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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-023 Sprint Spectrum Settlement Claim Form~._~ - ~~ BILL N0.2008-23 ORDINANCE NO.2008-23 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT WITH SPRINT SPECTRUM, L.P., NEXTEL WEST CORP., SPRINTCOM, INC., WIRELESSCO, L.P. AND NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS AND THEIR RELATED ENTITIES CONCERNING GROSS RECEIPT TAX ON WIRELESS SERVICE WHEREAS, Section 705.010 of the Municipal Code of the City of Riverside, Missouri imposes a five percent (5%) tax on gross receipts from telephone services; and WHEREAS, a class action is pending in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, Case No. O1-cc-004454, captioned City of University City, Missouri, et al. as individuals, and on behalf of all other similarly situated and the general public, v. Sprint Spectrum, L.P., Nextel West Corp., Sprintcom, Inc., WirelessCo, L.P., and Nextel Communications, Inc., et al. (the "Class Action Suit") in which plaintiffs contend that Sprint Spectrum, L.P., Nextel West Corp., Sprintcom, Inc., WirelessCo, L.P., and Nextel Communications, Inc., ("Sprint's did not pay taxes on gross receipts as required by the municipal code of the City of University City, Missouri and other similarly situated municipalities; and WHEREAS, based on the information available to both sides, and the risks involved in a trial, the attorneys for the class have concluded that a settlement proposed by Sprint is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and that it serves the best interests of the class members. NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Riverside, Missouri as follows: 1. The Board of Aldermen determines that the proposed settlement of the Class Action Suit with Sprint is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the City and its citizens. 2. The settlement agreement as described in the Notice of Class Action Settlement and Approval Hearing attached hereto as Exhibit A is hereby approved. The Mayor is hereby authorized to execute the settlement claim form attached hereto as Exhibit B on behalf of the City and to designate a part of the past tax payment to the Missouri Municipal League in recognition of the contribution of the Missouri Municipal League to the settlement. 3. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately. < -- Passed and approved by the January, 2008. ATTEST: [seal]. ise Rusick, City Clerk Board of Aldermen of the City of Riverside thisiC/` d~of Ka een L. Rose, Mayor B:~Board of Akletmen Packets~2008~2008-O1-292006-23 Sprint Claw Actlon Settkmmtdoc IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY STATE OF MISSOURI Case No. 01•CC--004454 NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND APPROVAL HEARING To: City of Riverside 2950 NW Vivion Road Riverside, MO 64152 City of University City, Missouri, et al. as individuals, and on behalf of all others similarly situated and the general public, Plaintiffs, Sprint Spectrum, L.P., Nextel West Corp., Sprintcom, Inc., WirelessCo, L.P., Nextel Communications, Inc., et al, Defendants. What is this lawsuit about? This notice explains the settlement of a class action lawsuit cenceming business license taxes that municipalities sought to impose on Sprint Nextel Corporation flida Sprint Corporation and its affiliates. The settlement has been preliminarily approved by the Court and provides for the payment of past taxes and future taxes to these municpalities. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT on April 18, 2008, in the Circuit Court of St Louis County, State of Missouri, 7900 Carondelet Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 83105, at 9:00 a.m., a hearing shall be conducted to determine whether to grant final approval to the settlement, consider any timely objections to the settlement, and rule on the fee and expense application submitted by attorneys for the plaintiffs. No payment of past taxes from Sprint will be made available to municipalities under the settlement agreement until after the settlement has become final and non-appealable. Read this notice carefully. You may be entitled to share in the settlement proceeds of this lawsuit. Your rights to a monetary award may be affected. Plaintiffs contend that Sprint did not pay taxes on gross receipts derived from providing commercial mobile radio services (collectively, 'CMRS°), taxes for maintaining antennas or other facilities, and flat taxes with respect to providing such services, and for interest andlor penalties on any such taxes not timely paid. Sprint has denied these allegations and argued that these taxes did not apply to CMRS offered by Spdnt. Based on the information available to both sides, and the risks involved in a trial, attorneys for the class have concluded that the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and that it serves the best interests of class members. Who an: ffie parties in this class action? The named plaintiffs in this class action are the City of Blue Springs, Missouri, City of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, City of Chesterfield, Missouri, City of Dexter, Missouri, City of Ellisville, Missouri, City of Ferguson, Missouri, City of