010 Gustavus Endowment Fund Established
There is established as a separate Fund within the finances of the City of Gustavus, a Fund to be known as the Gustavus Endowment Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Fund).
Section 04.13.020 Purpose
The purpose for establishment of the Fund is to preserve in trust, City assets for the benefit of present and future generations of Gustavus residents.
Section 04.13.030 Deposits To The Fund
- The first deposit to the Fund shall be the approximately Nine Hundred Sixty-three Thousand Dollars that the City received from the Gustavus Community Association that received the money from the National Park Service in COMPENSATION FOR THE LOSS OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES IN GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK.
- The Council may, from time to time, make deposits to the principal of this Fund in the same manner as it makes other appropriations. Any funds received by the City from any source may be deposited into the Fund.
- Donations to the Fund by private individuals and groups will be honored and accepted.
- Funds once dedicated are intended to be held in the Fund for perpetuity.
- Safety of the principal is the foremost investment objective of the Fund. Each investment transaction shall seek to first insure that capital losses are avoided, whether they are from securities defaults or permanent erosion of market value. The Council will seek to attain market rates of return on its investments, consistent with constraints imposed by its safety objectives and cash flow considerations that restrict placement of public funds. All participants in the investment process shall seek to act responsibly as custodians of the public trust. Investment officials shall avoid any transaction that might impair public confidence in the City of Gustavus.
Section 04.13.040 Long-term Goal of the Endowment Fund
- The long-term goal of the Fund is to achieve a 5% income (return on the fund*) level of earnings plus the average rate of inflation as reported by the Anchorage CPI index plus administrative costs.*PER ORDINANCE 2006.04 AMENDMENT
- In order to avoid the effect of extreme activities in the market, year-to-year earnings are to be compared to a five (5) year rolling average rate of inflation. Until the Fund has been in existence for five (5) years, the earnings will be expected to meet the average rate of inflation since inception.
Section 04.13.050 Treasury Management
- The Fund shall be managed in accordance with the Prudent Expert Rule which requires management with care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and like aims.
- The Endowment Committee Chair may, with concurrence of the Council, retain a registered investment advisor to manage all or part of the Fund. Such advisor will be bound by all aspects of this chapter. A report of absolute and comparative performance and of compliance with this chapter shall be provided to the City Council quarterly by the investment advisor. In addition, a copy of the Association of Investment Management and Research Report and a completed copy of Part II of Securities and Exchange Commission Form ADV shall be provided to the City Council annually by the investment advisor. These reporting requirements are in addition to any other reporting requirements contained within this chapter. Investment guidelines given to such advisor(s) may be more restrictive than the policies contained herein, but may not be less restrictive.
Section 04.13.060 Asset Allocation and Performance Benchmarks
- No more than 5% of the Fund portfolio that is managed by an investment manager may be held in the form of cash equivalents for a period longer than thirty (30) days unless extenuating circumstances exist. Such circumstances should be documented in writing by the investment manager.
- The portion of the Fund managed by an investment manager shall be compared to appropriate benchmarks. Asset allocation of the investment portfolio shall hold securities similar to those held in the appropriate benchmarks.
Section 04.13.070 Permissible Investments
a. The City of Gustavus Endowment Fund may be invested in:
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U.S. government treasury, agency, and instrumentality securities;
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Notes or bonds issued by the State of Alaska or its political subdivisions, or other states of the United States, maturing within two years, with a credit rating of A-/A3 or better from two national rating agencies;
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Federally insured or fully collateralized certificates of deposit of banks and credit unions, maturing within two (2) years;
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Repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities and marked-to-market. If purchase agreements are overnight investments or if securities are collateralized in excess of 102%, marked-to-market is not necessary;
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A state investment pool formed within the State of Alaska and comprised of agencies of the state and/or its political subdivisions;
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Money market mutual Funds whose portfolios consist entirely of U.S. government securities; or
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Any of the following:
A. Mortgage-backed and asset-backed obligations denominated in U.S. dollars with a credit rating of A-/A3 or better from two national ratings agencies;
B. Corporate debt obligations of U.S. domiciled corporations denominated in U.S. dollars with a rating of A-/A3 or better from at least two national ratings agencies;
C. Convertible debt obligations of U.S. domiciled corporations denominated in U.S. dollars with a credit rating of A-/A3 or better from two national ratings agencies; or
D. Common and preferred stock of U.S. (and foreign securities of developed economies*) domiciled corporations listed on a national exchange or NASDAQ with a minimum market capitalization of five hundred million dollars or a mutual fund that invests in these stocks.
*PER ORDINANCE 2006-04 AMENDMENT
Section 04.13.080 Income
- The net income of the Fund shall be determined annually as of the last day of the (fund*) fiscal year in accordance with this section and utilizing generally accepted accounting practices.*PER ORDINANCE 2006-04 AMENDMENT
- For the purpose of determining the net income of the Fund, net income shall be defined as the total income yielding from investment of the principal of the Fund, less any amounts needed.
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To offset any depletive effect of inflation on the Fund principal during the fiscal year, using the Anchorage CPI index; and
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To offset any reduction in Fund principal due to administrative costs.
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Section 04.13.090 Distribution of Earnings
Income derived from investment of the Fund principal, not otherwise reinvested in the Fund as required for inflation proofing and administrative costs, may be appropriated to provide funding for capital outlays, grant matching funds and community projects as provided for in the Gustavus City Endowment Fund Policy and Procedures.
Section 04.13.100 Appropriating Principal
The City Council may appropriate from the principal effective only upon approval by a 2/3 majority of votes cast in a regular ballot election.
Chapter 4.14
Revenue and Finance
Room Tax
Sections:
04.14.030 Imposition of Room Tax
04.14.050 Regulations and Procedures
04.14.060 Operator to Add Tax to Rent
04.14.070 Monthly Returns – Penalties and Interest for Delinquency
04.14.080 Operator’s Compensatory Collection Discount
04.14.090 Assessment Limitation Periods – Record Keeping
04.14.100 Delinquency – Failure to Submit Return or to Remit Taxes - Assessments
04.14.130 Forgiveness of Uncollected Taxes, Penalties, and Interest
04.14.160 Deposit by Non-Residents
04.14.180 Sale of Business – Final Tax Return – Liability of Purchaser
04.14.190 Suits for Collection
04.14.200 Lien for Tax, Interest, and Penalty
Section 04.14.010 Purpose and Intent
It is the purpose of the tax levied under this chapter to raise revenues. To that end, the scope of the tax levied shall be broadly interpreted and exceptions shall be allowed only when the rental clearly falls within an exemption defined in this chapter.
Section 04.14.020 Definitions
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning respectively ascribed to them by this section:
- City: The City of Gustavus, Alaska, or the area within the territorial limits of the City of Gustavus, Alaska.
- City Council: The Gustavus City Council or the Gustavus City Council’s designees.
- Guest: An individual, corporation, partnership, or association paying monetary, barter, or other consideration for the use of a sleeping room or rooms in a hotel/motel/inn/lodge/bed and breakfast (B&B), and for fewer than thirty (30) consecutive days for the purposes of habitation.
- Hotel/Motel: A structure, or portions of a structure, occupied, intended, or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes and includes any hotel, motel, inn, lodge, Bed and Breakfast, or similar structure.
