Chapter 1047 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

SB 1089

Relating to dry cleaning; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 465.517 and 465.537.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 465.517 is amended to read:

465.517. (1) In addition to any other tax or fee imposed by law, there is imposed on the privilege of operating an active dry cleaning facility within this state an annual fee of:

(a) $500 for each dry store selling $50,000 or more of dry cleaning services annually; and

(b) $1,000 for each dry cleaning facility.

(2) The fee shall be due on the first day of each calendar year that the facility operates as a dry cleaning facility and shall be prorated for partial year operation. [The fee shall only apply to the operation of dry cleaning facilities on or after January 1, 1996.]

(3) The fee imposed under this section may be paid in a single payment, payable on January 1, or in four installments payable on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. For installment payments, the Department of Revenue may establish by rule an additional fee to recover the costs to the department of processing the installment payments.

SECTION 2. ORS 465.537 is amended to read:

465.537. All moneys received by the Department of Revenue under ORS 465.200 and 465.500 to 465.545 and moneys collected from civil penalties imposed under section 6 of this 1999 Act shall be deposited in the State Treasury and credited to a suspense account established under ORS 293.445. After payment of administrative expenses incurred by the department in the administration of ORS 465.200 and 465.500 to 465.545 and of refunds or credits arising from erroneous overpayments, the balance of the moneys shall be credited to the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Account.

SECTION 3. Sections 4 to 6 of this 1999 Act are added to and made a part of ORS 465.517 to 465.545.

SECTION 4. (1) Upon payment of the annual fee under ORS 465.517 and any penalty, the Department of Revenue shall issue to each dry cleaning operator a certificate for each dry cleaning facility with respect to which the fee and penalty are paid.

(2) No person shall, after the date that the fee becomes due, operate or permit the operation of any dry cleaning facility in this state unless there is prominently displayed on the premises the certificate of the department evidencing the payment of the fee and any penalty and indicating the name and address of the dry cleaning operator engaged in the operation of the dry cleaning facility. Absence of the duly issued certificate is prima facie evidence that the fee and any penalty have not been paid.

(3) No person shall alter or change any department certificate issued under this section in an attempt to avoid payment of any fee or any penalty imposed under ORS 465.517 to 465.545.

(4) No person shall avoid or attempt to avoid the payment of any fee or any penalty due under ORS 465.517 to 465.545 by displaying anything similar in design, size or color to a department certificate issued under this section.

(5) No person shall avoid or attempt to avoid the payment of any fee or any penalty due under ORS 465.517 to 465.545 by using the certificate issued under this section for a dry cleaning facility for any other facility, except where a substitution is made pursuant to rules of the department.

(6) A penalty of $200 is imposed on a person that fails to display or fails to cause the display of, on the premises of the dry cleaning facility, a certificate of the department for the fee remitted under ORS 465.517.

SECTION 5. Annually, the Department of Revenue shall make available to the Department of Environmental Quality and other interested parties a list of all dry cleaning facilities to which the Department of Revenue has issued a certificate under section 4 of this 1999 Act for the preceding year, evidencing payment by the dry cleaning facility to the Department of Revenue of the annual fee required under ORS 465.517. Notwithstanding ORS 465.535, the provisions of ORS chapters 305 and 314 pertaining to confidentiality of returns shall not apply to the disclosure of the list under this section.

SECTION 6. (1) Any dry cleaning operator who fails to pay a fee required under ORS 465.517, 465.520 or 465.523 shall incur a civil penalty of not more than $5,000. The penalty shall be recovered as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) Any person against whom a penalty is assessed under subsection (1) of this section may appeal to the tax court as provided in ORS 305.404 to 305.560. If the penalty is not paid within 10 days after the order of the tax court becomes final, the Department of Revenue may record the order and collect the amount assessed in the same manner as income tax deficiencies are recorded and collected under ORS 314.430.

Approved by the Governor September 1, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State September 1, 1999

Effective date October 23, 1999

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