[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Lewistown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 9-22-1972 by Ord. No. 72-47(C); amended in its entirety 9-14-1981 by Ord. No.
81-6 (Ch. 13, Part 1, of the 1986 Code)]
[Amended 3-24-1986 by Ord. No. 86-2]
A.
PERSON
For the purposes of §§ 83-1 through 83-5 of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any individual, partnership, firm, association, organization,
corporation or other entity. The word "person," when applied to partnerships,
firms or associations, shall mean the partners or members thereof;
when applied to organizations or corporations, the officers thereof;
and when applied to other entities, the officers, officials or other
individuals responsible for managing the business or affairs of the
entity.
[Amended 8-9-1982 by Ord. No. 82-5; 3-13-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-3]
A.
Before any person shall conduct or operate within the Borough of Lewistown any of the exhibitions, entertainments, amusements, sports events, dances, concerts, activities or establishments next described, he shall obtain a license from the Borough Council. Except as provided in § 83-5, the fee for the license and the daily hours during which the exhibition, entertainment, amusement, sports event, dance, concert, activity or establishment may be conducted or operated shall be:
(1)
Circuses, carnivals or fairs which are open to the general public,
which are not held on church or school grounds or in a church or school
building, and at which an admission fee or other charge is made to
see a performance, an entertainment, an exhibition, a display or an
exhibit:
(a)
License fee. The license fee shall be adopted by separate resolution
by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewistown, and such may be
amended from time to time by the Borough of Lewistown. The current
Borough Costs and Fees Schedule shall be on file in the Borough's
offices and otherwise available to the public.
(b)
Hours of operation. Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00
a.m. on the next day. Sundays, 12:30 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.
(2)
Circuses, carnivals, fairs or amusement operations which are open to the general public, which are not held on church or school grounds or in a church or school building, and at which an admission fee or other charge is made to use an amusement ride or to play a game of chance or skill for which no permit has been issued under the Borough's Mechanical Amusement Device Tax Ordinance, Article II of this chapter:
(a)
License fee. The license fee shall be adopted by separate resolution
by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewistown, and such may be
amended from time to time by the Borough of Lewistown. The current
Borough Costs and Fees Schedule shall be on file in the Borough's
offices and otherwise available to the public.
(b)
Hours of operation. Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00
a.m. on the next day. Sundays, 12:30 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.
(3)
Circuses, carnivals or fairs which are described in or fall within the scope of both Subsection A(1) and (2):
(a)
License fee. The license fee shall be adopted by separate resolution
by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewistown, and such may be
amended from time to time by the Borough of Lewistown. The current
Borough Costs and Fees Schedule shall be on file in the Borough's
offices and otherwise available to the public.
(b)
Hours of operation. Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00
a.m. on the next day. Sundays, 12:30 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.
(4)
Sports events, dances or concerts which are open to the general public,
which are not held on church or school grounds or in a church or school
building, and at which an admission fee or other charge is made to
attend the sports event, dance or concert:
(a)
License fee. The license fee shall be adopted by separate resolution
by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewistown, and such may be
amended from time to time by the Borough of Lewistown. The current
Borough Costs and Fees Schedule shall be on file in the Borough's
offices and otherwise available to the public.
(b)
Hours of operation. Mondays through Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. to
1:00 a.m. on the next day. Sundays, 12:30 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.
(5)
Lounges, dance halls, bottle clubs or brown-bag establishments which
permit alcoholic or malt or brewed beverages to be consumed on the
premises, which are not licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control
Board or otherwise subject to the rules or regulations of the Pennsylvania
Liquor Control Board, and which charge an admission fee, cover charge,
entertainment fee or the like or charge for food or setups:
(a)
License fee. The license fee shall be adopted by separate resolution
by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewistown, and such may be
amended from time to time by the Borough of Lewistown. The current
Borough Costs and Fees Schedule shall be on file in the Borough's
offices and otherwise available to the public.
(b)
Hours of operation. Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00
a.m. on the next day. Sundays, no operation permitted (except, as
implied from the preceding sentence, during the time from midnight
on Saturdays to 1:00 a.m. on Sundays).
B.
A license fee prescribed by Subsection A of this section shall not be prorated and shall be paid in full at the time the license is granted or issued. The license fee shall be nonrefundable. A license granted under this article shall not be transferable or assignable by the licensee and shall be valid only for the purpose, the date or period, and the address or other physical location for which the license was granted.
C.
A person applying to the Borough Council for a license shall first
file a written application or request with the Borough Manager setting
forth the applicant's name and business address; the name and residence
address of each proprietor, partner or officer of the applicant; a
complete description of the nature of the exhibition, entertainment,
amusement, sports event, dance, concert, activity or establishment
for which the license is requested; the date or period and the address
or other physical location for which the license is sought; the number
of security guards, if any, which the applicant will provide; a complete
description of the municipal services, street closings, traffic reroutes,
traffic regulations, parking regulations or the like which the applicant
requests that the Borough provide or waive; and such other information
as the Borough Manager, in his discretion, may require or deem necessary.