- Include and Including: “By way of illustration only” and shall not be interpreted as a limitation except where expressly so provide.
- May: Permissive.
- Mayor: The City Mayor or his/her authorized designee.
- Must and shall: Each is mandatory.
- Operator: A person, firm, corporation, or other legal entity that furnishes, offers for rent, or otherwise makes available in the City, rooms in a hotel/motel for monetary, barter, or other consideration, whether acting directly or through an agent or employee.
- Person: An individual natural person.
- Rent(s): The amount paid or promised, in terms of money, as consideration for the use by a transient of a room or rooms in a hotel, motel, lodge, bed and breakfast, or other place of public accommodation.
- State: State of Alaska.
Section 04.14.030 Imposition of Room Rental Tax
- There shall be levied and collected a tax equal to four percent (4%) on hotel/motel room rentals within the City
- There shall be no Room Tax on any sale subject to Sales Tax in Chapter 04.15.030.
- Each guest is responsible for the Room Rental Tax imposed by this chapter and the tax shall be due and payable the month the guest departs. The tax shall apply to all rentals where the guest indicated that the room, or rooms, will be occupied by the guest for less than thirty (30) days. Rentals which are less than thirty (30) consecutive days shall be subject to the Room Tax even if the room or rooms were originally taken with the intent to use or occupy for thirty (30) or more consecutive days. Any unpaid tax shall be due and payable when the guest ceases to occupy or use space in the hotel/motel.
- Every hotel/motel operator renting rooms subject to taxation under this chapter shall collect the taxes imposed by this chapter from the guest at the time of collection and shall transmit the same, monthly, to the City
Section 04.14.040 Exemptions
The tax levied under this chapter shall not apply to the following:
1. Room rentals which the municipality is prohibited from taxing under the Constitution and laws of the United States or the State of Alaska;
2. Room rental for transients which continue for thirty (30) or more consecutive days shall not be taxable for the Room Tax on and after the thirtieth (30th) consecutive day.
Section 04.14.050 Regulations and Procedures
- A Mayor or a City official designated by the Council shall administer this ordinance and make recommendations for regulations, policies, fees, and guidelines for the determination of the taxability of transactions. The City Council shall adopt policy guidelines, regulation, fees and procedures for the management of this ordinance by resolution and may rule on specific transactions upon request. The written ruling on a specific rental may be relied upon by the parties to the rental unless the essential facts were not provided to the person making the ruling or the ruling is clearly contrary to provisions of the ordinance.
- The burden of proving an exemption shall be on the operator claiming an exemption. Operators claiming an exemption may be required to obtain an exemption certificate. Certificates issued under this ordinance shall expire as determined by guidelines established by the City Council.
- The City Council, or the City Clerk when so authorized by the City Council, shall take all steps necessary and appropriate to fulfill the requirements of this ordinance, which includes the authority to compromise and abate penalties and interest, and to negotiate and enter into payment plans for delinquent taxes, penalties and interest.
Section 04.14.060 Operator to Add Tax to Rent
Every operator shall add the amount of the tax levied by this chapter to the rent and the tax shall be stated separately on any rental receipts or slips, charge tickets, invoices, statements of account, or other tangible evidence of the rental.
Section 04.14.070 Monthly Returns – Penalties and Interest for Delinquency
- Every operator making rentals within the City shall on or before the last day of the month complete a signed return for the required filing period and deliver or mail the return to the City Clerk. The return shall set forth the total amount of all rentals regardless of whether such rentals are taxable or non taxable, the amount of Room Tax due and such other information as the City may require. If the last day of the month is a Saturday, Sunday or Federal, State or City holiday, the due date will be extended until the next business day, immediately following the end of each filing period.
- Returns shall be filed for each calendar month, unless the operator is allowed or directed by the City Clerk to file for a different time period.
- An operator, other than a governmental agency, making only exempt sales may be allowed, upon written request to the City Clerk to file returns for periods which vary from the each calendar month and which cover time periods up to one (1) year.
- The tax levied under this ordinance, whether or not collected from the buyer, except for credit transactions covered in subsection “e” of this section, must be remitted by the operator to the City at the time of transmitting the return, and if not so remitted or if the return is not timely filed, such tax is delinquent. The postmark shall determine the date of filing mailed returns. In addition, a late payment penalty of five percent (5%) per month or any fraction thereof, not to exceed a total accrual of twenty-five percent (25%), shall be added to all returns until such tax, penalty, and interest thereon have been paid. Such penalty shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as the tax is assessed and collected. In addition to these penalties, interest at the rate of fifteen percent (15%) per year on the delinquent tax is collected.
- The operator shall report uncollectible Room Tax to the City for Room Tax previously paid by the operator on any rental made on credit to the extent the operator declares such debt to be uncollectible and a bad debt. Such bad debt credit must be claimed on a filed monthly Room Tax report within two years from the date of sale in which the bad debt arose.
- There may be published, from time to time, the names of operators delinquent in remitting Room Taxes and the amount thereof, provided that the names of operators who have signed a confession of judgment for the delinquent Room Taxes, penalties, and interest, and a stipulation to postpone such stipulation as of the date on which the names are submitted to the publisher, will not be published. Information may also be made available to the public in the form of statistical reports and financial statements if the identity of particular operators is not revealed by the reports. The following information shall be made available to the public:
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- The name and address of operators;
- If an operator is registered to collect Room Tax in the City;
- If an operator is current in filing Room Tax returns and in remitting Room Tax;
- The number of returns not filed.
- Information shall be confidential. Except as otherwise provided herein, all returns, reports and information required to be filed with the City under this ordinance and all information deductible from such filed returns, reports and information shall be kept confidential and are not subject to public inspection. Except upon court order, such returns, reports and information shall be made available only to the Clerk, Mayor and employees of the City whose job responsibilities are directly related to such returns, reports and information or the person authorized in writing by the person supplying such returns, reports and information.
Section 04.14.080 Operator’s Compensatory Collection Discount
All operators and persons rendering Room Tax returns to the City shall be allowed to compensate themselves for costs incurred in collection, record keeping, remittance, and accounting for the tax imposed by taking two percent (2%) of the tax due as a tax collection discount to reduce the tax to be remitted on any timely filed and fully paid return. The deduction may not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) for any reporting period and may not be taken if any Room Tax, penalty, or interest is due for any previous reporting period.
Section 04.14.090 Assessment Limitation Periods – Record Keeping
- The amount of any tax imposed under this ordinance may be determined and assessed for a period of three (3) years after the date the return was filed with the City. No suit for the collection of such tax may be commenced after the expiration of the three-year period except for taxes, penalty, and interest due for such months as are the subject of a written demand or assessment made under Section 04.14.070 of this ordinance within such three-year (3-year) period, unless the operator waives the protection of this section.
- In order to facilitate the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this ordinance, each operator within the City shall maintain and keep for a period of three (3) years all of the monthly sales tax reports, forms, supporting records, and other records prescribed by the City. The failure to maintain adequate records to allow documentation of the taxability of each transaction will result in the loss of any tax exemption, deduction, or credit for that particular transaction. Upon the request of the City Clerk, an operator shall make available for examination in the City Hall the books, records, and other documentation of the operator unless said official authorizes examination to be conducted at a different location.
