§ 29-37. Rate and amount of excise tax on purchase of public utility services: Collection of tax.

There is hereby levied and imposed by the County upon every purchase in the unincorporated area of electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal, fuel oil, and water service, included in or reflected by any bill rendered by the seller to the purchaser an excise tax which shall be determined as follows:

(1)

When the seller, in accordance with his rules and regulations, renders a bill to the purchaser to cover purchases made during the period of time to which the bill is applicable, the amount of excise tax shall be ten (10) percent of the total amount shown on any such bill due and payable on account of such purchases (not exceeding four cents ($0.04) per gallon for purchases of fuel oil), exclusive of governmental charges, annual service fees collected pursuant to Section 32-54 of the Code, and adjustments caused by the increased cost of energy-producing fuels, provided such governmental charges, service fees, taxes and fuel adjustments are shown separately on any such bill.

(2)

In the use and application set out in this section, purchases of electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal, fuel oil and water service, shall be considered and treated as constituting and being distinct and unrelated classes of purchases, and in the event that more than one (1) such class shall be shown upon the same bill, the amount of excise tax payable pursuant hereto shall be determined and computed for each such class separately.

(3)

The seller is required and it shall be his duty to render to each purchaser bills covering all such purchases made, and the amount of such excise tax shall be entered and shown by the seller as a separate item on each such bill and shall become due and payable to the County whenever such bill becomes due and payable under the rules and regulations of the seller. Each such bill shall include purchases applicable to but one (1) location, or to but one (1) family or business where more than one (1) family or business uses separate metered services at one (1) location in the unincorporated areas.

(4)

The purchaser is required and it shall be his duty to pay such excise tax to the seller, as agent for the County, at the time of the payment of each such bill, and in the event that the purchaser shall fail, neglect or refuse to pay such excise tax to the seller when such bill becomes due and payable, the seller is hereby empowered to discontinue forthwith to make any further sales or to render any further service to the purchaser until the total amount, including such excise tax, shown upon such bill has been paid in full. The seller is hereby authorized and required and it shall be his duty to collect such excise tax from such purchaser at the time of the payment of each such bill and to remit the same to the Finance Department in accordance with the provisions hereinafter stated, provided that the seller shall have the right and privilege of assuming and paying such excise tax himself in lieu of collecting the same from the purchaser; and that whenever the seller shall fail or neglect to collect such excise tax from the purchaser within one (1) year from the date of the bill on which such tax was or should have been imposed, the seller shall be deemed to have assumed such excise tax himself and shall thereupon become liable for the payment of the amount thereof to the County to the same extent as if such excise tax had been collected from the purchaser, with further recourse to the purchaser therefor.

(5)

This section shall be applicable to all bills for electricity, metered gas, bottled gas, coal, fuel oil, taxable telecommunications service, and water service; except that any bills for the purchase of sixteen (16) ounces or less of bottled gas in a container or less than one (1) gallon of fuel oil shall be exempt from taxation, and further in reference to those purchases enumerated in Section 166.231, Florida Statutes, this article shall only apply to the extent permitted therein; the sale of fuel oil and coal to a public or private utility; either for resale or for use as fuel in the generation of electricity; or the sale of fuel used for the propulsion of land, water or air vehicles or as fuel for other engines, the use of which does not compete with those utilities or energy sources specified in Section 166.231, Florida Statutes. There is further exempted from the tax hereby imposed, fuel and electricity used to operate farm machinery, irrigation pumps and agricultural first-processing machinery.

(6)

Any provision of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, all taxes included in any bill which contains any charge for services rendered prior to October 1, 1970, are waived, whether such taxes have been paid or not, and all sellers shall refund collected taxes or give credit therefor at their option.

(7)

There shall be a 50% exemption for any business which is new or substantially expanded from the tax levied by this section on the purchase of electricity, provided the business is located on or within an enterprise zone as established by Florida Statutes and is determined eligible for such exemption by the Department of Revenue of the State of Florida. The exemption shall be available for all businesses determined qualified as provided in Section 29-37(8) below for five (5) years from the date of such determination, provided that no business shall be deemed qualified for the exemption after December 31, 2015.

(8)

A business shall apply for the exemption provided in Section 29-37(7) above by presenting evidence of qualification to the Office of Community and Economic Development (OCED) of Miami-Dade County in a form approved by the Director of OCED. Upon presentation of acceptable evidence of qualification, the Director shall forward such evidence to the Department of Revenue of the State of Florida for a determination as to whether the business is eligible for the exemption provided herein.

(Ord. No. 70-72, § 2, 9-21-70; Ord. No. 70-87, § 1, 11-17-70; Ord. No. 71-5, § 1, 1-6-71; Ord. No. 71-23, § 1, 3-2-71; Ord. No. 74-31, § 1, 5-7-74; Ord. No. 80-91, § 1, 9-16-80; Ord. No. 81-52, § 2, 5-5-81; Ord. No. 81-86, § 2, 7-21-81; Ord. No. 86-92, § 1, 11-18-86; Ord. No. 88-72, § 1, 7-19-88; Ord. No. 01-109, § 7, 6-19-01; Ord. No. 06-54, § 1, 4-25-06)

Annotations— CAO's 77-46, 84-15.