Florissant, Missouri, City of Gladstone, Missouri, City of Independence, Missouri, City of Jennings, Missouri, City of Kirksville, Missouri, City of Kirkwood, Missouri, City of Manchester, Missouri, City of Maplewood, Missouri, City of Maryland Heights, Missouri, City of Northwoods, Missouri, City of O'Fallon, Missoud, City of St. Joseph, Missouri, City of Vinita Park, Missouri, City of Warson Woods, Missouri, City of Wellston, Missouri, City of Winchester, Missoud, City of University City, Missouri, and the City Collectors of Chesterfield, Missouri, Gladstone, Missouri, Jennings, Missouri, Kirksville, Missouri, Maryland Heights, Missouri, Wellston, Missouri, Dexter, Missouri, Manchester, Missouri, Northwoods, Missouri, O'Fallon, Missouri, Vinita Park, Missouri, Warson Woods, Missouri, and Winchester, Missouri. Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit as a class action to assert their own individual claims and to represent a class of municipalities who have similar claims. The Spdnt defendants and affiliates which are included in the settlement are Sprint Spectrum, L.P., Nextel West Corp., Sprint Nextel Corporation flk/a Sprint Corporation, Sprintcom, Inc., WirelessCo, L.P, Nextel Communications, Inc., and Sprint International Communications Corporation (collectively °Sprint°). Other wireless service providers are defendants in this class action. The municipalities' claims against these other defendants will not be affected by the settlement agreement with Sprint The lawsuit is pending in the Circuit Court for St. Louis County, State of Missouri before Judge Bernhardt Drumm What compensation or benefits will the settlement provide? The settlement, if it is finally approved by the Court, provides for the payment of past taxes and future taxes as described in STLDO i-1382659 Notice of Class Action Settlement and Approval Hearing -Page 1 of 5 ni more detail below. In addition, to the extent that Sprint has paid any taxes under protest and has initiated any tax protest actions against you, those protest actions will be dismissed and the protested tax released unconditionally to you upon the effective date of the settlement: a. Pavment of Past Taxes. The Settlement specifies a past tax payment with respect to each municipality, and your past tax payment is shown below. This payment was determined as follows: (1) If you impose a Business License Tax on gross receipts, the payment includes the amount of tax that would have been paid on Spdnt's gross receipts from providing telecommunications service for the period beginning September 1, 2005 and ending November 30, 2007, without regard to any interest or penalty (which shall not be considered in determining the payment). This payment amount is based on an estimate for November 2007. Once the actual tax for November 2007, is known, an additional payment will be made to you by Spdnt or a credit will be allowed to Spdnt to account for any difference between the estimated and actual amount. PLUS (2) If you impose a flat tax on an annual or other periodic basis, or impose a tax for maintaining an antenna or other fadlity, then the payment includes the amount of these taxes that would have been paid for any tax period that includes, in whole or in part, the period beginning September 1, 2005 and ending November 30, 2007, without regard to any interest or penalty (which shall not be considered in determining the payment). MINUS (3) The sum of (i) any Business License Tax, excluding Protested Taxes, actually paid by Sprint to you for the period beginning September 1, 2005, and ending November 30, 2007, plus (ii) the amount of Protested Tax paid by Sprint for that period that will be released to you by reason of the dismissals of certain related tax protest actions (but not including accrued interest on those amounts). The amount of the Past Tax Payment for you pursuant to the Settlement is: Business License Tax on gross receipts for 9H/2005 through 11/30/07 at (5.00%) 74,524.30 Business License Tax at flat rate of per year forlUl/2005 through 11/30/07 Business License Tax on antenna(s) for 9h/2005 through 11/30/07 subtotal 74,524.30 LESS tax paid and Protested Tax paid by Sprint that will be released b you 32,711.55 PAST TAX PAYMENT 41,812.75 b. Pavment M Future Taxes. Sprint has agreed to pay the applicable Business License Tax for tax periods and partial tax periods commencing on and after December 1, 2007. For such taxes that are imposed with respell to gross receipts sourced consistent with the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act ('MTSA'), Sprint will pay such taxes at the tax rates set forth in your ordinance on all receipts from providing Telecommunications Service, including receipts from any retail customer now or hereafter exempt from the state sales tax, but excluding any class of users excluded under your Business License Tax. The Agreement provides that you should specify the rate or rates at which Spriht should pay future taxes'rf your Business License Tax ordinance includes multiple rates applicable to Telecommunications Services. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS RECEMNG THIS NOTICE AND DO NOT FILE A CLAIM FORM, YOU WILL NOT BE ENTRLED TO RECENE ANY PAYMENT FOR PAST TAXES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS LAWSUIT. Are you a member of the classT This notice has been sent to you because you may be a member of a group of munidpalifies (a class) for whom a settlement with Spdnt has been reached. The lass consists of all Missouri municipalities (except Clayton, Jefferson City, Spdngfield, City of St. Louis, Creighton, Fairview, New Haven, and Keytesville, Missouri) who have imposed a business license tax on or before November 30, 2007, on providers of telephone service, exchange telephone service, or any other type of telecommunications service, including gross receipts taxes, flat-amount annual or other periodic taxes, and antenna taxes. If the 'subtotal' amount for you shown in Section 3 above is zero (0), it signifies that according to records available to Sprint and class counsel you either do not have a Business License Tax or Sprint did not do business in your Municipality during the pedod from September 1, 2005 through November 30, 2007. If you disagree with this, you ran submit an explanation for the basis of your disagreement along with your claim form as described in Section 6(b) below. STLDOI-1382659 Notice of Class Action Settlement and Approval Hearing -Page 2 of 5 tf What do you have to do to receive compensation or benefits from the settlement? In order to receive compensation or benefits from the settlement, your duly authorized representative must timely submit the attached claim form providing: (1) your name and address; (2) the name, address and telephone number of your duly authorized representative(s), to whom all inquiries regarding the Claim Form and your Business License Tax may be directed; (3) copies of the ordinances or municipal code provisions imposing your Business License Tax between September 1, 2005 and November 30, 2007; (4) copies of an ordinance enacted by you accepting and binding you to all terms and provisions of the Settlement Agreement and specifying the rate or rates at which future taxes should be paid by Sprint, if your Business License Tax ordinance includes multiple rates, or--if you can bind yourself to the Settlement Agreement without enacting an ordinance and choose to do so instead of enacting an ordinance-some other acknowledgment binding you to the terms of the Settlement Agreement 'd the agreement is approved by the Court; and (5) the name and address to which your Past Tax Payment shall be made and mailed by Sprint. If you choose to acknowledge that you are bound by the Settlement Agreement without enacting an ordinance, then you will also need to provide an opinion of counsel, addressed to Sprint, that you are bound by the Settlement Agreement. The deadline for filing a claim is 60 days from the date of this Notice. Any claim that is postmarked after this date will be rejed~d and you will not be entitled to any class relief. What are your options? If you are a member of the dass and have received this notice, you will have the following options: File a claim'rf you meet the criteria set out in Section 5 above. Do nothing, thereby foregoing the possibility of receiving any class relief. Stay in the class and file an objection if you disagree with any part of the settlement or the request for attomeys' fees or expenses. Exclude yourself from the class, which means you will not participate in any of the financial benefits from the proposed settlement, will not be bound by the releases made or judgment entered in connection with the settlement, and will not be permitted to object to any part of the settlement. The following sections explain the consequences of pursuing each option. a. What happens if you file a claim4 If you are a dass member and you complete and mail the enclosed claim form, and if the mailed claim form is approved by Sprint, you will receive the payments described above once the settlement has become final. Additionally, if your claim form is approved, any tax protest actions brought by Sprint against you for the tax period from September 1, 2005 through November 30, 2007 shall, upon Final Approval of the settlement, be dismissed, and such protested amounts released to you. Any Business License Tax payments made by Sprint for the interim tax period between November 1, 2007 and the Final Approval of this settlement will deemed to be made under protest and each class member must hold any such payments in a segregated account until Final Approval of this set0ement at which point, if you have filed an approved daim form, all of these payments will be released to you. Sprint will also dismiss any protest actions filed with respell to these payments. Unless you submit a Request for Exclusion (see Section 6(e) below), you will be prohibited from bringing a lawsuit against Sprint based on or related to any of the claims asserted by the plaintiffs. If you file a claim form, attomeys for the class will act as your representatives while your claim is processed at no cost to you. b. What happens if the Municipality disagrees with the amount of the Past Tax Payment? Under the terms of the settlement, a Municipality that disagrees with the Past Tax Payment amount may submit a detailed explanation as to why it believes the Past Tax Payment was incorrectly calculated with its Claim Form including