Section 04.14.100 Delinquency – Failure to Submit Return or to Remit Taxes – Assessments
- Whenever the City Clerk reasonably believes a return contains inaccurate reporting or whenever any operator has become delinquent in the submission of the required monthly return or in remitting Room Taxes, there shall be mailed to the delinquent operator’s last known address a written demand by certified mail, return receipt requesting the submission of the corrected or required Room Tax return and remittance within ten (10) days. In the event of non-compliance with such demand, the City Clerk may make a Room Tax assessment against the taxable revenue received by the operator during the monthly period in question. A copy of the assessment shall be sent to the operator at his last known address by certified mail, return receipt, at which time the operator shall make available for examination the books, papers, records, and other requested documents at the City Hall unless the City Clek authorizes the examination to be conducted at a different location.. The operator shall have a right to a hearing before the City Clerk with documents pertaining to the revenue of the period involved in the assessment. The operator may exercise his right to a hearing by delivering to the City Clerk, within fifteen (15) days of the date the notice was mailed, a written request for a hearing. The City Clerk shall establish a date and time for a hearing to be held within ten (10) days of receipt of the request, unless a later time is mutually agreeable. The person conducting the hearing shall issue an amended assessment if it is determined an amendment should be made. The amended assessment, or the original assessment, if no amendment is made within five (5) days of the hearing, shall be the final assessment for the purpose of determining the operator’s liability to the City. If no timely request for a hearing is made, the original assessment shall be the final assessment thirty (30) days after the mailing of the notice of the original assessment unless the operator has submitted an accurate return within the thirty (30) days.
- The City may file a civil action for collection of any taxes, penalty, or interest due before or after making a demand or assessment under Subsection ”a” of this section.
Section 04.14.110 Protest of Tax
- A guest who protests the payment of the tax levied under this ordinance shall pay the tax and shall provide the operator and the City Clerk with a written statement of protest within five (5) working days of the sale that identifies the sale, rental, or service that is the subject of the tax protested, the amount of tax paid, the guest’s and operator’s name, mailing address, telephone number, and the basis for the protest.
- If the operator protests his liability on an assessment under Section 04.14.100, which has become final, he/she shall pay the tax under written protest setting forth the basis for the protest. No action for a refund may be maintained nor may a defense to non-payment be maintained in a civil action unless the amount in dispute has been paid by the operator under written protest filed at or before the time of payment.
Section 04.14.120 Appeals
- Informal Appeal:
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- For controversies involving Room Taxes, penalties, and interest not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00), or involving procedures implemented by the City Clerk, an appeal by a financially aggrieved guest or operator shall be directed to the Mayor. The Mayor shall advise the appellant of a date certain for a hearing and shall informally review the appeal claim, make written findings, and state reasons for the decision. The decisions shall be maintained and indexed by the City Clerk for review by the public. The appellant may appeal the decision of the Mayor to the Board of Appeals within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the written decision of the Mayor, and failure of the appellant to so appeal shall be deemed to be a waiver of any right to appeal such decision.
- Board of Appeals:
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- In order to provide an appeal mechanism for controversies involving Room Taxes, penalties, and interest exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00), and in order to hear appeals from decisions of the Mayor as provided under Subsection ”a” of this section, there is established a Board of Appeals which shall consist of the City Council.
- The City Council shall adopt Policy and Proceedure for the Board of Appeals provided for in Subsection b. 1 of this section. Such rules may not be inconsistent with this ordinance.
Section 04.14.130 Forgiveness of Uncollected Taxes, Penalties, and Interest
The City Council, or the City Clerk when so authorized by the City Council, may forgive the payment of uncollected Room Taxes, interest, and penalty thereon and penalties for failure to file.
Section 04.14.140 Criminal Liability
All operators violating any of the provisions of this ordinance or failing or refusing to comply with a lawful request or demand of a City official authorized by or made under this ordinance is guilty of a Class “A” misdemeanor.
Section 04.14.150 Registration
All operators shall register with the City Clerk before making rentals within the City.
Section 04.14.160 Deposit by Non-Residents
- An operator about to make rentals shall first register with the City Clerk, upon evidence of an Alaska Business License held by said operator. Operator shall make the deposit required by this section unless the person has been a resident of the City for six (6) months prior to registering or the operator’s corporation or association is composed of such residents or has been regularly engaged in business within the City for nine (9) months of the twelve (12) months preceding registration.
- The deposit required under subsection “a” will be Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
- The deposit must be refunded upon written request and a determination by the City Clerk that:
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The operator has filed Room Tax returns and made full remittance of Room Taxes owing for the first calendar year of business in the City;
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That the operator has filed a Statement that he/she has ceased engaging in transactions within the City and has remitted all Room Taxes due; and
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The deosit must be refunded within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the request unless the City official administering this ordinance has initiated an audit of the operator or has otherwise questioned a return made during the period under consideration.
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- The City Clerk may order the withdrawal from the deposit of the operator the amount determined to make up for any deficiency or late payment of taxes. No operator may engage in transactions within the City fifteen (15) days from the date of written notice sent to the operator’s last known address by certified mail, return request, notifying said operator that the City Clerk has withdrawn all or a portion of the operator’s deposit for application to a delinquent or insufficient payment of Room Taxes. Upon deposit with the City of funds restoring the deposit to its original amount or such higher amount as the City Clerk determines is appropriate in light of the actual rental experience of the operator, the operator may again engage in transactions. An operator may not deduct the deposit from any of his/her Room Tax returns.
Section 04.14.170 Reserved
Section 04.14.180 Sale of Business – Final Tax Return – Liability of Purchaser
- If any operator sells, assigns, transfers, conveys, leases, forfeits, or abandons the business to another person, the operator shall make a final Room Tax return within fifteen (15) days after the date of selling, assigning, transferring, conveying, leasing, forfeiting, or abandoning the business showing that all tax obligations imposed by this ordinance have been paid. The purchaser, successor, transferee, lessee, assignee, creditor, or secured party shall withhold a sufficient portion of the purchase money to pay the amount of such Room Taxes, penalties, and interest as may be due and unpaid to the City. If the purchaser, assignee, transferee, lessee, successor, creditor or secured party fails to withhold from the purchase money, or fails to otherwise provide for or make the payment of the taxes, interest, and penalty owed by the business as provided in this ordinance, the purchaser, assignee, transferee, lessee, successor, creditor, or secured party shall be personally liable for the payment of the taxes, penalties, and interest accruing and unpaid to the City on account of operation of business of any former owner, owners, operators, or assigns.
- Before the sale, lease, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of the business is completed, the operator shall file with the City Clerk an informational notice identifying the name and address of each person or entity involved in the transaction, the nature of the transaction, and the effective date of the transactions.
Section 04.14.190 Suits for Collection
Taxes due but not paid or taxes collected but not transmitted may be recovered in an action at law against the guest or the operator. Tax returns shall be prima facie proof of taxes collected but not transmitted.
