643 T0WN OF TAGS
ORDINANCES
YEAR: j4 7 7
NUMBER:
bW3
BRANDENBURG & JOHNSON
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
JAMES M.ORANDENOURO P.O. 60X 617 R.HOWARD ORANDENOURO
CLIFFORD J.JOHNSON TAOS, NEW MEXICO 67571 Or COUNSEL,
TELEPHONE:7E6-4261
September 13, 1978
Mrs. Josephine Gonzales,
Town Clerk,
Town of Taos,
Taos, New Mexico, 87571
Re: ISKCON Letter Undated
Dear Josephine:
The letter you sent me from ISKCON, on August 23, 1978, has been re-
viewed in view of our regulations regarding peddlers, solicitors, and i
canvassers. Ordinance No. 641 defines canvassers, solicitors or pedd-
lers, as persons who are taking or attempting to take orders for•sale
of goods, wares, and merchandise, personal property or any nature what-
soever for future delivery, or services to be furnished or performed
in the future. I do not believe that our Ordinance covers solicitation
for donations for religious purposes and I also do not believe that such
solicitations need obtain an occupational license within the Town of Taos.
'Such activity would be perfectly permissible so long as the flaw of the
vehicular traffic on our public streds is not hindered nor pedestrains
hindered on public walkways, sidewalks, etc.
I would caution against solicitation on private property, solely on the
basis that each individual, property owner has the right to determine
whether or not he will allow such solicitation to take place on his pro-
perty.
In order to avoid your having to answer Mr. Tap's letter, I am sending a
copy of this letter to him.
'Sincerely.,
dsam Bra ndenburg.
JMB:ajq
cc: Eugene Taps, Jr.,
Joe Lucero,
Cnief of Police.
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO OCCUPATION TAXES IN THE TOWN OF
TAOS, NEW MEXICO AND ESTABLISHING THE A14OUNTS OF SAID
OCCUPATION TAXES, PROVIDING FOR TIE COLLECTION AND FN-
FORCEMETtiT, TIFEREOF, TKE DUTIES OF EACH PERSON, FIRM,
CORPORATION OR OTI-IER BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OR 13NTITY
SUBJECT TO SAID OCCUPATION TAX AND FIXING P MLTI(S FOR
1TIE VIOLATION `THEREOF, REPEAI.,ING SUCH PARTS OF ORDINANCES
AS AR-" IN COIR`LIC'L iiEREWITH.
WHERFA :, the Legislature of the State of New Mexico has enacted Section
14-3 7-3 through Section 14-37-12, New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1953, as
amended, authorizing, niunicpal corporations to assess and collect occupnti on
taxes , and therein provided the machinery and method for the assessment and
collection of the same.
i1!7W, THrREFORT:, DE IT ORDA IN2,D BY TIiF `_' _'7 COUNCIL OF TIi- TO5411 0 TA!;-:
Section 1. (a) That an occupation tax be, and is hereby imposed upon
all occupations, prof'esslons, trades, pursuits, or corporations and other
.institutions and establisr.aents, utilities and businesses of whatever name
or character, like or unlike, excepting only those occupations or businesses
that are exempt by state law including but not limited to banks and financial
i-nstutions regulated by erection 72-15B-� New I✓exico Statutes Annotated 195?,
as -unended.
(b) Definitions. As lised in this Ordinance:
1. "Person" means any person or persons, singular or
plural, male or female, firm, corporat:Lnn, or other business association
or entity engaging in ariy business, profession, occupation, trade or
pursuit.
2. "Occupation" means every occupation, business, pro-
fession, trade, pursuit, corporation, establishment or institution
covered by Section 1(a) of this Ordinance.
3. "Engaging in" means operating, conducting, carrying
on, or pursuing.
4. "Council" means the Town Council of the Town of Taos.
i
5. "Tangible personal property" does not include any per-
sonal property which becomes or is incorporated into real property
prior to resale.