The Borough Council shall have the right to refuse to grant
any license if it determines that the grant of that license would
be detrimental to the public health, welfare, safety or morals. In
granting a license, the Borough Council may impose such terms and
conditions upon the licensee as it shall deem necessary to protect
or preserve the public health, welfare, safety or morals. Any violation
of a term or condition imposed by the Borough Council shall constitute
a violation of this article.
A.
The Borough Manager shall have the power to suspend or revoke any
license granted under this article if the licensee violates any of
the provisions of this article or any terms or conditions imposed
upon the licensee by the Borough Council. In the event that the Borough
Manager suspends or revokes the license, the licensee may appeal the
action of the Borough Manager to the Borough Council by filing an
appeal with the Borough Council within 30 days after the action by
the Borough Manager. The Borough Council shall hear and decide the
appeal within 45 days after the date on which the appeal was filed.
B.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person to operate or conduct any exhibition, entertainment, amusement, sports event, dance, concert, activity or establishment for which a license is required under § 83-2 without a license or after the expiration date of a license or after a license has been suspended or revoked by the Borough Manager. If a license is suspended or revoked, no part of the license fee shall be refunded.
The Borough Council, at its discretion and for good cause shown,
may extend a licensee's hours of operation on a particular day and,
at its discretion, may waive any license fee prescribed by this article
in any case where the net proceeds of the exhibition, entertainment,
amusement, sports event, dance, concert, activity or establishment
are intended to benefit a licensee which is a charitable, religious,
educational, civic, community or nonprofit organization.
[Amended 3-24-1986 by Ord. No. 86-2]
A.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall,
upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than
$300 and the costs of prosecution and, upon failure to pay such fine
and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
B.
For the purposes of the imposition of the fine and costs prescribed by this § 83-6, the word "person," when applied to partnerships, firms or associations, shall mean the partners or members thereof; when applied to organizations or corporations, the officers thereof; and when applied to other entities, the officers, officials or other individuals responsible for managing the business or affairs of the entity.
C.
Every day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute
a separate offense, and a separate prosecution may be instituted and
a separate fine imposed for each offense committed after the first
offense.
[Adopted 9-22-1986 by Ord. No. 86-4 (Ch. 24, Part 4, of the
1986 Code)]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Borough
Mechanical Amusement Device Tax Ordinance." It is enacted under the
authority of the Local Tax Enabling Act of December 31, 1965 (Act
No. 511).[1] This article shall become effective May 9, 1968.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
Definitions.
A.
When not inconsistent with the context of this article, words and
terms used in the present tense include the future tense and the converse;
words and terms used in the plural number include the singular number
and the converse; and the masculine gender includes the feminine gender
and the neuter gender.
B.
DEVICE
MECHANICAL AMUSEMENT DEVICE
PERMITTEE
PERSON
Unless otherwise expressly stated or unless the context clearly requires
a different meaning, the following words and terms, when used in this
article, shall have the meanings next ascribed to them.
Any mechanical amusement device.
Any machine or device which (upon the insertion of a coin,
disc, plate, slug, token or the like or which may be started or put
into play in any other manner) may be operated as a game, entertainment
or amusement, irrespective of whether it registers a score or whether
it offers a prize. The term shall include such machines or devices
as marble machines, pinball machines, skill ball devices, test of
skill machines, fortune-telling machines, card playing machines, video
game machines, and the like, irrespective of whatever name they may
be called. The term shall not include any gambling machine or device
that has been judicially determined to be a gambling device and shall
not include any machine or device used solely for home entertainment.
The person in whose name a locations permit was issued by
the Borough under this article.
Any individual, partnership, firm, association, organization,
corporation or other entity.
Effective May 9, 1968, and thereafter, it shall be unlawful
for any person to expose any mechanical amusement device for operation
within the Borough unless a locations permit for the location where
the device will be exposed for operation has been issued by the Borough,
the fee for the locations permit has been paid to the Borough, and
the mechanical amusement device tax levied by this article has been
paid to the Borough.
Duration of permit; payment of permit fee and mechanical amusement
device tax; display of permit.
A.
Before any person shall expose any mechanical amusement device for
operation within the Borough he shall first obtain a locations permit
from the Borough.
B.
Application.
