5.04.270 Fee adjustments required in cases of interstate commerce.

(A) None of the license fees provided for in this chapter shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution of the United States and the state.

(B) In any case where a license fee is believed by a licensee or applicant for a license to place an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of such constitutional clauses, he or she may apply to the collector for an adjustment of the fee. Such application may be made before, at, or within six months after payment of the prescribed license fee. The applicant shall, by sworn statement and supporting testimony, show his or her method of business and the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and such other information as the collector may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of such undue burden or violation.

(C) The collector shall then conduct an investigation, and after having first obtained the written approval of the city attorney, shall fix as the license fee for the applicant, an amount that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory; or if the license fee has already been paid, shall order a refund of the amount over and above the license fee upon any measure which will assure that the license fee assessed shall be uniform with that assessed on businesses of like nature, so long as the amount assessed does not exceed the license fee as prescribed by this chapter.

(D) The collector may require the applicant to submit, either at the time of termination of applicant's business in the city or at the end of each three-month period, a sworn statement of the gross incomes from local sources upon which a license fee adjustment may be based; provided, that no additional license fee during any one calendar year shall be required after the licensee shall have paid an amount equal to the annual license fee as prescribed in this chapter.