Section 04.14.200 Lien for Tax, Interest, and Penalty
- The tax, interest, penalty imposed under this ordinance in addition to the lien filing fee under Subsection ”b” of this section shall constitute a lien in favor of the City upon the assets, including all real and personal property, of every person making taxable rentals within the City. The lien arises upon delinquency and continues until liability for the amount is satisfied or the property of the delinquent person is sold at foreclosure sales. The lien is not valid as against a prior mortgagee, pledger, purchaser, or judgment creditor until notice of the lien is filed in the office of the recorder for the Juneau recording district in the manner provided for Federal tax liens in AS 43.10.090 through 43.10.150.
- Fees for filing and releasing of liens shall be:
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- Filing of liens, twenty-five dollars ($25) plus recorder’s office filing fee;
- Release of liens, twenty-five dollars ($25) plus recorder’s office filing fee; and
- The above rates may be changed in guidelines adopted by the City Council by resolution from time to time to reflect the costs of providing municipal services generally.
Section 04.14.210 Collected Taxes
Taxes collected under this ordinance by an operator shall belong to the City of Gustavus and shall be held by the operator in trust for the City of Gustavus until paid over as provided in this ordinance.
Section 04.14.220 Use of Proceeds
- Proceeds of Room Tax shall be used for the general expenses of the City which may include the expense of any municipal service.
- In accordance with the Petition for Incorporation, fifty percent (50%) of the collected four percent (4%) Room Tax may be made available to the visitor industry represented by the Gustavus Visitors’ Association for tourism enhancement, upon submission and approval of a yearly marketing plan developed by the Gustavus Visitors’ Association.
- The Room Tax revenue available to Gustavus Visitor’s Association (GVA) in accordance with Section 04.14.220 (b) will be calculated on a fiscal year, October 1 through September 30, and transferred to the GVA no later than November 15th. (Published January 13, 2005-Adopted January 25, 2005.)
This Room Tax Ordinance shall become effective July 8, 2004. Reservations booked after July 8, 2004, shall be taxed.
Chapter 4.15
Revenue and Finance
Sales Tax
Sections:
04.15.030 Imposition of Sales Tax
04.15.050 Regulations and Procedures
04.15.060 Seller to Add Tax to Selling Price
04.15.070 Monthly Returns – Penalties and Interest for Delinquency
04.15.080 Seller’s Compensatory Collection Discount
04.15.090 Assessment Limitation Periods – Record Keeping
04.15.100 Delinquency – Failure to Submit Return or to Remit Taxes - Assessments
04.15.130 Forgiveness of Uncollected Taxes, Penalties, and Interest
04.15.160 Deposit by Non-Residents
04.15.180 Sale of Business – Final Tax Return – Liability of Purchaser
04.15.190 Suits for Collection
04.15.200 Lien for Tax, Interest, and Penalty
Section 04.15.010 Purpose and Intent
The purpose of the tax levied under this chapter is to raise revenues. To that end, the scope of the tax levied shall be broadly interpreted and exemptions shall be allowed only when the sale, rental or service clearly falls within an exemption defined in this ordinance
Section 04.15.020 Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
Buyer: Include without limiting the scope
thereof, every consumer.
City: The City of Gustavus, Alaska, or the
area within the territorial limits of the City of Gustavus, Alaska.
City Council: The Gustavus City Council or the
Gustavus City Council’s designees.
Include and Including: “By way of illustration
only” and shall not be interpreted as a limitation except where
expressly so provided.
May: Permissive.
Mayor: The City Mayor or his/her authorized
designee.
Must and shall: Each is
mandatory.
Person: An individual natural
person.
Retail Sale: Any sale of real or tangible personal
property including barter, credit, installment, and conditional sales
for any purpose other than resale in the regular course of
business. The delivery of goods in the City by a seller whose
principal place of business is outside the City to a buyer or consumer
is a retail sale made within the City if such retailer maintains any
office, distribution, or sales house, warehouse or any other place of
business, or solicits business or received orders through any agent,
salesman, or other type of representation within the City.
Rent: Any rental other than that which would
be taxable under Section 04.14.
Sale for Resale: The sale of tangible personal
property to a buyer whose principal business is the resale of the
property whether in the same or altered form.
Seller: Every person, firm, corporation
or other legal entity making retail sales to a buyer or consumer,
renting property or performing services for consideration whether
acting as principal or using the services of an agent or broker.
Selling Price and Price: The gross amount of a
transaction between a buyer and a seller.
Services: All services of every manner and
description that are performed or furnished for consideration whether
in conjunction with the sale of goods or not, but does not include
services rendered by an employee to an employer. All retail services by
a seller within the City of services to be provided or performed in
whole or in part within the City, regardless of the buyer’s place of
residence; or buyer’s physical location upon acceptance of the offer,
or exchange of consideration.
State: State of Alaska.
Section 04.15.030 Imposition of Sales Tax
- There shall be levied and collected a tax equal to three percent (3%) of the selling price on retail sales, rentals made, and services performed within the City.
- There shall be no Sales Tax on any sale subject to the Room Tax in Chapter 04.14.030.
- The taxability of a sale of goods is determined by the delivery of the tangible personal property. The taxability of a rental made is determined by the place where the service is performed or rental property is located except as provided below, the sale of a service is subject to the Sales Tax if the service is performed within the City.
-
- Where a buyer receives a service within the corporate limits of the City of Gustavus, and the service begins or is conducted in any part, or ends therein, or where the buyer receives an entire service therein the sale is subject to the City of Gustavus Sales Tax.
-
A person who furnishes proof, in the form required by the City Clerk, that he has paid the tax in some jurisdiction other than the City, on the sale of a service, is required to pay the City’s Sales Tax to the extent [of the difference] of the amount of Sales Tax paid elsewhere and the amount of tax levied by the City. This paragraph applies to a Sales Tax in any taxing jurisdiction, whether inside or outside the State.
* Section e and e(1) were added by a majority vote at a special election held July 8, 2008.
Section 04.15.040 Exemptions
The tax levied under this chapter shall not apply to the
following:
-
Casual and isolated sales not made in the regular course of business;
- Sales, services, rentals, and transactions which the municipality is prohibited from taxing under the Constitution and laws of the United States or the State;
-
Sales of goods and associated shipping and handling charges where the resulting goods are ordered from and delivered outside the City. Delivery outside the City must be verified by postal documents or shipping documents;
- Sales of medical, dental, nursing services, and of counseling services by clinical psychologists licensed by the State, alcohol and drug counselors certified by the State, and social workers who have a minimum of a masters degree in social work (MSW) and other allied health practitioners licensed by the State;
- Sales and resale of hearing aides, crutches, prescriptions, wheelchairs, and personal property specifically manufactured for a patient;
- Membership dues, assessments, initiation fees, and donations paid to non-profit organizations that have obtained a 501(c) exemption certificate from the Internal Revenue Service;
- Sales, services, and rentals to a buyer, or made by a seller, organized and administered solely by an organization that has obtained a 501(c)(4) exemption ruling from the Internal Revenue Service and an exemption certificate from the finance director, provided, this exemption applies to sellers only if the income from the sale is exempt from federal income taxation;
- Sales, services, and rentals to or by a foreign government, the United States government, the State and its political subdivisions and municipalities. The exemption does not apply to rentals or to the sale of materials, supplies, and services to contractors for the manufacture or production of property or services for government agencies on a contract;
- Sales of food and beverages in public and private school cafeterias, which are operated primarily for teachers or students and which are not operated for profit;
- Child day care, pre-elementary school, and babysitting services;
- Sales Tax paid on leases under a lease/purchase agreement may be credited toward the payment of the tax due on the exercise of the purchase option in the same proportion as the lease payments are applied to the purchase price, provided there will be no refund of taxes paid on the lease;
-
That part of the selling price of travel and adventure services, rentals, and goods, excluding lodging, sold outside but delivered within the City which is not remitted to the provider of the service and which represents a selling cost or commission or similar charge;
- Sales of services or goods for resale – goods or a service is sold for resale when the service is directly integrated into services or goods sold by the buyer to another purchaser in the normal course of business, and the service is purchased separately for each resale, and the service is identified, charged for, and billed separately from any other service;
- Sales of transportation and handling services for goods rendered by sellers primarily engaged in furnishing such services, where the goods are either transported from, or delivered to, a point outside the City provided that the retail seller of goods may not exclude transportation or handling charges from the selling price of the goods;
- Sales for resale of tangible personal property, as defined in section 04.15.020, to a buyer who holds a valid resale certificate issued by the City.
