HomeMy WebLinkAbout1228ORDINANCE NO. 1228
An ordinance providing for a business license tax within the
City of Ashland, oregon, providing for penalties for violation
thereof, and declaring an emergency.
WHEREAS, the foundation of the economy of the City of Ashland
has primarily been the lumber industry, and
WHEREAS, due to the depletion of timber resources there will be
undoubtedly a curtailment in the lumber industry in the area in the
ensuing years, and
WHEREAS, the contemplated by-pass of the City of Ashland by the
relocation of Highway 99 will undoubtedly injuriously affect the
economy of the City, and
WHEREAS, the Chamber of Commerce, other civic groups and the
Common Council believe that it is desirable and necessary to bolster
the economy of our area to encourage new industries to locate in the
City of Ashland area, and
WHEREAS, there is a trend in the United States for industries
to locate in relatively smaller cities such as Ashland, and
WHEREAS, the cities of the United States are strongly
for new industry, and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City to cooperate with the
State of Oregon in encouraging industry to move into the State and
more particularly into the Ashland area, and
WHEREAS, it is the opinion of the Common Council that the City~
for the benefit of its citizens, must take aggressive action tO
accomplish the foregoing, ..
NOW, THEREFORE, THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND DO ORDAIN
AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1.
The business license
P1LVDOSe and scoOe.
terms of this ordinance are for revenue purposes
fees imposed by the
only. Neither the
I
acceptance of the prescribed fee nor the issuance of the applicable
license shall be construed to constitute a regulation of any business
activity or a permit to engage in any activity otherwise prohibited
by law or ordinance, or a waiver of any regulatory licensing require-
ment imposed by any ordinance other than this.
Section 2.
Definitions
"~ a. Business - Any activity carried on with the intent:
(1) That a profit be realized therefrom; and (2) That
the profit, if any, inure to the benefit of the o~mer
or owners of the activity. The renting of real prop-
erty shall not be considered a business.
b. Profit - The excess of gross receipts over expense.
c. Expense - The cost of goods sold, the expense of services
rendered, and all other expenses or disbursements, accrued
or otherwise, ordinarily incidental to the operation of
a business.
d. Doing or transacting business - Any act or series of acts
performed in the course or pursuit of a business activity.
e. Person - Includes a person, co-partner, .or corporation.
singular includes plural, and masculine pronouns include
the feminine and neuter when applicable to this term.
Section 3.
for himself, or as agent or employee of another, to do business within
the City of ~s~and~ Oregon, ~"~less
a. Such business has been duly licensed as herein provided; and
b. ~he license is valid at the time of the transaction.
~ection
~ssuance. ~po~ receipt of an applicatio~ d~ly signed and
e~ecuted as ~erei~after p~esc~i~ed~ together with the required ~ee,
the City Recorder shall issue a business license to any applicant
desiring to.~ra~q~ ,q~q~n~c~an~ lawful b~iness within the city.
Licenses so issued shall not be transferable and ahall be valid until
the ~Oth day of June next following the date of issuance of the
license. At all times after the issuance of the license, the
ticenseee shall cause it to be posted in a conspicuous place upon
the business premises, available for inspection by the public and by
employees and prospective employees of the business; provided, that
where the licensee has no office, business premises or other estab-
lished place of business within the City, the license shall be in
possession of a representative of the business present within the
City at all times during which business is being transacted by any
employee or representative within the City.
Section 5.
Applications; Seasonal Employees.
a. Applications for business licenses shall be submitted on
forms to be provided by the City Recorder. Every such application
shall be signed by the owner or his duly authorized agent and shall
contain the following information:
Name of person or persons owning business;
(l)
(3)
(6)
Assumed business name, if any;
Address of business premises, or
address, if different~
Nature of business;
business mailing
Number of employees as of date of appiiCa~ion,
if applicable;
Number of seasonal employees as ~f date of appli-
cation, and length of employment season applicable
thereto;
(7) Number of living or space-rental units, if applicable;
and
(8) Where the business includes activities classifiable
in two or more categories, the primary or predominate
activity should be designated.