Section 2. The occupation tax herein imposed shall be at the rates set-
forth below except that a Five Dollar ($5.00) minimum tax shall be payable in
any instance.
(a) At the rate of One Dollar ($1.00) per annum per thou-
sand for each one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of gross volume of
business done.
(b) At the rate of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for
Dispenser' s Liquor License, and Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00)
for Retailer's Liquor License per annum.
lSection 3. As used in this Ordinance "gross volume" or "gross volume
of business done" means all revenues or receipts whatsoever, however obtain-
ed, including the revenue or receipts of minors, without deductions except
as set-forth in this Ordinance.
(a) The term "gross volume" shall not include the amount
oi' any allowance on sales price for a trade-in of tangible personal
property which in turn is held for resale, nor shall it include any
proceeds arising from the sale by the taxpayer of his capital assets
(as such term is defined and only when such proceeds are declared not
tay,:able as ordinary income by the U. S. Internal Revenue Act of 1054) .
(b) Where goods or merchandise are transferred from one
department to another within the same business organization, both de-
partments being under the same ownership and such transactions are
listed as sale for internal accounting purposes only, such sales
shall be excluded from this computation of gross volume.
(c) The occupation tax shall apply to persons engaging
in an occupation in the Town of Taos and not having an office or other
established place of business within the Town.
Section 4. There are excepted from payment of the occupation tax the
following pursuits or sources of income:
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(a) Persons paying a tax, fee or charge under some other
ordinance of the Town of Taos in which ordinance it is stated that such
tax, fee or exchange is in lieu of the occupation tax or of all taxes.
(b) Eery natural person less than the age of majority
whose gross volume per annum of business done is less than Five Hundred
Dollars ($500.00) .
(c) All persons or amounts of gross volume the taxing of
whom or which would be contrary to the conF n or lRws of the
United States of America or the State of Net ..co.
(d) Persons who participate in sales through Farmer's Market.
(e) Those persons participating In the annual Taos Festival
of Arts who have a current town or county occupation. license . Those
persons participating in the annual Taos Festival of Arts not having
a current town or county occupation license shall obtain the same pur-
suant to this Ordinance upon payment of a .fee of One Dollar ($L.00).
Section 5. (a) It shall_ be illegal for a person to engage in an occupa-
tion without first paying a license fee of : 10.00 and shall first apply to
the Town of Taos, New Mexico on the appropriate application form. The ap-
plication shall include proof of current bureau of ;(_,venue taxpayer identi-
fication number or proof of application for a current Bureau of Revenue tax-
payer identification number. The license fee shall not exempt any person, firm,
or corporation from paying the occupation tax for the r%arainuer of the year in
which the business was opened or started. Any and all persons, Virms, or cor-
porations doing; business within the Town of Taos shall .further report, on the
form provided, the Fross volume of busines., he has reported to the Ftate F:ureau
of Revenue for the purposes of payinw, New 'Mexico Sales Tax for the precediriF,
year. It shall be the duty of each person, form or corporation in the Town
of Taos to file, on or before March 16th of each year with the Town Clerk a
statement under oath showing e wross volume of business done by such per-
son, firm or corporation from January i.st to December 3l.st of the preceding ear.
(b) If' a person fails to file the statement under oath when
required to do so by this ordinance, the Council shall fix his Dross
volume of business using any information in its possession for the
period in respect to which such person has failed to file a return and
the Town Council shall assess the amount of tax due. The Town
Clerk shall thereupon mail notice to such person of the amount
of his assessment and such person may protest the assessment so made
at the time and place of a hearing thereon before the Town Council.
(c) The occupation tax herein provided for shall be paid
to the Town of Taos on or before the 30th day of April of each year
and where notice of the amount of assessment has been mailed by the
Town Clerk, the occupation tax herein provided for shall be paid with-
in fifteen days after the mailing of the notice. In the event of non-
payment, the Town Clerk, or her duly qualified assistant shall, as
soon as may be convenient, file a complaint before the Municipal
Court of the Town of Taos and shall take such other action under
this ordinance as may be necessary to collect the tax.