- Commissions charged by an agent on the sale of a service that is subject to the Sales Tax provided that the commission may be deducted from the selling price of the service on which the Sales Tax is levied. (Amendment and addition published August 12th, 2004. Public hearing and adoption August 19,2004.)
Section 04.15.050 Regulations and Procedures
- A Mayor or a City official designated by the Council shall administer this ordinance and make recommendations for regulations, policies, fees, and guidelines for the determination of the taxability of transactions. The City Council shall adopt policy guidelines, regulations, fees, and procedures for the management of this ordinance by resolution. Sellers claiming an exemption may be required to obtain and may rule on specific transactions upon request. The written ruling on a specific sale may be relied upon by the parties to the sale unless essential facts were not provided to the person making the ruling or the ruling is clearly contrary to provisions of this ordinance.
- The burden of proving an exemption shall be on the seller. Sellers claiming an exemption may be required to obtain an exemption certificate. Certificates issued under this ordinance shall expire as determined by guidelines established by the City Council.
- The City Council, or the City Clerk when so authorized by the City Council, shall take all steps necessary and appropriate to fulfill the requirements of this ordinance, which includes the authority to compromise and abate penalties and interest, and to negotiate and enter into payment plans for delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest.
Section 04.15.060 Seller to Add Tax to Selling Price
Every seller shall add the amount of the tax levied by this chapter to the total selling price and the tax shall be stated separately on any sales receipts, slips, rent receipts, charge tickets, invoices, statements of account, or other tangible evidence of sale.
Section 04.15.070 Monthly Returns –Penalties and Interest for Delinquency
- Every person making sales, rentals or performing services within the City shall on or before the last day of the month complete a signed return for the required filing period and deliver or mail the return to the City Clerk. The return shall set forth the total amount of all sales, rentals or services regardless of whether such sales, rentals or services are taxable or nontaxable, the amount of Sales Tax due and such other information as the City may require. If the last day of the month is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal, State or City holiday, the due date will be extended until the next business day, immediately following the end of each filing period.
- Returns shall be filed for each calendar month, unless the operator is allowed or directed by the City Clerk to file for a different time period.
- An operator, other than a governmental agency, making only exempt sales may be allowed, upon written request to the City Clerk, to file returns for periods which vary from the each calendar month and which cover time periods up to one year.
- The tax levied under this ordinance, whether or not collected from the buyer, except for credit transactions covered in subsection “e” of this section, must be remitted by the seller to the City at the time of transmitting the return, and if not so remitted or if the return is not timely filed, such tax is delinquent. The postmark shall determine the date of filing mailed returns. In addition, a late payment penalty of five percent (5%) per month or any fraction thereof, not to exceed a total accrual of twenty-five percent (25%) shall be added to all returns until such tax, penalty, and interest thereon have been paid. Such penalty shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as the tax is assessed and collected. In addition to these penalties, interest at the rate of fifteen percent (15%) per year on the delinquent tax is collected.
- The seller shall report Sales Tax to the City for Sales Tax previously paid by the seller on any sale, service or rental made on credit to the extent the seller declares such debt to be uncollectable and a bad debt. Such bad debt credit must be claimed on a filed monthly Sales Tax report within two years from the date of sale in which the bad debt arose.
- There may be published, from time to time, the names of sellers delinquent in remitting Sales Taxes and the amount thereof, provided that the names of sellers who have signed a confession of judgment for the delinquent Sales Taxes, penalties, and interest, and a stipulation to postpone such stipulation as of the date on which the names are submitted to the publisher, will not be published. Information may also be made available to the public in the form of statistical reports and financial statements if the identity of particular sellers is not revealed by the reports. The following information shall be made available to the public:
-
- The name and address of sellers;
- If a seller is registered to collect Sales Tax in the City;
- If a seller is current in filing Sales Tax returns and in remitting Sales Tax;
- The number of returns not filed.
- Information shall be confidential. Except as otherwise provided herein, all returns, reports, and information required to be filed with the City under this ordinance and all information deductible from such filed returns, reports, and information shall be kept confidential and are not subject to public inspection. Except upon court order, such returns, reports, and information shall be made available only to the City Clerk, Mayor and employees of the City whose job responsibilities are directly related to such returns, reports, and information or to the person authorized in writing by the person supplying such returns, reports and information.
Section 04.15.080 Seller’s Compensatory Collection Discount
All sellers and operators rendering Sales Tax returns to the City shall be allowed to compensate themselves for costs incurred in the collection, record keeping, remittance, and accounting for the tax imposed by taking two percent (2%) of the tax due as a tax collection discount to reduce the tax to be remitted on any timely filed and fully paid return. The deduction may not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) for any reporting period and may not be taken if any Sales Tax, penalty, or interest is due for any previous reporting period.
Section 04.15.090 Assessment Limitation Periods – Record Keeping
- The amount of any tax imposed under this ordinance may be determined and assessed for a period of three (3) years after the date the return was filed with the City. No suit for the collection of such tax may be commenced after the expiration of the three-year period except for taxes, penalty, and interest due for such months as are the subject of a written demand or assessment made under Section 04.15.070 of this ordinance within such three-year (3-year) period, unless the seller waives the protection of this section.
- In order to facilitate the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this ordinance, each seller or operator otherwise engaged in applicable business within the City shall maintain and keep for a period of three (3) years all of the monthly sales tax reports, forms, and supporting records and other records prescribed by the City. The failure to maintain adequate records to allow documentation of the taxability of each transaction will result in the loss of any tax exemption, deduction, or credit for that particular transaction. Upon the request of the City Clerk, a seller shall make available for examination in the City Hall the books, records, and other documentation of the seller unless said official authorizes examination to be conducted at a different location.
