2007 California Revenue and Taxation Code Chapter 1.5. Local Agency Levy Powers And Limitations

CA Codes (rtc:7284-7284.7)

7284.  (a) The board of supervisors of any county may license, for
revenue and regulation, and fix the license tax upon, every kind of
lawful business transacted in the unincorporated area of the county,
including shows, exhibitions, and games.  The board may provide for
collection of the license tax by suit or otherwise.
   (b) Any board which imposes a license tax pursuant to subdivision
(a) upon a business operating both within and outside the board's
taxing jurisdiction shall levy the tax so that the measure of tax
fairly reflects that proportion of the taxed activity actually
carried on within the taxing jurisdiction.



7284.1.  (a) No license tax or fee levied by a charter or general
law county, city and county, or city, or by a district or any other
local agency, that is measured by the licensee's income or gross
receipts, nor any flat business license tax or flat business license
fee, shall apply to any minister, clergyman, Christian Science
practitioner, rabbi, or priest of any religious organization that has
been granted an exemption from federal income tax as an organization
described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or a
successor to that section.
   (b) No charter or general law county, city and county, or city,
nor any district or any other local agency, may impose any business
license tax or business license fee on any nonprofit organization
that is exempted from taxes by Section 23701d and is an organization
described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or the
successor to that section.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a charter or general
law county, city and county, or city, or district or any other local
agency from imposing a fee to cover the costs of a program or
service.



7284.2.  The board of supervisors of any county may levy a utility
user tax on the consumption of electricity, gas, water, sewer,
telephone, telegraph, and cable television services in the
unincorporated area of the county.



7284.4.  Any tax levied pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to
any applicable voter approval requirement imposed by any other
provision of law.  Revenues collected pursuant to any tax imposed
pursuant to this chapter may be reserved for local purposes as
determined by the board of supervisors of the county imposing the
tax.



7284.6.  (a) It is unlawful for any local jurisdiction, including
any employee, officer, authorized agent, or contractor of the local
jurisdiction, to permit any utility user's tax return or copy
thereof, or any records of any payment of utility user's tax, to be
seen or examined by, or disclosed to, any person who is not one of
the following:
   (1) An employee, officer, authorized agent, or contractor of the
local jurisdiction with administrative or compliance responsibilities
relating to the utility user's tax ordinance.
   (2) An employee of the utility or other company that is required
to report or pay a utility user's tax to the local jurisdiction, and
that furnished the records or information.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), this section does not
prohibit a local jurisdiction from doing any of the following:
   (1) Disclosing to a taxpayer information derived from the records
of a utility or other utility service provider, if the information is
used to calculate the utility user's tax of that taxpayer; or,
disclosing that information in a tax collection action, provided that
that information is subject to a protective order issued by a court.

   (2) Disclosing to a tax officer of the state or federal
government, pursuant to a written reciprocal agreement, information
derived from the records of a utility or other utility service
provider, if the information is used to calculate the local utility
user's tax.
   (3) Disclosing the gross utility user's tax revenues collected
from the customers of a utility that is owned or operated by the
local jurisdiction that imposes the utility user's tax.
   (c) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Local jurisdiction" means any city, county, city and county,
including any chartered city or city and county, district, or public
or municipal corporation.
   (2) "District" means any agency of the state, formed pursuant to
general law or a special act, for the local performance of
governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries.
   (d) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor and is
punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars (,000), by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both, in
the discretion of the court.
   (e) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the divulging
of information to the State Board of Equalization for the purposes of
its administration of the Energy Resources Surcharge Law (Part 19
(commencing with Section 40001) of Division 2 ).
   (f) Any information subject to subdivision (a) shall be exempt
from disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of the Government Code),
except that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
the disclosure of records pursuant to Section 6254.16 of the
Government Code.



7284.7.  (a) It is unlawful for any employee, officer, authorized
agent or contractor of a local jurisdiction levying a utility user's
tax, that obtains access to information contained in utility user tax
records of a local jurisdiction, to disclose any information
obtained from the records of a utility or other company required to
report or pay a utility user's tax to the local jurisdiction as a
result of an audit, or any other information obtained in the course
of an on-site audit, to any person who is not an employee, officer,
authorized agent, or contractor of the local jurisdiction with
administrative or compliance responsibilities relating to the utility
user's tax ordinance.
   (b) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor and is
punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars (,000), by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both, in
the discretion of the court.
   (c) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the divulging
of information to the State Board of Equalization for the purposes of
its administration of the Energy Resources Surcharge Law (Part 19
(commencing with Section 40001) of Division 2 ).
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), this section shall
not be construed to prohibit an employee, officer, authorized agent,
or contractor of a local jurisdiction levying a utility user's tax
from doing any of the following:
   (1) Disclosing to a taxpayer information derived from the records
of a utility or other utility service provider, if the information is
used to calculate the utility user's tax of that taxpayer; or,
disclosing that information in a tax collection action, provided that
the information is subject to a protective order issued by a court.

   (2) Disclosing to a tax officer of the state or federal
government, pursuant to a written reciprocal agreement, information
obtained from the records of a utility or other utility service
provider, if the information is used to calculate the local utility
user's tax.
   (3) Disclosing the gross utility user's tax revenues collected
from the customers of a utility that is owned or operated by the
local jurisdiction that imposes the utility user's tax.
   (e) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Local jurisdiction" means any city, county, city and county,
including any chartered city or city and county, district, or public
or municipal corporation.
   (2) "District" means any agency of the state, formed pursuant to
general law or a special act, for the local performance of
governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries.
   (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create an
exemption from disclosure under subdivision (k) of Section 6254 of
the Government Code, or to prohibit the disclosure of records
pursuant to Section 6254.16 of the Government Code or subdivision (i)
of Section 6254 of the Government Code.