(d) Upon the payment of the occupation tax herein set-
forth and the completion of the application pursuant to Section 5 (a),
The Town Clerk ;:,rall issue a license.
Section 6. (a) In determing the actual gross receipts of any business
during a calendar year, the municipality may require from the New Mexico
Bureau of Revenue a certificate indicating the gross receipts determined by
the Bureau of Revenue to have been received by the business.
(b) It is unlawful for any munici-%l official, employee, or
agent to reveal to any individual other than another municipal offical,
employee, or agent engaged in municipal tax administration, or an
employee of the Bureau of Revenue, any information about a taxpayer
acquired as a result of his affiliation or employment with the
municipality. No municipal official charged with keeping such informa-
tion shall be required to produce the information in any action or pro-
ceeding in court except on behalf of:
(1) the municipality in any action or proceeding under
the provisions of Sections 14-37-1 through 14-37-13, New Mexico
Statutes Annotated 1953, as amended, in which it is a party; or
(2) any party to an action or proceeding under the pro-
visions of Section 14-37-1 through 14-37-13 New Mexico Statutes Annotated
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F
t,
1953, as amended, when the information is directly involved in the
action or proceeding. In either event the court may require the
P � , Y q
production of and may admit in evidence only so much of the informa-
tion as is pertinent; to the action or proceeding.
(c) Nothing contained �n this section shall be construed
to:
(1) prohibit delivery to a person or his authorized
representative of a copy of any return or report filed in connection
with his tax;
(2) prohibit -the publication of statistics prepared so
as to prevent the identification of a particular taxpayer's report
or return and its contents;
(3) inspection by the Attorney General or other legal
representative of the state, county or municipality of the report
or return of any person by or against whom action or proceeding is
contemplated or has been instituted as authorized in Sections 14-37-1
through 14-37-13, New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1953, as amended; or
(4) prohibit the furnishing of the name, address and
type of business of a taxpayer to other municipal employees en-
gaged in administration and enforcement of municipal ordinances.
(5) inspection by the Attorney General or an authorized
representative of his consumer protection division, of the report or
return, or other information on file, of any person, firm, partner-
ship or corporation, by or against whom action, proceeding or in-
vestigation is contemplated or has been instituted as authorized in
Sections 40-15-1 through 49-15-14, New Mexico Statutes Annotated,
1953, as amended.
(d) Any person violating any of the provisions of
Sect i.on 6 is subject to a penalty imposed by state law of a fine
not exceeding One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment
not exceeding one (1) year, or both, as authorized in Section 14-37-
8(D), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1953, as amended.
_r_
r
Section 7. (a) Each person subject to the provisions of this Ordin-
ance shall keep accurate records of the gross receipts of the business. The
records shall be open at reasonable times to inspection and copying by the
municipality. If the business is conducted, in whole or in part, on an intra-
state basis, the business shall permit the examination and copying at the
place the records are normally kept. Information obtained by a municipal
official shall only be divulged as authorized in Section 14-37-8, New
Mexico Statutes Annotated 1953, as amended.
(b) Any person filing a false statement of the amount of
gross receipts received during the calendar year by a business is guilty
of a fourth degree felony and shall be pvnished by imprisonment in the
penitentiary for a period of not less than one (1) year nor more than
five (5) years, or by a fine of not more than five Thousand Dollars
($5,000.00) , or both imprisonment and fine, as authorized in Section
11+-37-9(B), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1953, as amended.
Section B. Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions
of this ordinance shall be fined not more than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00)
or imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety (90) days or both, and
each day this ordinance is violated shall constitute a separate offense.