Where the business premises of an applicant are situated outside of
the City, the application shall specify the number of employees to be
engaged in the transaction of the business within the City and the
license issued on the basis thereof shall be valid only to permit
the specified number of employees to transact business within the City
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at any one time. License fees shall be computed on the basis of
information contained in the application, and it shall be unlawful
for any person knowingly to sign or submit a business license appli-
cation containing false information.
b. In the event that a business at the time of submitting the
application for a license, has seasonal employees, as hereinafter
defined, on its payroll, the number of such employees to be taken into
account for the purpose of computing the tax shall be that proportion
of the total number of seasonal employees which that number of whole
months in the employment season bears to the total number of months
in the license period. A seasonal employee shall mean a person
employed for a continuous period of not more than two (2) months in
contemplation of a season of activity which recurs annually in the normal
course of such business or of like businesses. The employment season
shall mean that period of time, to the nearest fifteen days, for which
the business, or a like business, would normally expect to employ the
seasonal employee, taking into consideration past experiences, and
production capacity, material resources and marketing conditions in the
.~,lt~®nsa~pe~e~.~ ~F~!~e~p~Dose,j~o£ ~e~rmint~g the~num~er of
whole months in an employment
consecutive days.
Contents of licenses.
in the name of the business
season, a month shall consist of thirty
Section 6.
Licenses shall be issued to the applicant
to be licensed and shall designate the
nature of the business, the address, if any, of the business premises,
and the date of issuance.
Section 7.
Two or more business Premises: two or more businesses on same
premises. The conducting of a business or businesses at two or mere
locations shall, for the purposes hereof, be deemed to be separate
businesses and each thereof shall be subject to the license tax herein
provided for. If two or more differently classified but related
businesses are carried on in the same premises by the same owners,
one license issued in the name of the business to which the i.~remises
are primarily appropriated and based upon the total ntnnber of
employees or other units on the whole oremises shall be sufficient
for all such activities; provided, any business activity leased, under
concession to, or o~lrned wholly or in part by a different person or
persons on the same premises must be separately licensed. In deter-
mining whether different activities on the same premises are related
to the primary use within the meaning of this section, normal and
ordin}.ry customs and usages of businesses
considered.
Business license term.
of like nature shall be
Section 8.
For the fiscal year commencing July 1,
19~Y and ending June 30, 1958, the business license term shall be the
period beginning April 1, 19~8 and ending June 30, 19%8, and for sub-
sequent fiscal years, the business license term shall be the twelve
month period beginnin~ on July 1 of each year and ending June 30 of
~i~ndar ~y~a~'f~ll~ prOVided; 'that if any-business'
subject to the provisions of this ordinance shall C0me~i~tg~Xi~&nce,
~r for the first time commence its operations within the City, at any
time after July i of any business license period, ~he license fee
!~ayable in connection with the said business for said current business
License period shall be ~ro rated as of the beginning date of the
quarterly period during which said activity begins. The quarterly
periods for the purposes hereof shall begin on the first days of July,
October, January, and April of each year. The license fee for a
business existing as of April l, 1958 for the fiscal year ending
June ]~, 19~8 shall be one-fourth of the hereinafter mentioned annual
license fee.
Section 9.
License fee schedule. The license fee for any business taxed
hereunder shall be computed on the basis of the following schedule:
a. Business which has operated during
orevious entire year and received
a gross income of less than ~10DO.D0. k~o fee
b. 1 to 2 owners and/or employees. ~12.50
c. 3 to 6 o~ners and/or employees. . ~20.00
d. Over 6 o~naers and/or employees. . $30.00
Section 10. ~ ,~l~:'/~ ~/~ ~/
Use of license fees. All funds received from license fees~ fines
and forfeitures hereunder shall be placed in a fund separate and
segregated from any other fund of the City of ~shland. After the
deduction of administrative expense~ all the funds derived from said
fees~ fines and forfeitures shall be used exclusively for the develop-
:nent of the economic resources of the City of ~shland by such means
as the 2urchase of industrial sites~ conducting of industrial surveys
to ascertain the ty0es of industry that can be attracted to this area,
the direct contact of prospective businesses and industries to encour-
age their establishment in Ashland, expansion of the tourist industry
through assistance in the development of the recreational facilities
of this area and the enco~ragement of retired and working people to
become residents of the City.