Section 04.15.100 Delinquency – Failure to Submit Return or toRemit Taxes – Assessments
- Whenever the City Clerk reasonably believes a return contains inaccurate reporting or whenever any seller has become delinquent in the submission of the required monthly return or in remitting Sales Taxes, there shall be mailed to the delinquent seller’s last known address a written demand by certified mail, return receipt, requesting the submission of the corrected or required Sales Tax return and remittance within ten (10) days. In the event of non-compliance with such demand, the City Clerk make a Sales Tax assessment against the taxable revenue received by the seller during the monthly period in question. A copy of the assessment shall be sent to the seller at his last known address by certified mail, return receipt, which time the seller shall make available for examination the books, papers, records, and other requested documents at the City Hall unless the City Clerk authorizes the examination be conducted at a different location. The seller shall have a right to a hearing before the City Clerk with documents pertaining to the revenue of the period involved in the assessment. The seller may exercise his right to a hearing by delivering to the City Clerk within fifteen (15) days of the date the notice was mailed, a written request for a hearing. The City Clerk shall establish a date and time for a hearing to be held within ten (10) days of receipt of the request, unless a later time is mutually agreeable. The person conducting the hearing shall issue an amended assessment if it is determined an amendment should be made. The amended assessment, or the original assessment, if no amendment is made within five (5) days of the hearing, shall be the final assessment for the purpose of determining the seller’s liability to the City. If no timely request for a hearing is made, the original assessment shall be the final assessment thirty (30) days after the mailing of the notice of the original assessment unless the seller has submitted an accurate return within the thirty (30) days.
- The City may file a civil action for collection of any taxes, penalty, or interest due before or after making a demand or assessment under Subsection “a” of this section.
Section 04.15.110 Protest of Tax
- A buyer who protests the payment of the tax levied under this ordinance shall pay the tax and shall provide the seller and the City Clerk with a written statement of protest within five (5) working days of the sale that identifies the sale, rental, or service that is the subject of the tax protested, the amount of tax paid, the buyer’s and seller’s name, mailing address, telephone number, and the basis for the protest.
- If the seller protests his liability on an assessment under Section 04.15.100, which has become final, he/she shall pay the tax under written protest setting forth the basis for the protest. No action for a refund may be maintained nor may a defense to non-payment be maintained in a civil action unless the amount in dispute has been paid by the seller under written protest filed at or before the time of payment.
Section 04.15.120 Appeals
-
Informal Appeal
-
- For controversies involving Sales Taxes, penalties, and interest not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00), or involving procedures implemented by the City Clerk, an appeal by a financially aggrieved buyer or seller shall be directed to the Mayor. The Mayor shall advise the appellant of a date certain for a hearing and shall informally review the appeal claim, make written findings, and state reasons for the decision. The decisions shall be maintained and indexed by the City Clerk for review by the public. The appellant may appeal the decision of the Mayor to the Board of Appeals within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the written decision of the Mayor, and failure of the appellant to so appeal shall be deemed to be a waiver of any right to appeal such decision.
- Board of Appeals:
-
- In order to provide an appeal mechanism for controversies involving Sales Taxes, penalties, and interest exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00), and in order to hear appeals from decisions of the Mayor as provided under Subsection ”b,1” of this section, there is established a Board of Appeals which shall consist of the City Council.
- The City Council shall adopt Policy and Proceedure for the Board of Appeals provided for in Subsection b,1 of this section. Such rules may not be inconsistent with this ordinance.
Section 04.15.130 Forgiveness of Uncollected Taxes, Penalties, and Interest
The City Council, or the City Clerk when so authorized by the City Council, may forgive the payment of uncollected Sales Taxes, interest, and penalty thereon and penalties for failure to file.
Section 04.15.140 Criminal Liability
All sellers violating any of the provisions of this ordinance or failing or refusing to comply with a lawful request or demand of a City official authorized by or made under this ordinance is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
Section 04.15.150 Registration
All sellers shall register with the City Clerk before making retail sales, rendering services or making rentals within the City.
Section 04.15.160 Deposit by Non-Residents
- A seller that is about to make sales, rentals or perform services shall first register with the City Clerk, upon evidence of an Alaska Business License held by said seller. Seller shall make the deposit required by this section unless the seller has been a resident of the City for six (6) months prior to registering or the seller,s corporation or association is composed of such residents or has been regularly engaged in business within the City for nine (9) of the twelve (12) months preceding registration.
- The deposit required under Subsection ”a” will be Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
- The deposit must be refunded upon written request and a determination by the City Clerk that:
-
-
The seller has filed Sales Tax returns and made full remittance of Sales Taxes owing for the first calendar year of business in the City;
-
That the seller has filed a statement that he/she has ceased engaging in transactions within the City and has remitted all Sales Taxes due.
-
- The deposit must be refunded within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the request unless the City Clerk has initiated an audit of the seller or has otherwise questioned a return made during the period under consideration.
- The City Clerk may order the withdrawal from the deposit of the seller the amount determined to make up for any deficiency or late payment of taxes. No seller may engage in transactions within the City fifteen (15) days from the date of written notice sent to the seller’s last known address by certified mail, return request, notifying said seller that the City Clerk has withdrawn all or a portion of the seller’s deposit for application to a delinquent or insufficient payment of Sales Taxes. Upon deposit with the City of funds restoring the deposit to its original amount or such higher amount as the City Clerk determines is appropriate in light of the actual sales experience of the seller, the seller may again engage in transactions. A seller may not deduct the deposit from his/her last or any other Sales Tax return.
Section 04.15.170 Reserved
Section 04.15.180 Sale of Business – Final Tax Return – Liability of Purchaser
- If any seller sells, assigns, transfers, conveys, leases, forfeits, or abandons the business to another person, the seller shall make a final Sales Tax return within fifteen (15) days after the date of selling, assigning, transferring, conveying, leasing, forfeiting, or abandoning the business showing that all tax obligations imposed by this ordinance have been paid. The purchaser, successor, transferee, lessee, assignee, creditor, or secured party shall withhold a sufficient portion of the purchase money to pay the amount of such Sales Taxes, penalties, and interest as may be due and unpaid to the City. If the purchaser, assignee, transferee, lessee, successor, creditor, or secured party fails to withhold from the purchase money, or fails to otherwise provide for or make the payment of the taxes, interest, and penalty owed by the business as provided in this ordinance, the purchaser, assignee, transferee, lessee, successor, creditor, or secured party shall be personally liable for the payment of the taxes, penalties, and interest accruing and unpaid to the City on account of operation of business of any former owner, owners, operators, or assigns.
- Before the sale, lease, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of the business is completed; the seller shall file with the City Clerk an informational notice identifying the name and address of each operator or entity involved in the transaction, the nature of the transaction, and the effective date of the transactions.
Section 04.15.190 Suits for Collection
Taxes due but not paid or taxes collected but not transmitted may be recovered in an action at law against the buyer or seller. Tax returns shall be prima facie proof of taxes collected but not transmitted.
Section 04.15.200 Lien for Tax, Interest, and Penalty
- The tax, interest, and penalty imposed under this ordinance in addition to the lien filing fee under Subsection “b” of this section shall constitute a lien in favor of the City upon the assets, including all real and personal property, of every seller making taxable sales within the City. The lien arises upon delinquency and continues until liability for the amount is satisfied or the property of the delinquent seller is sold at foreclosure sales. The lien is not valid as against a prior mortgagee, pledgee, purchaser, or judgment creditor until notice of the lien is filed in the office of the recorder for the Juneau recording district in the manner provided for federal tax liens in AS 43.10.090 through 43.10.150.
