880.02 Registration of amusements.
880.03 Levy of tax.
880.04 Collection of tax.
880.05 Tax reports and payment procedure.
880.06 Refusal to report; surcharge; collection.
880.07 Determination of tax; examination of records.
880.08 Authority to estimate tax due.
880.09 Taxes to be paid into Township Treasury.
880.10 Rules and regulations.
880.11 Exemptions.
880.12 Administration expenses.
880.13 Violations.
880.14 Effective period.
880.99 Penalty.
CROSS REFERENCES:
Treasurer is Tax Collector - see 1st Class §805
Authority to enact - see Act No. 511 of 1965 §2
Annual re-enactment unnecessary - see Act No. 511 of 1965 §4
Limitation on rate - see Act No. 511 of 1965 §8(6)
Treasurer - see ADM. Ch. 222
Amusement devices - see B. R. & T. Ch. 816
As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(a) “Amusement” means all manner and forms of entertainment, including, among others, theatrical or operatic performances, concerts, moving picture shows, vaudeville, all forms of entertainment at fairgrounds and amusement parks; athletic contests, including wrestling matches, boxing and sparring exhibitions, football, basketball and baseball games, skating, golfing, tennis, hockey, bathing, swimming, archery, shooting, riding, dancing, rowing, bowling, billiards, pool and all other forms of diversion, sport, recreation or pastime; shows, exhibitions, contests, displays and games; and all other methods of obtaining admission charges, donations, contributions or monetary charges of any character from the general public, or a limited or selected number thereof, directly or indirectly, in return for other than tangible property, or specific personal or professional services.
(b) “Association” means any partnership, limited partnership or other forms of unincorporated enterprise, owned by two or more persons.
(c) “Board” means the Board of Township Commissioners.
(d) ‘Township” means the Township of Aston, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
(e) “Established price” means regular monetary charges of any character, including donations, contributions and dues of membership or fees (periodical or otherwise), fixed and exacted, or in any manner received by producers, as herein defined, from the general public, or a limited or selected number thereof, directly or indirectly, for the privilege to attend or engage in any entertainment or amusement, provided that when such entertainment or amusement is conducted at any place where the charge for admission is wholly, or in part, included in the price paid for refreshments, service or merchandise, the amount paid for the admission to such amusement shall be deemed to be fifty percent of the amount paid for refreshments, service and merchandise.
(f) “Person” means every natural person, copartnership, association or corporation. Whenever used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, or both, the term “person, as applied to copartnerships or associations, means the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
(g) “Place of amusement” means any place, indoors or outdoors, within the Township, where the general public, or a limited or selected number thereof, may, upon payment of an established price, attend or engage in any amusement, including, among others, theaters, opera houses, moving picture houses, drive-in theaters, amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, baseball parks, football playing fields, basketball halls or courts, skating rinks, circus or carnival tents or grounds, fairgrounds; social, sporting, athletic, riding, gun and country clubs; riding academies, golf courses, golf driving ranges, miniature golf courses, bathing and swimming places, dance halls, tennis courts; archery, rifle or shotgun ranges; bowling alleys, pool and billiard parlors, roof gardens, cabarets, night clubs and other restaurants where amusements or entertainment is provided; and other like places.
(h) “Producer” means any person conducting any place of amusement, sport, recreation, bowling or pastime, where the general public, or a limited or selected number thereof, may, upon the payment of an established price, attend or engage in any amusement.
(i) “Tax Collector” means the Treasurer and/or the Tax Collector of the Township. (Ord. 317. Passed 6-22-66.)
880.02 REGISTRATION OF AMUSEMENTS..
(a) On and after the effective date of this chapter (Ordinance 317, passed June 22, 1966), every producer who, at any time, is conducting or who thereafter begins to conduct, any form of amusement, at any permanent or temporary place of amusement, or any itinerant form of amusement, within the Township, shall register the same with the Township.
