The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About10024 ORDINANCE NO. 10024 AN ORDINANCE INCREASING THE FEE FOR A NEW TOBACCO PRODUCT RETAILER LICENSE FROM ONE- HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) TO TWO-HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200) AND ADDING A LATE FEE FOR LICENSEES THAT FAIL TO APPLY FOR RENEWAL MORE THAN THIRTY (30) DAYS PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION OF THEIR LICENSE WHEREAS, the City charges a fee for issuance of a new tobacco product retailer license; and WHEREAS, a portion of the tobacco product retailers in the City fail to apply for renewal in a timely fashion; and WHEREAS, late applications for renewal and expired licenses cause the city to expend additional resources to enforce the municipal code; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: (brackets indicate matter being deleted, underscoring indicates new matter being added) SECTION 1. Chapter 15, of Title IX of the Pueblo Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: Sec. 9-15-9. - License term, renewal, and expiration. (a) Term. All tobacco product retailer licenses issued under this Code shall be for the period of one (1) year or a fraction thereof and shall expire on the last day of December of each calendar year unless otherwise specifically provided. (b) Renewal of License. A licensee shall apply for the renewal of the license and submit the renewal license fee no later than thirty (30) days prior to expiration of the existing term. The Licensing Officer shall renew the license prior to the end of the term, provided that the renewal application and fee were timely submitted and the Licensing Officer is not aware of any fact that would have prevented issuance of the original license or issuance of the renewal. (1) Renewal Late Fee. Any licensee that fails to apply for the renewal of the license or fails to submit the renewal license fee thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the existing term; shall pay a late fee as established in Section 9-15-11. (2) The Licensing Officer shall not renew any license issued under this chapter unless all applicable fees, including late fees, have been paid. (c) Expiration of License. A license that is not timely renewed shall expire at the end of its term. The failure to timely obtain a renewal of a license requires submission of a new application and payment of the fee for a new license established in Section 9-15-11. There shall be no sale of any tobacco products after the license expiration date and before the new license is issued. Sec. 9-15-11. – Fees \[for license\]. \[The annual fee for original issuance and renewal of a tobacco product retailer license shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00). The fee to issue or to renew a license may be changed from time to time by resolution of the City Council. The fee shall be calculated so as to recover the cost of administration and enforcement of this Chapter, including, for example, issuing a license, administering the license program, retailer education and training, retailer inspection, compliance checks, documentation of violations and prosecution of violators, but shall not exceed the cost of the regulatory program authorized by this Chapter. Fees are nonrefundable except as may be required by law. No fee previously paid by a Licensee in connection with the application shall be refunded if such License is suspended or revoked.\] (a) All applicants shall pay the following fees in advance: (1) For a new tobacco product retailer license, two hundred dollars ($200); (2) For renewal of a tobacco product retailer license, one hundred dollars ($100); (3) For late renewal of a tobacco product retailer license, thirty dollars ($30). Such late fee shall be in addition to the renewal fee. (b) Fees are nonrefundable except as may be required by law. (c) No fee previously paid by a Licensee in connection with the application shall be refunded if such license is suspended or revoked. SECTION 2. The officers and staff of the City are authorized to perform any and all acts consistent this Ordinance to implement the policies and procedures described herein. SECTION 3. This Ordinance shall become effective on the date of final action by the Mayor and City Council. Action by City Council: Introduced and initial adoption of Ordinance by City Council on September 27, 2021. Final adoption of Ordinance by City Council on October 12, 2021 . President of City Council Action by the Mayor: ☒ Approved on October 14, 2021 . □ Disapproved on based on the following objections: _ Mayor Action by City Council After Disapproval by the Mayor: □ Council did not act to override the Mayor's veto. □ Ordinance re-adopted on a vote of , on □ Council action on _______ failed to override the Mayor’s veto. President of City Council ATTEST City Clerk City Clerk’s Office Item # R-6 Background Paper for Proposed Ordinance COUNCIL MEETING DATE: September 27, 2021 TO: President Lawrence W. Atencio and Members of City Council CC: Mayor Nicholas A. Gradisar VIA: Marisa Stoller, City Clerk FROM: Kyle Aber, Assistant City Attorney SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE INCREASING THE FEE FOR A NEW TOBACCO PRODUCT RETAILER LICENSE FROM ONE-HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) TO TWO- HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200) AND ADDING A LATE FEE FOR LICENSEES THAT FAIL TO APPLY FOR RENEWAL MORE THAN THIRTY (30) DAYS PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION OF THEIR LICENSE SUMMARY: This Ordinance increases the fee for original issuance of a tobacco product retailer license from one-hundred dollars ($100) to two-hundred dollars ($200). The fee for renewal of an existing license will not change, the renewal fee will still be one-hundred dollars ($100). This Ordinance also establishes a late fee of thirty dollars ($30) which will be imposed on licensees who fail to apply for renewal thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of their license. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: On November 26, 2012, the City Council enacted Chapter 15 of Title IX of the Pueblo Municipal Code which required a license for the sale of non-cigarette tobacco. On September 28, 2020, City Council approved Ordinance 9782 expanding the requirements of Chapter 15 of Title IX to include all tobacco products and raising the age to buy tobacco products to twenty-one (21). BACKGROUND: All City issued tobacco product retailer licenses are issued for the calendar year beginning January 1 and ending December 31. Licensees are required to apply for renewal no later than thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of their license. The City Clerk acts as licensing officer for tobacco product retailer licenses. City Clerk staff contact all licensees prior to December 1 to remind them they need to renew their license. Despite this outreach, every year a handful of licensees fail to apply for renewal in a timely fashion. This leads to additional work for City staff as the City Clerk’s Office must again attempt to contact those licensees to determine if the business is letting the license lapse or if they want to renew their license. Further, police department personnel must spend extra time on enforcement actions to ensure that businesses are not selling tobacco products with an expired license. Imposing a late fee would help to defray the additional cost in staff time to make sure all tobacco product retailers are properly licensed The application fee for a new tobacco product retailer license is one-hundred dollars ($100), this is one of the lowest tobacco product retailer license application fees in the State of Colorado. An increase of the application fee would bring Pueblo closer to the fees charged by other Colorado municipalities. More importantly, without an increase to the application fee for a new license, licensees who missed the deadline to apply for renewal could avoid the late fee by simply applying for a new license. In order for a late fee to have any effect the cost for a new license must be higher than the cost for renewal plus the cost o the late fee. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: This Ordinance will have a small effect on the amount of money collected for new tobacco product retailer licenses. However, as this only affects new licenses and not existing licenses the increase will likely be marginal. Similarly, this will increase revenue from late fees but given the low amount of the late fee and the small number of licensees that apply late this increase is also likely marginal. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Not applicable to this Ordinance. STAKEHOLDER PROCESS: Not applicable to this Ordinance. ALTERNATIVES: If this Ordinance does not pass, the City will continue under the current fee schedule for Tobacco Product Retailer Licenses and there will continue to be no consequence for late filing of a renewal. RECOMMENDATION: Passage of the Ordinance. Attachments: Proposed Ordinance