all supporting documentation, if any. In the event that Sprint disagrees with the Municipality's contention, Sprint is obligated to meet and confer in good faith with Class Counsel and representatives of the Municipality in question in an effort to resolve the issue. If after such consultation, the Municipality and Sprint cannot agree on the Past Tax Payment, the Past Tax Payment contained in this Notice shall be the amount the Municipality is entitled to receive pursuant to the Setfiement. If the Municipality does not agree with the amount of the Past Tax Payment, it may either opt-out of the Settlement as set forth in Section 6(e) of this Notice, or nonetheless accept the amount of the Past Tax Payment as calculated by Sprint. The opt-0ut deadline shall be extended for such Municpality for a period of 30 days to resolve disputes related solely to the amount of the Past Tax Payment. If the parties are unable to resolve a disagreement as to the amount of the Past Tax Payment after the consultation set forth above, such disagreement shall not be subject to other challenge or appeal. STLDOI-1382659 Notice of Class Action Settlement and Approval Hearing -Page 3 of 5 ~' c. What happens if you do not file a claim? Under the terms of the settlement, 'rf you do not file a claim form, you will not receive any payment for past taxes or future taxes. Assuming the Court approves the settlement, and if you do not file a claim, but do not submit a request for exclusion, you nevertheless will be prohibited from bringing or joining any lawsuit against Sprint based on or related to any of the claims asserted by the plaintiffs. d. How do I file an objecflon7 You must state your objection in writing and file it with the Court postmarked no later than February 23, 2008. The objection should be addressed to the Honorable Bernhardt Drumm, Division 4 of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, State of Missouri, 7900 Carondelet Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105, and marked to indicate °objections to proposed settlement in City of University City, Missouri v. AT&T lMreless Services, Inc. et aL, Case No. 01-CC-004454.' You must simultaneously mail your objection to plaintiffs' attomeys: John W. Hoffman John F. Mulligan, Jr. Douglas R. Sprong 7700 Bonhomme Ave., Suite 200 Korein Tillery, LLC Clayton, MO 63105 505 N. 7v' Street, Suite 3600 St. Louis, MO 63101 Howard Papemer 9322 Manchester Road St. Louis, MO 63119 and to Sprint's attomeys: Stephen Robert Clark Blackwell Sanders LLP 720 Olive St., Ste. 2400 St. Louis, MO 63101 Included in any such objection must be a statement of the basis for your objection and a declaration stating that you are a member of the class as described in Section 4 above. If you do not properly file and serve an objection by the required date, any objections you have to the settlement will be waived. e. How do I exclude myself from the class? You can exclude yourself from the class, which means you will not participate in any aspect of the settlement and you may pursue your own claims, if any, at your own expense against the defendants. To exclude yourself, you must state your request to be excluded in writing and deliver or postmark your request no later than February 23, 2008 to: You must simultaneously mail your exclusion request to plaintiffs' attorneys: John W. Hoffman John F. Mulligan, Jr. Douglas R. Sprong 7700 Bonhomme Ave., Suite 200 Korein Tillery, LLC Clayton, MO 63105 505 N. 7r' Street, Suite 3600 St. Louis, MO 63101 Howard Papemer 9322 Manchester Road St. Louis, MO 63119 and to Sprint's attomeys: Stephen Robert Clark Blackwell Sanders LLP 720 Olive St., Ste. 2400 St. Louis, MO 63101 When will the Court conduct the Approval HearingT The Court will conduct a public hearing to determine whether to approve the proposed settlement, and determine the amount of fees and expenses to be awarded to the attomeys for the plaintiffs and the class, on Apol 18, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. Although the hearing will be open to the public, you will not be permitted to speak in opposition to the issues above at the hearing unless you have filed a timely objection to the settlement, or the attomeys' fees and expenses in the manner described above. If you have filed an objection, you may appear with your own counsel and be heard at the headng. STLDOI-1382659 Notice of Class Action Settlement and Approval Hearing -Page 4 of 5 tf How much money will the attomeys be paid and who will pay it? The attomeys for the plaintiffs and the class will submit to the Court for approval a request for attorneys' fees and expenses in the amount of $7,369,720.14, to be paid by defendants. Sprint has agreed not to oppose an award of fees and expenses in the amount set forth in this Notice. The Court will determine the amount of any fees and expenses awarded to plaintiffs' counsel, which will not be deducted from the credits or refund payments made to the class. The amount of money that any individual class member may receive will not depend upon the amount of fees or expenses awarded to counsel or the number of claim forms submitted. Assignment to the Missouri Municipal League or St Louis County Municipal League The settlement allows you to assign a