(1)
The application for a locations permit shall be in such form and
require the disclosure of such information as the Borough Manager
may from time to time prescribe. In all cases, however, the application
shall clearly disclose:
(a)
The name and business address of the applicant;
(b)
The name and residence address of each proprietor, partner,
officer or the like of the applicant;
(c)
The address of each location for which the permit is sought;
(d)
The number of devices and a brief generic description of the
devices to be exposed for operation at each location;
(e)
The total number of devices to be exposed for operation at all
the locations; and
(f)
The name and business address of the owner or vendor of the
devices.
(2)
The application shall contain a statement substantially to the effect
that, under the criminal penalties of § 4904 of the Pennsylvania
Crimes Code[1] relating to the falsification of an unsworn statement
to a public official, the information disclosed in the application
is true and correct.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 4904.
C.
Procedure.
(1)
Within three business days after the date on which an application for a locations permit is filed with the Borough, the Borough staff shall review the application to ensure that the locations described in the application satisfy the use regulations of Chapter 240, Zoning, of the Code of the Borough and all other ordinances and regulations of the Borough applicable to the locations and either approve or disapprove the application. If the Borough staff approves the application, it shall issue the locations permit, provided that the conditions precedent set forth in Subsection E of this section have been satisfied.
(2)
The locations permit shall be issued in such number of duplicates
or counterparts as there are locations approved by the Borough staff
(and therefore covered by the permit). The locations permit shall
be in such form as the Borough Manager may from time to time determine.
In all cases, however, the permit (and each duplicate or counterpart
thereof) shall show:
(a)
The name of the permittee;
(b)
All the locations approved by the Borough staff (and therefore
covered by the permit);
(c)
The number of mechanical amusement devices to be exposed for
operation at each location covered by the permit; and
(d)
The total number of mechanical amusement devices to be exposed
for operation at all the locations covered by the permit.
D.
No locations permit shall be issued for a period in excess of one
year. All locations permits issued by the Borough shall uniformly
expire on January 10 of each year, and thereafter a new locations
permit for the year (January 11 of one year to January 10 of the next
year) shall be required. Before a new locations permit for the year
is issued, a new application for a locations permit shall be filed
with the Borough.
E.
A locations permit shall not be issued by the Borough staff until the permit fee prescribed by Subsection F of this section has been paid to the Borough and the mechanical amusement device tax levied by § 83-11 has been paid to the Borough. The payment of the permit fee prescribed by Subsection F and the payment of the mechanical amusement device tax levied by § 83-11 shall not relieve an applicant or a permittee from the payment of any other fees or taxes which may be required to be paid under other ordinances, resolutions or regulations of the Borough or under the laws, rules or regulations of another government agency or the commonwealth.
F.
The permit fee for a locations permit (including all duplicates or
counterparts thereof) shall be computed on the basis of $6 for one
location of the permittee plus $3 for each location of the permittee
in excess of one.
G.
The locations permit (or a duplicate or counterpart thereof) issued
by the Borough shall be conspicuously displayed by the permittee at
each location covered by the permit and as close as possible to the
mechanical amusement devices exposed for operation at the location.
[Amended 12-27-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-7]
A.
Effective January 1, 2023, and thereafter, and in order to provide
revenue for the general purposes of the Borough, there is hereby levied
on the privilege of exposing a mechanical amusement device for operation
in the Borough a tax as follows:
(1)
$150 per year per casino-style or skill game that accepts cash payment for the chance of a cash reward which is not otherwise regulated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania exposed for operation at any of the locations covered by a locations permit issued to a permittee under § 83-10, or such amount as shall be prescribed by the separate Borough Costs and Fees Schedule adopted by Council from time to time.
B.
The total amount of the taxes due the Borough shall be paid in full to the Borough before a locations permit is issued under § 83-10 and shall be calculated on the total number of mechanical amusement devices to be exposed for operation at all the locations covered by the locations permit.
C.
As set forth in § 83-10, a locations permit issued by the Borough shall expire on December 31 of each year. Accordingly, in order to avoid an inequitable tax result if a locations permit is issued for a period of less than one year, the following principles shall apply in calculating the total amount of the taxes due the Borough on the total number of mechanical amusement devices to be exposed for operation at all the locations covered by the permit:
(1)
If the locations permit is issued during the period January 1 to March 31, the total amount of the taxes shall be calculated on the basis of 100% of the amount set forth in Subsection A, above, per device.
(2)
If the locations permit is issued during the period April 1 to June 30, the total amount of the taxes shall be calculated on the basis of 75% of the amount set forth in Subsection A, above per device.
D.
In the event that, after a locations permit has been issued, the permittee exposes more mechanical amusement devices for operation with the result that the total number of devices exposed for operation at all the locations covered by the permit exceeds the total number of devices shown in the permit, and therefore exceeds the number of devices on which the total amount of the taxes due the Borough was calculated when the locations permit was issued, that fact shall be reported to the Borough within five calendar days after the event. Thereupon, the Borough staff, using the principles set forth in Subsection C of this section, shall promptly calculate the additional taxes due the Borough for the additional devices and, upon payment of the additional taxes to the Borough, shall promptly amend the locations permit (and all the duplicates or counterparts thereof) to show the additional devices.