(b) Such registration shall be for permanent amusements (those conducted at one location for a period in excess of one month) or temporary or itinerant amusements (those conducted at one location for a period of less than one month), as the case may be, and each shall be made upon a form prescribed, prepared and furnished by the Township, and shall set forth the name under which the producer conducts or intends to conduct an amusement, whether the producer conducts or Intends to conduct a permanent or temporary place, or an itinerant form, of amusement, the location of the permanent or temporary place of amusement and such other information as the Township may require. If the producer has, or intends to have, more than one place of amusement within the Township, he shall register each one and shall state the location of each, and, in the case of a temporary or itinerant form of amusement, the date and length of time such amusement is to be conducted at each place. In the case of a registration for a temporary place of amusement, the producer shall state the name and address of the owner, lessee or custodian of the premises upon which such amusement is to be conducted, and, if the producer is an association or corporation, the names and addresses of the principal officers thereof, and any other information prescribed by the Township for the purposes of identification. The registration shall be signed and verified by oath or affirmation by the producer, if a natural person, and, in the case of an association, by a member or partner thereof, and, in the case of a corporation, by an executive officer thereof, or some person specifically authorized by the corporation to sign the registration, to which shall be attached the written evidence of his authority.
(c) Upon the submission of the registration forms, the Township shall issue to each producer an annual or temporary registration certificate for each of his places of amusement within the Township. Such registration certificates shall not be assignable, shall be valid only for the persons in whose names they are issued and for the conduct of amusements at the place designated therein, and shall at all times be conspicuously displayed at the places for which they are issued. All registration certificates for permanent places of amusement shall expire on the last day of the calendar year. Registration certificates for temporary places of amusement, or for forms of itinerant amusement, shall expire at the time specified therein. The producer of an itinerant form of amusement shall notify the Township promptly of any change in the original contemplated itinerary, either as to the date or time of, or the conduct of, the amusement at each place.
(d) Producers conducting permanent places of amusement shall register them annually with the Township before the first day of the calendar year.
(e) Whenever any registration certificate, issued under the provisions of this chapter, is defaced, destroyed or lost, the Township may Issue a duplicate certificate to the holder thereof.
(a) A tax, to provide revenue for general Township purposes, is hereby levied, assessed and imposed upon the admission fee or privilege charged to any member of the general public, or a limited or selected group thereof, to attend an amusement and upon the established price charged to any member of the general public, or a limited or selected group thereof, for the privilege of personally engaging in any amusement within the Township, at a rate of ten percent of the established price charged to any member of the general public, or a limited or selected group thereof, by any producer for such privilege, which shall be paid by the person acquiring such privilege.
(b) In the case of persons (except bona fide employees of the producer, or Municipal or State officers on official business) admitted free, or at reduced rates, to any place of amusement at a time when, and under circumstances where, an established price is charged to other persons, the tax imposed by this chapter shall be computed on the established price charged to such other persons of the same class for the same or similar accommodations to be paid by the person so admitted.
(c) In the case of persons having the permanent use of boxes or seats in any place of amusement, or a lease for the use of such boxes or seats in such place of amusement, the tax imposed by this chapter shall be computed on the established price for which a similar box or seat Is sold for each performance or exhibition at which the box or seat is used or reserved for the lessee or holder, such tax to be paid by the lessee or holder. (Ord. 317. Passed 6-22-66.)
(a) Producers shall collect the tax imposed by this chapter and shall be liable to the Township as agents thereof for the payment of the same to the Tax Collector, as hereinafter provided.
(b) Where temporary or itinerant forms of amusement are conducted by persons who are not the owners, lessees or custodians of the places where the amusements are to be conducted, or where the temporary or itinerant form of amusement Is, after the effective date of this chapter (Ordinance 317, passed June 22, 1966), permitted by the owner, lessee or custodian of any place to be conducted without being registered with the Township as required by this chapter, the collection of the tax imposed by this chapter shall be the responsibility of the owner, lessee or custodian of such place where any such temporary or itinerant form of amusement is held or conducted and the same shall be collected and paid by him unless collected and paid by the producer conducting the amusement.
(c) Where producers may begin to conduct permanent amusements after the effective date of this chapter (Ordinance 317, passed June 22, 1966), and they are not the owners of the place where the permanent amusements are to be conducted, or where the owner of any place permits a producer to begin to conduct a permanent amusement at that place alter the effective date of this chapter (Ordinance 317, passed June 22, 1966), without being registered with the Township as required by this chapter, the collection of the tax imposed by this chapter shall be the responsibility of the owner of such place where any such permanent amusement is to be conducted and the same shall be collected and paid by him unless collected and paid by the producer conducting the permanent amusement. (Ord. 317. Passed 6-22-66.)