portion of your Past Tax Payment, not to exceed five percent (5%) of the 'subtotal' amount shown in Section 3 above, to the Missouri Municipal League or the St. Louis County Municipal League (if you are located within St. Louis County). If you wish to make such assignment, you may check the applicable box on the Claim Fonn. Additionally, the ordinance or other action that you take making the settlement enforceable against you must specifically authorize the making of this assignment. The amount of the past tax payment that you receive will be reduced by the amount of this assignment Where can you get additional information? This notice provides only a summary of matters regarding the lawsuit. The documents, settlement agreement, and orders in the lawsuit provide greater detail and may clarify matters that are described only in general or summary terms in this notice. Copies of the settlement a regiment, other documents, court orders, and other information related to the lawsuit may be examined at ~ ~~~` "~' You may also examine the settlement agreement, the Court orders and the other papers filed in the lawsuit at the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri at 7900 Carondelet Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105, during regular business hours. If you wish, you may seek the advice and guidance of your own attorney, at your own expense. If you wish to communicate with or obtain information ftom attomeys for the class, you may do so by letter at the addresses listed below. You should direct any such inquides concerning a claim or other matters described in this notice to plaintiffs' attomeys: John W. Hoffman John F. Mulligan, Jr. Douglas R. Sprang 7700 Bonhomme Ave., Suite 200 Korein Tillery, LLC Clayton, MO 63105 505 N. 7r' Street, Suite 3600 St. Louis, MO 63101 Howard Papemer 9322 Manchester Road St. Louis, MO 63119 Please do not contact the Court, Counsel for Sprint, or any Sprint representative for information. Dated: December 20, 2007 By order of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, State of Missouri Honorable Bernhardt Drumm STLDOI-1382659 Notice of Class Action Settlement and Approval Hearing -Page 5 of 5 R ~.. Sprint Municipal Tax Settlement Claim Form City of Riverside 2950 NW Vivion Road Riverside, MO 64152 If you want to participate in the Settlement, you must complete this form and submit it along with the necessary claim information to the address below, postmarked by March 10, 2008, after first reading the attached NOTICE. The Past Tax Payment that would be payable to you is as follows: Business License Tax on gross receipts for 9/1/2005 through 11/30/2007 at 5.00% 74,524.30 Business License Tax at flat rate of per year for 9/1/2005 through 11/30/2007 Business License Tax on antenna(s) for 9/1/2005 through 11/30/2007 subtotal 74,524.30 LESS tax paid and Protested Tax paid by Sprint that will be released to you 32,711.55 PAST TAX PAYMENT 41,812.75 If you disagree with the amount of the Past Tax Payment, you must submit a detailed explanation as to why you believe the amount was incorrectly calculated, including all supporting documentation. If you are unable to agree with Sprint on the amount of the Past Tax Payment, you may either opt-out of the settlement or accept the amount of the Past Tax Payment as calculated by Sprint. Please indicate where your Past Tax Payment should be sent by checking one of the following two options: ^ OPTION 1: Make the check payable in the name of the Municipality listed above and mail it to the duly authorized representative listed below; OR ^ OPTION 2: Make the Past Tax Payment as follows: G~ ~ I ~ Make Check Payable To: Mail Check to the Attention of: i n/~1 Street Address: ~ City, State, Zip Code: '~ If you wish to assign part of your Past Tax Payment to the Missouri Municipal League or the St. Louis County M ici al League (if you are located within St. Louis County), please mark this box and enter the amount here: (the amount may not exceed $3,726.22). Please Note: the amount of the Past Tax Payment you r eive will be directly reduced by the amount assigned to the Missouri Municipal League or St. Louis County Municipal League. STLDOI-1381348-1 n CLAIM INFORMATION In order to obtain the benefits of the Settlement, you must attach BOTH of the following to this Claim Form: Copies of the ordinances or municipal code provisions imposing Business License Tax between Se/ptember 1, 2005 and November 3.0, 2007. d Copies of an ordinance enacted by the Municipality accepting all terms and provisions of the Settlement Agreement and specifying the rate or rates at which future taxes should be paid by Sprint, if your Business License Tax ordinance includes multiple rates, or other acknowledgment that the Municipality agrees to be bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement if approved by the Court as well as an opinion of counsel, addressed to Sprint, that the Settlement Agreement, if approved by the Court, is a binding obligation of the Municipality. If you have elected to make an assignment to the Missouri Municipal League or St. Louis County Municipal League, the ordinance or other acknowledgment must expressly authorize the assignment. The Municipality's duly authorized representative, to