- Fees for filing and releasing of liens shall be:
-
-
Filing of liens, twenty-five dollars ($25) plus recorder’s office filing fee;
-
Release of liens, twenty-five dollars ($25) plus recorder’s office filing fee;
-
The above rates may be changed in guidelines adopted by the City Council by resolution from time to time to reflect the costs of providing municipal services generally.
-
Section 04.15.210 Collected Taxes
Taxes collected under this ordinance by a seller shall belong to the City of Gustavus and shall be held by the seller in trust for the City of Gustavus until paid over as provided in this ordinance.
Section 04.15.220 Use of Proceeds
Proceeds of this tax shall be used for the general expenses of the City, which may include the expense of any municipal service.
This Sales Tax Ordinance shall become effective July 8, 2004.
Chapter 4.16
Fish Box Flat-Rate Tax
Sections:
04.16.010 Purpose and Intent
04.16.020 Definitions
04.16.030 Imposition of Fish Box Flat-Rate Tax
04.16.040 Reserved
04.16.050 Regulations and Procedures
04.16.010 Purpose and Intent
The purpose of the Fish Box Flat-rate Tax levied under this chapter is to raise revenues. To that end, the scope of the tax levied shall be broadly interpreted and exemptions shall be allowed only when the sale, rental or service clearly falls within an exemption defined in this ordinance.
04.16.020 Definitions
- Buyer: Includes, without limiting the scope thereof, every consumer.
- City: The City of Gustavus, Alaska, or the area within the territorial limits of the City of Gustavus, Alaska.
- City Council: The Gustavus City Council or the Gustavus City Council’s designees.
- Fish Box: A container of fish and/or seafood that has been
caught or taken under the services of a commercial sport fishing charter service conducting business in the City of Gustavus that is processed and/or packaged in the City of Gustavus.
- Fish Charter: A Fish Charter is any boat trip for hire during which fishing takes place. Included are all trips that take place in whole or in part within the City, or utilize City infrastructure, or begin or end in the City, regardless of the buyer’s place of residence and regardless of where the majority of the charter is conducted.
- Flat-rate: A per-unit assessment that is separate from and not including sales or service taxes.
- Include and Including: “By way of illustration only” and shall not be interpreted as a limitation except where expressly so provided.
- May: Permissive.
- Mayor: The City Mayor or his/her authorized designee.
- Must and shall: Each is mandatory.
- Packaged: Contained, protected, and preserved for transport and/or storage and/or use.
- Person: An individual natural person.
- Process: A procedure, method, or system for altering, preparing, or refining a product.
- Retail Sale: Any sale of real or tangible personal property including barter, credit, installment, and conditional sales for any purpose other than resale in the regular course of business. The delivery of goods in the City by a seller whose principal place of business is outside the City to a buyer or consumer is a retail sale made within the City if such retailer maintains any office, distribution, or sales house, warehouse or any other place of business, or solicits business or received orders through any agent, salesman, or other type of representation within the City.
- Sale for Resale: The sale of tangible personal property to a buyer whose principal business is the resale of the property whether in the same or altered form.
- Seafood Processor: For purpose of the Fish Box Flat-rate Tax, a seafood processor is a person and/or business who prepares fish/seafood for transport and/or storage and/or use by one, some or all of the following: eviscerate (“gut”), skin, cut, fillet, freeze, smoke, and/or package.
- Seller: Every person, firm, corporation or other legal entity making retail sales to a buyer or consumer, renting property or performing services for consideration whether acting as principal or using the services of an agent or broker.
- Selling Price and Price: The gross amount of a transaction between a buyer and a seller.
- Services: All services of every manner and description that are performed or furnished for consideration whether in conjunction with the sale of goods or not, but does not include services rendered by an employee to an employer. All retail services by a seller within the City of services to be provided or performed in whole or in part within the City, or utilize City infrastructure regardless of the buyer’s place of residence, or buyer’s physical location upon acceptance of the offer, or exchange of consideration.
- State: State of Alaska.
- Sticker: A City-authorized, dated, numbered, self-adhesive label approved by the Gustavus City Council.
04.16.030 Imposition of Fish Box Flat-Rate Tax
- There shall be levied a flat-rate fish box tax of $10.00 per fish box leaving Gustavus, Alaska containing packaged fish and/or seafood caught or taken and retained as part of a fish charter.
- The sticker attesting to the payment of the fish box flat-rate tax shall be affixed to one of the small ends of each fish box leaving Gustavus, Alaska.
Every seller or processor shall purchase City-authorized fish box stickers from City Hall. Stickers are non-transferable. Stickers may be refunded at City Hall by the end of each calendar year (December 31st). No refunds will be issued for previous calendar years.
04.16.040 Reserved
04.146.050 Regulations and Procedures
- The Mayor or a City official designated by the Council shall administer this ordinance and make recommendations for regulations, policies, fees, and guidelines for the determination of the taxability of transactions. The City Council may adopt policy guidelines, regulation, fees and procedures for the management of this ordinance by resolution and may rule on specific transactions upon request.
- The City Council, or the City Clerk when so authorized by the City Council, shall take all steps necessary and appropriate to fulfill the requirements of this ordinance, which includes the authority to compromise and abate penalties and interest, and to negotiate and enter into payment plans for delinquent taxes, penalties and interest.
Chapter 4.17
Contracts and Purchasing
Sections:
4.17.030 Competitive Bidding Required
4.17.080 Bid Submittal and Opening
4.17.120 Professional Service Contracts
4.17.130 Construction Contracts – Letting
4.17.140 Construction Contracts – Administration
4.17.150 Disbursement Set-offs
Section 4.17.010 Purchasing Agent
- The Mayor is the purchasing agent for the City. The Mayor may designate the City Clerk, or another designee, to be the City purchasing agent.
- The purchasing agent shall make all purchases of supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services needed by the committees, departments, and agencies of the City government in accordance with the ordinances of the City.
- The purchasing agent shall recommend joint purchases with other units of government when the best interest of the City would be served.
Section 4.17.020 Purchases
- All supplies and contractual services except as otherwise provided in this chapter, when the estimated cost thereof exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), shall be purchased by formal, written contract from the lowest responsible bidder as defined in Section 4.16.080, after due notice inviting proposals.
- All purchases of supplies and contractual services of less than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) shall be made on the open market, without observing the procedure prescribed in Section 4.16.030 through Section 4.16.080.
- Every contract for purchases of supplies, materials, equipment, or contractual services for more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) will require the prior approval of the City Council. If emergency expenditures are required, verbal permission must be given by the City Clerk or the Mayor.
Section 4.17.030 Competitive Bidding
- All purchases of and contracts for supplies and contractual services shall, except as specifically provided in this chapter, be based wherever possible on competitive bids.
- When competitive bids are not deemed to be practical, a purchase or contract for supplies may be entered into if the Council certifies in writing by resolution that competitive bids are impractical, reciting the reasons therefore, and specifies how the purchase shall be made or the contract shall be entered into.
Section 4.17.040 Bid Invitation
- Notice inviting bids shall be posted at least ten (10) working days prior to the last day set for the receipt of proposals. The notice will include a general description of the work, or materials or service, will state where bid forms and specifications may be secured, the closing time for submission of bids and the time and place of opening of bids. Bid deposits, if they are required, will be prescribed in the public notices inviting the bids.
