[Adopted 12-18-1979 by Ord. No. 42-79;
amended in its entirety 12-19-2007 by Ord. No. 757-07]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Municipality of Murrysville Local Services Tax Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated or where the
context clearly indicates a different meaning, the following terms
shall have, for the purpose of this article, the meanings herein indicated.
Any partnership, limited partnership or any other form of
unincorporated enterprise owned or conducted by two or more persons.
A corporation or joint-stock association organized under
the laws of this commonwealth, the United States or any other state,
territory or foreign country or dependency, including but not limited
to banking institutions.
The tax collector for the Municipality.
The individual, association, corporation, governmental body
or unit or agency or any other entity, domiciled in the Municipality
of Murrysville, who or that employs one or more persons on a salary,
wage, commission or other compensation basis.
The Municipality of Murrysville, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
The pursuit of gainful employment or vocation for compensation
within the Municipality.
Every natural person, association or corporation. Wherever
used in any clause prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "person"
as applied to association shall mean the partners or members thereof
and, as applied to corporations, shall include the officers thereof.
Any person required hereunder to pay an emergency and municipal
services tax.
A.
An annual tax for general revenue purposes of $52
is hereby imposed on all individuals for the privilege of engaging
in an occupation in the Municipality, as herein provided.
B.
Situs of the local services tax.
(1)
The situs of the local services tax (LST) shall be
the place of employment, but in the event a person is engaged in more
than one occupation, or an occupation which requires his/her working
in more than one political subdivision during the calendar year, the
priority of claim to collect the LST shall be in the following order:
(a)
First, the political subdivision in which a
person maintains his principal office or is principally employed;
(b)
Second, the political subdivision in which the
person resides and works, if such a tax is levied by that political
subdivision;
(c)
Third, the political subdivision in which a
person is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the
person’s home. The place of employment shall be determined as
of the day the taxpayer first becomes subject to the tax during the
calendar year.
(2)
It is the intent of this provision that no person
shall pay more than $52 in any calendar year as a LST irrespective
of the number of political subdivisions within which such person may
be employed within any given calendar year. In case of a dispute,
a tax receipt of the taxing authority for that calendar year declaring
that the taxpayer has made prior payment will constitute prima facie
certification of payment to all other political subdivisions.
A.
The Director of the Department of Tax Collection of
the Municipality shall be and is hereby appointed the collecting agent
for the collection of the tax, which shall be made payable to the
Director of the Department of Tax Collection.
B.
The payment of the tax shall be evidenced by a receipt
setting forth the date and amount of payment and the name of the payee.
C.
The Director of the Department of Tax Collection shall
submit a written report to the Treasurer of the Municipality on or
before the 10th day of each month setting forth the total amount of
tax collected during the preceding month. The Director of the Department
of Tax Collection shall forward each payment as received to the Treasurer.
D.
Duty of employers to collect.
(1)
Each employer within the Municipality of Murrysville shall begin to withhold the tax liability of $52 from the compensation of all individuals (except as provided in § 206-41 of the Murrysville Code) on either the first day of employment or the first pay of January commencing with 2008. Said deductions shall be made based on the number of annual payroll periods and are prohibited from being withheld in a lump-sum payment. The amount of tax deducted shall be remitted to the local taxing authority within 30 days of the end of each quarter.
(2)
In the event an employee files an upfront exemption
certificate but exceeds the $12,000 limit for exemption, the employer
can restart withholding by withholding:
E.
The Director of the Department of Tax Collection is
authorized and empowered to enforce this article and to collect the
tax, interest and penalties hereby imposed on behalf of the Municipality.
All taxes imposed by this article not paid when
due shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of 1/2 of 1%
per month until paid.
A penalty of 10% is hereby imposed upon all
taxes which are unpaid more than 30 days after they are due and payable,
in accordance with the provisions of this article.
All taxes imposed by this article, together
with interest from due date and the penalty thereon, may be recovered
as other debts of like character are now by law recoverable.
It shall be unlawful for any person to:
Any person convicted before a District Justice
of violating any of the provisions of this article shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding $300 for each and every offense and, upon
default in the payment of the same, shall be subject to 30 days' imprisonment.
The payment of such fine or the serving of such imprisonment shall
not relieve the person liable for such tax to pay such tax, interest
and penalties.
The local services tax revenues under the increased
tax levy are restricted to the following uses: police, fire and emergency
services; road construction and/or maintenance; or reduction of property
taxes. At least 25% of the tax revenue must be used for emergency
services, including police, fire and ambulance protection.
A.
Exemptions from payment. Persons whose total earned
income and net profits from all sources within the political subdivision
are less than $12,000 for the calendar year are exempt from the local
services tax. “Income from all sources” is defined as
the same “earned income” and “net profits”
that are used to determine the local earned income tax. In addition,
the following persons are exempt from payment of the tax:
(1)
Any person who has served in any war or armed
conflict in which the United States was engaged and is honorably discharged
or released under honorable circumstances from active service if,
as a result of military service, the person is blind, paraplegic or
a double or quadruple amputee or has a service-connected disability
declared by the United States Veterans’ Administration or its
successor to be a total one-hundred-percent disability;
(2)
Any person who serves as a member of a reserve
component of the armed forces and is called to active duty at any
time during the taxable year.
C.
Refunds from overpayment. Any refunds shall be in
accordance with provisions of the general municipal law relating to
refunds of overpayments and interest on overpayments. No refunds shall
be made for amounts that do not exceed $1.
This article is effective upon the date of enactment
and applies to tax years beginning with 2008 and shall continue in
force for succeeding fiscal years without annual reenactment.