That there shall be established in the City of ashland~ Jackson
County~ 0re~on~ a commission of five members to be known as the
Ashland ~conomic Development Commission~ who shall serve without
compensation. Said members shall be residents of Ashland and shall
be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the Council. That
the Chairman of the Common Council, Chairman of the Planning Commis-
sion and President of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce shall be
ex officio officers on said Co~mnission.
At the first meeting of the Co~mission the five appointed members
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shall choose their term of office by lot as follows:
2 for i year
2 for 2 years
i for 3 years
and thereafter shall notify the Mayor and Common Council in writing
of such allotment. Their successors shall hold office for three
years. Any vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the Mayor.
with approval of the Council for the unexpired portion of the term.
The Commission at its first meeting shall elect a Chairman,
Vice Chairman and Secretary who shall hold office during the pleasure
of the Commission.
Three members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. The
Commission may make all the rules and regulations for its government
and procedure consistent with the laws of the State of Oregon, the
City Charter, City ordinances and this ordinance.
It shall be the duty of the Commission to recommend to the
Common Council the manner in which the economic growth of the City
may be accomplished and to further recommend to the Common Council
the manner in which the funds collected under this ordinance shall
be expended. The Common Council shall authorize no expenditure of
funds collected under this ordinance other than for administration
purposes without first submitting such proposal to the Commission
and receiving its recommendation in regard thereto.
Section ll.
If any section, sentence, paragraph or phrase of this ordinance,
or the imposition, or manner of imposition, of any business license
fee upon any activity herein specified, or included herein by implica-
tion~ or the nature of any penalty or remedy herein prescribed for
violation hereof, is unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, or
if the inclusion of any word herein renders the ordinance, or any part
thereof, invalid, then it is the intention of the Council that the
remainder of the ordinance remain in full force and effect after the
exclusion of such section, sentence, paragraph, phrase, word, business,
penalty or remedy therefrom, and that where an alternative interpreta-
tion of the ordinance would cure the defect such alternative inter-
pretation be given thereto.
Section 12.
Evidence of doin~ business. In the trial of any alleged violation
of this ordinance, evidence that the defendant made a public representa-
tion, by way of advertisement by newspaper~ radio, television or
similar medium or by signs conspicuously displayed for public view,
that such business was being conducted~ expressly or impliedly offering
to sell goods or services in the course of such business to the public
or any segment thereof, shall constitute prima facie evidence that the
defendant was transacting the business suggested by such public repres-
entation, within the City on the date or dates during which such
representations were made·
Section 13.
Penalties
Any person violating any provision of this ordinance
shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine
not to exceed $100.00 or by imprisonment in the city
jail for not to exceed fifty days or by both such
fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the Judge
of the City Court.
Every full business day during which any business
activity continues to be conducted in violation of
this ordinance shall be deemed a separate offense.
No license shall be issued to any person hereunder if
such person has, previous to making application there-
for, conducted a business within the City while this
ordinance was in effect, without a current valid
license issued hereunder, unless such person pays an
additional amount equal to the license fee for the
period during which such business was thus conducted.
The remedy specified in Subsections (a) and (b) hereof
shall not be deemed exclusive and, at the option of
the City of Ashland~ amounts due and payable hereunder
oy way of business license fees may be collected from
the owner or owners of the business involved by action
of law in any court of competent jurisdiction in the
State of Oregon.
a license hereunder for the 1957-19~8 license period shall have until
~l, 1958 in which to file an application and to pay the pres-
cribed fee for the issuance of the license.
Section 15. ~ ~?~'~
This ordinance shall be in full force and effect to and including
Section 16.
EmerEencv. By reason of the fact that the fiscal year 1957-1958
has commenced and the first license period prescribed by this ordin-
ance begins on April l, 1958 and it is essential~o the fiscal
integrity and economic planning of the City of Ashland for said fiscal
year, and to the public welfare, that this ordinance become immediately
effective, an emergency is hereby declared to exist and this ordinance
shall become effective immediately upon its adoption by the Co~uon
Cobn~cil and the approval thereof by the Mayor.
The foregoing ord~_nance was duly passed, under a suspension of
therules~ at a regular meeting of the Common Council held on the
~ day of March~ 1958~ the vote being as follows:
Ayes ~...
~ys .... /
To all of which I hereby certify:
Recorder
~pproved:
Mayor