- The purchasing agent may also solicit bids from all responsible prospective suppliers and/or contractors who have indicated an interest in bidding on City contracts.
- Before bid invitations can be issued, the purchasing agent will write and have on file for public viewing the Council approved bid specifications. A tentative contract, approved by the Council, will also be available for public inspection.
Section 4.17.050 Bid Deposits
When deemed necessary by the Council, bid deposits shall be prescribed in the invitation for bid. Unsuccessful bidders shall be entitled to the return of surety where the Council has required such.
Section 4.17.060 Pre-Bid Conference
All department heads or the purchasing agent may provide for a pre-bid conference at least seven (7) working days prior to the time for submission of bids or upon request of any bidder. All points of clarification and questions answered at the conference which may affect the bid, will be issued in the form of an addenda.
Section 4.17.070 Changes and Addendas
No official or officer of the City shall make any oral interpretations that may affect the substance of the contract documents. Addenda will be issued to all bidders when questions arise which may affect the bids. Addenda should be delivered by certified mail with a return receipt requested, or by hand delivery with a written receipt obtained. When an addendum is issued less than four (4) working days before the time for receipt of bids, the addendum shall contain a new bid date of at least four (4) working days from the original receipt of bids date. Receipt of addenda should be acknowledged as part of the bid summary.
Section 4.17.080 Bid Submittal and Opening
- Sealed bids will be submitted personally or by mail to the City Clerk designated in the notice inviting bids and will be identified as bids on the outside of the envelope.
- Bids will be opened in public by the City Clerk designated at the time and place so stated in the public notice which will be immediately after the closing time for submission of the bids. Any bidder may review all bids immediately after opening and prior to tabulation or summary.
- A tabulation of all bids received will be forwarded to the Council by the City Clerk with the appropriate recommendations for acceptance or rejection of bids. A copy of the tabulation will be furnished to each bidder.
Section 4.17.090 Rejection of Bids
- The Council shall have the authority to reject all bids or parts of bids or to negotiate when it is in the best interest of the City.
- If the lowest and best bid exceeds the budgeted amount and the City Council does not make additional funds available, the proposed contract for purchase or sale for services or for construction projects may be modified in any manner the City Council deems appropriate.
- The Council may re-advertise the project for bidding, after making changes in the project plans.
- If the Council rejects all bids under this section, it may later direct the purchasing agent to issue an identical or similar invitation for bids.
- All open market purchases or sales will, whenever possible, be based on at least three (3) competitive bids and will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.
- The City Clerk will keep a record of all open market bids submitted for competition and such records will be open to public inspection.
Section 4.17.100 Award of Contract
- The Council may award contracts within the purview of this chapter.
- Contracts shall be awarded, if at all, to the lowest responsible bidder whose bid is responsive to the invitation for bids.
- In determining which bid is “lowest” the Council may at its discretion apply the local contractor preference of section 4.16.160.
- In determining whether the lowest bidder is “responsible” the Council shall consider:
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- The experience, capacity, and skill of the bidder to perform the contract;
- Whether the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified, without delay of interference;
- The quality of performance of previous contracts;
- The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances relating to the contract;
- The sufficiency of the financial resources and ability of the bidder to perform the contract;
- The number and scope of conditions attached to the bid.
- When the award is given to other than the lowest bidder, a full and complete written statement of reasons will be delivered to the unsuccessful low bidder or bidders and filed with the other papers relating to the transaction. The minutes of the City Council meeting relating to the matter may be used as the required written statement.
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When the contract is awarded, the bidder will sign a contract with the City of Gustavus for the exact thing called for in the invitation to bid within fifteen (15) working days.
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At the Council’s discretion, bidders may be required (with sufficient notice) to appear before the Council, in person or by telephone to answer questions concerning contracts.
Section 4.17.110 Contractor Bonding
Contracts for construction, alteration or repair of public buildings or public works, where the cost is in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), shall be awarded only after the contractor has provided payment and performance bonds pursuant to A.S.36.25.010 (A).
Section 4.17.120 Professional Services Contracts
- A contract for engineering, architectural, legal, medical, or other professional services shall not be binding and effective until it has been approved by the Council.
- Contracts in amounts exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for such services and other contractual services, which are in their nature unique and not subject to competition, shall be awarded by the Council.
- The selection of professional assistance shall be based on competence, skill and experience. The City shall not award a contract to an individual, a partnership, or a corporation that is not registered, not qualified, or not authorized under Alaska Statutes.
- No contract shall be subdivided to avoid the requirements of this section.
Section 4.17.130 Construction Contracts – Letting
- For the purpose of this section “contract” means and includes construction contracts. The term shall not include professional services and other contractual services which are in their nature unique and not subject to competition.
- All contracts shall be based whenever possible on competitive bids.
- All contracts shall be awarded by formal, written contract to the lowest responsible bidder as defined in Section 4.16.100 after due notice inviting proposals following procedures established in Section 4.16.040.
- Upon awarding a construction contract the City Clerk shall:
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- Immediately notify the State Commissioner of Labor of the amount of the contract, the identity of the contractor and all subcontractors, the site or sites of construction and provide a project description; and
- Verify that the bonding requirements of A.S.36.25 have been met and that the requirements of A.S.08.18 have been met.
Section 4.17.140 Construction Contracts – Administration
All contracts, as defined in Section 4.16.130 shall be administered by the Council, in consultation with professional managers, if deemed necessary, in accordance with the following provisions:
- Any change required in the work shall be made after receiving a written change order proposal from the contractor for additions to or deduction from the original contract sum and the original contract time for changes proposed.
- Upon receipt of a change order proposal for a change in the contract sum in the amount not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and after determination that the contractor’s proposal is reasonable, the City Clerk, at the direction of the Council, may issue a written change order. The aggregate sum of change orders so authorized shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the original contract sum or one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), whichever is greater.
- Whenever a change in the work is required immediately upon the discovery of unforeseen conditions, the Mayor shall have the power to order such change. If the change is otherwise subject to subsection (b) of this section, a full report shall be made to the council within one week.
- No payment for work completed shall be made to a contractor for the quantities and values submitted by the contractor without:
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- Approval of the Council, or
- Pre-approval by the Council giving the Mayor authority of approva
- Council will be notified of contract completion including the following information:
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- Contract completion date,
- Scope of work completed,
- Total cost of contract.
Section 4.17.150 Disbursement Set-Offs
- Disbursement of monies to a person, firm or corporation will be made only after the various receivable accounts of the City have been reviewed for outstanding balances owed. The disbursement will be reduced by setting off the amount of indebtedness due to the City from such person, firm or corporation.
- All contracts to which the City is a party that will or may involve the disbursement of City funds shall contain the following clause or its substantial equivalent:
- “Disbursement of monies by the City of Gustavus hereunder shall be subject to setoff pursuant to the provisions of Section 4.16.150 of the Code of Ordinances.”
Section 4.17.160 Local Preference
The City Council may include a local preference criteria for contracts, to be included in the bid announcement. The local preference would go to a responsible bidder who maintains an office within the City of Gustavus, if that bid does not exceed the lowest responsible bid by more than five percent (5%).
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Municipal Code Title 3
