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Home My WebLink About03 - Business Tax AppealsCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. 3 May 11, 2010 Agenda Item No. 3 April 27, 2010 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: Administrative Services Department Tracy McCraner, Administrative Services Director (949) 644 -3123 or TMcCranera- NewportBeachCA.gov Administrative Services Department Evelyn Tseng, Acting Revenue Manager (949) 644 -3153 or ETsengONewportBeachCA.gov SUBJECT: AMENDMENT OF NEWPORT BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 5.04.330 PERTAINING TO BUSINESS TAX APPEALS ISSUE: Should the City amend Newport Beach Municipal Code ( "NBMC") Section 5.04.330 in order to streamline the business tax appeals process? RECOMMENDATION: Introduce Ordinance No. 2010 -_ relating to business tax appeals amending Section 5.04.330 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code and pass to second reading on May 11, 2010. DISCUSSION: Background NBMC Section 5.04 requires any person operating a business in the City to obtain a business license from the City. Applications for business licenses are made to the Finance Director (Administrative Services Director), who then processes the business applications and issues or denies the business licenses. NBMC Section 5.04.330, unchanged since 1977, provides that persons who are aggrieved by any decision of the Finance Director with respect to the issuance or refusal to issue a business license may appeal to the City Council. Staff recommends amending Section 5.04.330 so that appeals are made to the City Manager rather than the City Council. This amendment would streamline the appeals Amendment of Newport Beach Municipal Code Section 5.04.330 April 27, 2010 Page 2 process for a more efficient review process. The City Manager currently has the authority to hear appeals for, among other things, Public Nuisance Abatement issues (Section 10.50.080) and Special Events Permits (Section 11.03.060). Requiring the business license applicant to wait for the next City Council meeting could potentially unnecessarily delay the appeals process. Environmental Review: This action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. Public Notice: The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item). Funding Availability: City funding is not required by this action. Alternative: City Council does not amend NBMC Section 5.04.330 and appeals will be heard by City Council. Prepared by: Evelyn Ts ng Acting Revenue Manager Submitted by: Tracy McCri er AdministratiW Services Director Attachments: Draft NBMC Section 5.04.330 Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Newport Beach Amending Section 5.04.330 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code Pertaining to Business Tax Appeals Section 5.04.330 Appeal. Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Finance Director with respect to the issuance or refusal to issue such license may appeal to the City Manager 0-01nsil by filing a notice of appeals with the City Clerk. The City ManagerGeunsil shall thereupon fix a time and place for hearing such appeal. The City Clerk shall give notice to such person of the time and place for hearing by serving it personally or by depositing it in the United States mail at Newport Beach, California, postage prepaid, addressed to such person at his last known address. The City ManagerGGu -R i shall have authority to determine all questions raised on such appeal. No such determination shall conflict with any substantive provision of this ordinance. ORDINANCE NO. 2010 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH AMENDING SECTION 5.04.330 OF THE NEWPORT BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO BUSINESS TAX APPEALS WHEREAS, the City of Newport Beach ( "City ") regulates business conducted within its boundaries through licensing regulations provided in Newport Beach Municipal Code ( "Code ") Chapter 5.04; and WHEREAS, the City's Finance Director administers Code Chapter 5.04 and is required to render decisions regarding the applicability of the business license regulations to individual businesses; and WHEREAS, persons aggrieved by the Finance Director's decisions have a right to an appeal hearing before the City Council; and WHEREAS, in the interest of efficiency and conserving limited resources the City Manager may be designated to hear business appeals in place of the City Council. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Newport Beach ordains as follows: SECTION 1: Section 5.04.330 of Chapter 5.04 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: "5.04.330 Appeal. Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Finance Director with respect to the issuance or refusal to issue such license may appeal to the City Manager by filing a notice of appeal with the City Clerk. The City Manger shall thereupon fix a time and place for hearing such appeal. The City Clerk shall give notice to such person of the time and place for hearing by serving it personally or by depositing it in the United States mail at Newport Beach, California, postage prepaid, addressed to such person at his last known address. The City Manager shall have authority to determine all questions raised on such appeal. No such determination shall conflict with any substantive provision of this ordinance." SECTION 2: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each section, subsection, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses and phrases be declared unconstitutional. SECTION 3: The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. SECTION 4: The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of this ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper of the City, and it shall be effective thirty (30) days after its adoption. This ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Newport Beach, held on the _ day of , 200_, and adopted on the _day of 200_, by the following vote, to wit: AYES, COUNCILMEMBERS NOES, COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT COUNCILMEMBERS MAYOR APPROVED AS TO FORM: OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY LEONIE ULVIHILL, ACTING CITY ATTORNEY ATTEST: LEILANI BROWN, CITY CLERK Authorrzcd to Publish Advenrscmcnts of all kinds including public nooccs by Decree rd the Superior C(mm of Orange Qwnly, California Number A 62 IJ. �� I\/F D September 29, 1961, and A '2d %31 June I I. 1%3. r- PROOF OF PUBLICATION nil AT 10 02 I Of OF ltflM01R WO G ^f G 1111111111111111 12 swam 1776 al Z%09ar STATE OF CALIFORNIA) up C� AM tl 2010 N Orr caaWa ft CAP at*ow 1111111 41111"111 ) ss. tee"Voll awke COUNTY OF ORANGE ) (111 FNFMCr ly C" MM Lam I am a Citizen of the United States and a EMWAf�O( cm resident of the County aforesaid; I am MRAW TO over the age of eighteen years, and not a mr cryONkpa ekm ropy nitim party to or interested in the below entitled �m matter. I am a rinci al clerk of the ""tlrq'�iV%' °" P P edmh ew wnwa ca NEWPORT BEACH - COSTA MESA nalt'10%aa504 DAILY PILOT, a newspaper of general Phil Cns hmm Mail, aan"n cm chw sor circulation, printed and published in the ,,,,,ePn1d1, . , , , City of Costa Mesa, County of Orange, Vinin IN Awali /ahr bis km loan State of California, and that attached we"A k Notice is a true and complete copy as Prim wow br IN %m was printed and published on the :MMS Notion hm a," tc V an lahrq WN M following dates: City Coma a9nbrAaaa eRtinn a9 mmawq lieu ON ay rww mrr a 607" to nw kwo Vmm r Am of ea Ca May 1, 2010 " am sew, 090101, awA m Arne Y! a3ma a b am mm h b be 0019 a mal"I m kan aavam atur M a6 A" or crostenma tl M nwnap pmrom d e I declare, under penalty of perjury, that ad � I ft the foregoing is true and correct. ha�^� a 06 now somcw ak0 a okm Mkt. wr, , Executed on May 5, 2010 at 41111111 lidthill"Ontla f a tawa Costa Mesa, California. aa.dk,W hflow0011Wa9eaa �ari�iaae�lNOpQ�itaa �/%l�/1!/� �iioiryr. 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