Utility User Tax (UUT) Information

In August 2014, the City Council took action to suspend collection of the UUT from telecommunication providers. The City Council also implemented a process by which residents and businesses in the City can submit claims for refunds of the telecommunications UUT for the period from August 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014.

Ordinance 568 will go before the City Council for adoption on May 19, 2015 to repeal the collection of Utility User Tax on telecommunication services. If passed, the ordinance will take effect on June 19, 2015.

UUT Refund Claim

The Claim Form was mailed to all City residents on February 5, 2015. Along with the Claim Form, residents received a Claim Notice providing answers to common questions as well as the choice to receive the Claim Form in a language other than English.

The UUT Claim Form offers the following four (4) options:

  1. $25 Flat Refund.
  2. Extrapolated Refund - Submit one monthly billing statement dated between August 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014. Your refund will be calculated by multiplying the UUT on the statement you submitted by 17 months included in the refund period.
  3. Exact Refund - Submit full documentation of each and every telephone billing statement during the refund period (between August 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014) showing the City's UUT applied to the telephone bill.
  4. Contribute your refund to the City's "Gifts for Parks" Program.

The deadline to complete and submit your form is August 5, 2015.

UUT Refund Data

March 5, 2015

As of this date, 825 physical claims and 783 online claims have been filed. Additional data to note:

  • The total Flat Refund amount that has been claimed so far is $59,300
  • The average amount of an Extrapolated Refund (Option 2) is $49.13
  • The average amount of an Exact Refund (Option 3) is $32.22

March 19, 2015

As of this date, 2,790 physical claims and 833 online claims have been filed. Additional data to note:

  • The total Flat Refund amount that has been claimed so far is $102,075
  • The total Extrapolated Refund (Option 2) so far is approximately $10,586 (average claim amount of $44.11 times 240 claims
  • The total Exact Refund (Option 3) amount so far is approximately $2,310 (average claim amount of $32.22 times 72 claims)

April 17, 2015

To date, the total amount claimed is $114,971 with 3,909 physical claims and 987 online claims being filed. Additional data to note:

  • The total Flat Refund amount that has been claimed so far is $139,400
  • The total Extrapolated Refund (Option 2) so far is approximately $32,685 (avg. claim amount of $46.10 x 709 claims)
  • The total Exact Refund (Option 3) amount so far is approximately $2,985 (avg. claim amount of $30.46 x 98 claims)

April 27, 2015

Due to a programming error, the City's Claim Administrator provided inaccurate data of the total monetary amounts claimed where a claimant submitted both a landline and a wireless refund claim.

As such, the corrected refund claim data to date is as follows:

  • The total Flat Refund amount that has been claimed is $97,800.
  • The total Extrapolated Refund (Option 2) is approximately $17,702 (average claim amount of $46.10 times 384 claims)
  • The total Exact Refund (Option 3) amount is approximately $487 (average claim amount of $30.46 times 16 claims)
  • The total refund amount is $116,451 and approximately $2,504 of this amount been contributed to the City's Gift for Parks program as requested by the claimant.

May 13, 2015

  • The first round of refund checks were scheduled to be mailed to residents on Monday, May 11th. There are 2,709 refund checks being issued for a total amount of $113,936.
  • Residents will have until August 5, 2015 to submit their claim form. The second and final round of refund checks will be mailed shortly thereafter.

May 29, 2015

As of this date, 4,185 physical claims and 1,129 online claims have been filed. Additional data to note:

  • The total Flat Refund amount that has been claimed is $161,750
  • The total Extrapolated Refund (Option 2) is approximately $35,470 (avg. claim amount of $45.07 x 787 claims)
  • The total Exact Refund (Option 3) amount is approximately $3,386 (avg. claim amount of $35.64 x 95 claims)

July 28, 2015

As of this date, 4,811 physical claims and 1,925 online claims have been filed. In addition, estimated total amounts by refund option as of July 28, 2015 are:

  • Flat refund of $211,350.
  • Extrapolated refund of $41,103.
  • Exact refund of $1,331.

The deadline for residents to submit a claim is August 5, 2015. Additional time will be provided to claimants who received a deficiency letter that their claim contained an error or was incomplete to meet the requirements for an eligible claim. Refund checks will be mailed shortly after August 5, 2015. Final claim summary information will be reported in a staff report once all claim data has been tallied and finalized.

The ability to file an on-line claim on the claims website http://www.ranchopalosverdesuutrefund.com/ will be disabled on August 5. Should you have questions, please contact the Claims Administrator, Gilardi, at (888) 287-4974 or by email.

August 20, 2015

Utility User Tax (UUT) refund check update: There were 7,367 claim submissions, of which, 5,095 were physical (mailed) claims and 2,272 were online claims. To date, the Claim Administrator, Gilardi, has issued refunds in the amount of $113,935.64.

There were 9,351 claims submitted electing the flat refund and 1,236 electing the individualized refund. Please note: the number of claims filed relative to the refund option selected will not match as some claimants are eligible for multiple refunds if they have more than one telecom account. In addition, residents with multiple accounts may not always elect the same refund option. For example, it may be financially advantageous for one to select a flat refund for their landline account and an individualized refund for their wireless account depending on their situation.

In an effort to expedite the issuance of refund checks to residents, the City has agreed to run a third check distribution. That said, 2,715 refund checks in the amount of $113,835.88 (close to the first check distribution amount) will get mailed within the next two weeks to residents who submitted a claim by the August 5, 2015 deadline. Those that submitted deficient claims (approximately 1,400), will have to wait until the first part of October to receive their refund check, assuming their deficiencies are resolved. If all 1,400 deficient claims were resolved, the third check distribution amount may be approximately $66,000.

March 15, 2016

UUT Staff Report (Final) (PDF)

List of Telecommunication Providers in the City

Telecom List (PDF)