whom all inquiries regarding this Claim Form may be directed, is,: ~ ~ ,., The Municipality's duly authorized representative, to whom all inquiries regarding its Business License Tax may be directed, is: ^ Same as above Telephc I certify that: 1. I am authorized to submit the Claim Form on behalf of the Municipality identified above and to make the representations set forth in this Claim Form on behalf of the Municipality; 2. After due inquiry, the information contained in and submitted with this Claim Form is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and that of the Municipality; 3. The Municipality agrees to be bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement if approved by the Court; and 4. Prior to submitting the Claim Form, the Municipality has taken all actions necessary for the Settlement Agre ent to be enforceabj inst the Municipality. ~ ~;Z9-off Sign u f y Authorized re ntative D to L ~~ Pri a Name Title CTA Mt 1~01'IAO 1 I11 . ~ _, MAIL YOUR COMPLETED CLAIM FORM TO: Julie J. Tipton Paralegal /Sprint Nextel Settlement Blackwell Sanders LLP 720 Olive St., Ste. 2400 St. Louis, MO 63101 ~i ~ ~ CHAPTER 705: UTILITY GROSS RECEIPTS TAR ~ Editor's Note-Ord. no. 2006-63 §l, adopted May 2, 2006, states that f+or the purpose of complying with the Act until a final determination by the Missouri Supreme Court whether the Act is constitutional and enforceable with respect to eery cost, fee or tax imposed by the GYty, the laity Administrator Is hereby authorized to promulgate and publish a revenue neutral tax rate, e,~'ective~ July 1, 2006, on all persons and companies engaged in the business of providing tekconununications servlets equal to four and nine-tenths percent (4.996) of the grams receipts fi~om the mail sale of domestic, commercial and irrdr6Str"lal tekcommunlcatlons servlcesln the Qity which are subject to taxation under Sections 144.010 and 144.02U, RSMo. Effective July 1, 2006, to the extent then required by the act, section 705.010 of this code shall be deemed to conform to the requirements of the act. Ordlnartee Number 369 was passed in compliance with HB209 of the 2006 Missouri Legislative session. Provisions contained in HB209 were subsequently deemed uaconstttutlonal by the Missouri Supreme Court on August 8, 2006 in (airy of Springfield; Appellant V spri>lr Spectrum, L.P., Respondent Case No. S(ag7238. SECTION 705.010: UTILITY TAX Every gas, electricity, water or telephone company and every corporation, company, association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person, thmir lessxs, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating, managhrg, leasing or controlling a gas, electricity, water or telephone plant or system for the mamtfacptra, disu~Ibution, sale or furnishing of gas (natural or manufactured), electricity, water or telephone service, shall, in addition to all other taxes, payments or requirements now or hereinaRer required by law or City ordinance, pay to the .~ City as a license fee a sum equal to five percent (396) of the licensee's gross receipts from the sale of gas, electricity, water or telephone service sold for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes within the limits of the City under the licensee's applicable rate s~tedules on file with and approved by the Public Service Commission of Missouri. Provided however, said gross receipts shall not include any receipts collected by the utility pursuant to the City's sales tax nor any receipts collected pursuant to this Chapter. This licensee shall no later than February first (1st) and August first (1st) respectively of each year make a report to the Governing Body of the City of its said gross receipts for the six (6) month period preceding lhcember Wirty-first (31st) and June thirtieth (30th) respectively and at the time of making such reports shall pay Into the City Treasury the aforesaid license fee based upon the gross receipts so reported. The acceptance of such fees shall not prejudice the right of the City to collect any additional fie thereafter found to be due~upoa its gross receipts for any period by reason of its inability to determine acsutately the amount properly due, licensee shall be entitled following a determination of the overpayment to deduct such overpayment and receive a credit therefor against the amount of license fee due for the next succading period or periods following the. determination of the overpayment. The City, by its duly authorized representatives, shall have the right, at all reasonable times dating business hours, to make such examinations and inspections of the books of such licensee as may be necessary to determine the correctness of such reports. The City shall have the right, at its own expenso, to employ the carne accountants who make the annual audit of the books, records and accounts of the business of the licensee, to audit, at the sattu time, the licensee's accounts and reesrds and certify as to the correctness of any payments due and payable by the licensee to the CIty. The City may at its option employ independent accountants to inspect the books, records and accounts of the licensee. (CC 1971 §12.17; Ord. No. 77-7 §1, 5-3-77; Ord. No. 78-1 §l, 1-3-78; Ord. No. 90-3 §1, 1-2-90) 561 Sapp. AF22, 8/06 ~i