Section 9. The conviction and punishment of any person for a violation
of this ordinance shall not excuse or exempt such person from the payment of
any occupation tax due or unpaid at the time of such conviction and nothing
herein shall prevent a criminal prosecution of any violation of the pro-
visions of this ordinance. All remedies prescribed or liens created here-
under or under the provisions of Section 14-37-12, New Mexico Statutes An-
notated 1953, as amended, shall be cumulative and the use of one or more
remedies by the Town shall not bar the use of any other remeuy for the pur-
pose of enforcing the provisions of this ordinance or any liens created by
Section 14-37-12, New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1953, as amended. The
occupation tax fixed by this ordinance shall be and constitutes a lien in
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favor of the Town of Taos upon the personal property of every person used in
connection with such person's occupation from the time such occupation tax is
fixed, and such lien shall be imposed, collected, enforced and paid as pro-
vided by the laws of New Mexico relating to occupation tax liens. No property
of any person shall be exempt from levy and sale on execution issued for the
collection of a judgment for any occupation tax imposed by this ordinance.
Section 10. Bach and every word, phrase, sentence, subsection, and
section herein is hereby declared to be severable and if it be found that
any such word, phrase, sentence, subsection, or section is unconstitutional
or void, the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby.
Section 11. Ordinance No. 542 is hereby repealed but this repealing
clause does not repeal any part of any ordinance imposing another tax or
license fee or any other tax.
PASSED, ADOPTED, SIGNED AND APPROVED THIS 11th DAY OF February ,
1977. `�.,w..._..-•` /' � .,.
MAYOR
ATTEST: i
YYY TOWN CLERK
(SEAL)
s
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TOWN OF TAOS, TAOS, NEST MEXICO
N 0 T I C E
NOTICE IS HEREBY GI r.,_ that the Taos Town Council of the Town of Taos,
New Mexico, at a special public meeting held at 5;15 P.M. , on Friday, February
11, 1077, at the Taos Town Hall, Ar,;,ory Street, Taos, Neva Mexico, adopted Lind
passed the following Ordinance;
ORDINANCE NO. 643
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO OCCUPATION TAXES IN THE
TOWN OF TAOS, NEW MEXICO AND ESTABLISHING THE
AMOUNTS OF SAID OCCUPATION TAXES, PROVIDING FOR
THE COLLECTION AND FMFORC;NEWT, THEREOF, T11E
DRUTTES OF EACH PERSON, FTR 4d CORPORATION OR
OTHER BUSINESS A:ISOCIATION OR ETITITY SUBJECT
TO SAID OCCUPATION TAX ANI) FIXING PENALTIES
FOR n"'," VIOLATION 71 TEREOF, REPEALING SUCH
PARTS OF ORDINANCE; AS ARE TN CO1`IFI,IC`P HEREWITH.
The following is a general sl.immory o1' the subject matter contained . .z
Ordinance No. 641:
Section l sets forth the definitions.
Section 2 sets forth the rates, including a. rate of $1.00 for all persons
pa.rtic.ipa.ting ic1 the annual. Taos Festival of Arts who do not have a current
occupational license from the Town of Taos or .;ounty of Taos.
Section 3 sets forth the term; gross volume and gross volume of b isiness
Cl one.
Sect:i.on 4. sets forth the exceptions from payment of the occupation tati:
and exempts sales made by ind:i.v1duals who sell at Farmer' s "Market "Ind the
exemption f'or those persoris participating in the annual Taos Festival of
Arts who have current occupation licenses from the Town of Taos or County
of' Taos.
Section 5 sets forth the application and license fees.
Section 6 sets forth the determination of gross receipts, and reveal-
ing of information about a taxpayer Is prohibited.
p
Section 7 sets forth the keeping of accurate records of the gross re-
ceipts of a business.
Section 8 sets forth the penalties for violation of the ordinance.
Section 9 sets forth the conviction and punishment for violation of
the ordinance.
Section 10 Sets forth the saving clause.
Section 11 sets forth the repealing clause.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this llth day of li eb:u , 1977.
MAYOR PRO-TEM
A7.'TEST:
TOWYCLERK