A.
In the event that: (a) the business address of the permittee is changed; (b) the residence address of a proprietor, partner, officer or the like of the permittee is changed; (c) the number of mechanical amusement devices exposed for operation at a location covered by the locations permit is decreased or increased but despite that decrease or increase the total number of devices shown in the permit (for all the locations covered by the permit) is neither decreased nor increased; (d) the total number of devices shown in the permit (for all the locations covered by the permit) is decreased; (e) the total number of devices shown in the permit (for all the locations covered by the permit) is increased; or (f) a location covered by the permit is changed by the permittee, that fact shall be reported to the Borough within five calendar days after the event. Thereupon, in a case under clause (a) or (b), the Borough shall promptly amend its records. In a case under clause (c) or (d), the Borough shall promptly amend its records and amend the locations permit (and all the duplicates or counterparts thereof). In a case under clause (e), the Borough shall promptly amend its records and follow the procedure in § 83-11D. In a case under clause (f), the Borough shall ensure that the new location satisfies the use regulations of Chapter 240, Zoning, of the Code of the Borough and all other ordinances and regulations of the Borough applicable to the new location and, if it does, the Borough shall promptly amend its records and amend the locations permit (and all the duplicates or counterparts thereof).
B.
Except for a case under clause (e) in Subsection A above, no mechanical amusement device tax shall be levied because of an event described in Subsection A.
(1)
No permit fee or other administrative charge shall be imposed because a locations permit (and the duplicates or counterparts thereof) are amended by the Borough under Subsection A.
(2)
In amending a locations permit (and the duplicates or counterparts thereof) under Subsection A, the Borough staff may do so in any manner determined by it to be expeditious and practical. (By way of example, the permit might be amended by writing the amendment or corrective entry on the face of the permit and then initialing and dating the writing or by placing on the permit a stick-tape strip which shows the amendment and then initialing and dating the strip.)
C.
In the event that a locations permit is transferred or to be transferred from the permittee to another person, a new locations permit shall be obtained by the transferee from the Borough. The procedures for obtaining the new permit shall be substantially the same as those set forth in § 83-10. No mechanical amusement device tax shall be due the Borough merely because of the issuance of a new permit to the transferee. However, if the total number of mechanical amusement devices for all locations is increased by the transferee so that the total number of devices he will expose for operation at all locations will exceed the total number of devices shown in the transferor's permit or the last amendment thereto, the Borough, by analogy to § 83-11D and using the principles set forth in § 83-11C, shall calculate the additional taxes due the Borough for the additional devices.
D.
Reduction or refund of taxes. There shall be no reduction or refund
of the taxes paid to the Borough under this article merely because
(after a locations permit has been issued or after a permit has been
amended) the permittee decreases the total number of mechanical amusement
devices shown in the permit for all his locations, goes out of business,
has his locations permit revoked by the Borough for cause or the like.
[Amended 12-27-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-7]
A.
Fines; definition.
(1)
Any person who fails to comply with any provision of this article, who violates any provision of this article, or who makes any false statement or misrepresentation of fact in an application for a locations permit under § 83-10 or in a fact to be reported to the Borough under § 83-12A shall, upon conviction of the offense, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $300 and the costs of prosecution and any mechanical amusement device tax then due and owing and, upon failure to pay such fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
(2)
For the purposes of the imposition of the fine and costs prescribed
by this subsection, the word "person," when applied to partnerships,
firms or associations, shall mean the partners or members thereof;
when applied to organizations or corporation, the officers thereof;
and when applied to other entities, the officers, officials or other
individuals responsible for managing the business or affairs of the
entity.
B.
Each day that a person fails to comply with a provision of this article or each day that a person violates a provision of this article shall be deemed to constitute a new or separate offense under Subsection A of this section and subject in all respects to the same penalty as is provided in Subsection A, and a separate prosecution may be instituted and a separate fine imposed for each offense committed after the first offense.
C.
The imposition of a penalty under this § 83-13 shall not preclude the Borough from revoking a location's permit for cause; refusing to issue any further locations permit or an amendment thereto; or instituting an appropriate action or proceeding to prevent, restrain, correct or abate a violation or any act, conduct, use or condition which is prohibited by this article.
D.
In addition to the imposition of a penalty under this § 83-13, any person convicted of a violation of this article resulting from exposing a mechanical amusement device for operation in the Borough without first paying the mechanical amusement device tax levied under § 83-11 shall pay any mechanical amusement device taxes then due and owing before further exposing a mechanical amusement device for operation.
