ORDINANCE NO._______________

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO,

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

 

* * * * * *

 

AN ORDINANCE ADDING CHAPTER 5.144 TO TITLE 5 OF THE COUNTY OF SAN MATEO ORDINANCE CODE PROVIDING FOR A REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE AND FEE AND CONSUMER NOTIFICATION POSTING FOR AUTOMATED POINT-OF-SALE STATIONS (SCANNERS)

 
 

The Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo, State of California, ordains as follows:

   

WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors finds and determines that it is in the public's interest to identify, inspect and register automated point-of-sale stations, commonly known as "scanners", and to monitor the utilization of such systems; and,

   

WHEREAS, it is unlawful to charge, at the time of sale, a price that is more than the price that is advertised or posted, and pursuant to California Business and Professions Code sections 12103.5, 12024.2, and 12024.6, the purpose of this Chapter is to ensure that the advertised or posted price of a commodity is the price charged for that commodity.

 

NOW THEREFORE, the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo, State of California, does ORDAIN as follows:

 

SECTION 1. A new chapter 5.144 is hereby added to Title 5 of the Ordinance Code of the County of San Mateo to be numbered and entitled and to read as follows:

 

CHAPTER 5.144. REGISTRATION CERTIFICATION AND FEE FOR POINT-OF-SALE STATIONS (SCANNERS)

 

SECTION 5.144.010. DEFINITIONS

 

(a)

"Department" shall mean the Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures Division of the Environmental Services Agency of the County of San Mateo.

   

(b)

"Person" shall mean any person, firm, corporation, business or association.

   

(c)

"Sell" includes barter, exchange, trade, keep for sale, offer for sale or expose for sale in any of their variant forms.

   

(d)

"Automated point-of-sale station" shall mean individual and separate equipment that is capable of recovering electronically stored price information that is used to charge consumers for the purchase of commodities. "Point-of-sale stations" shall include, but is not limited to, equipment that uses Universal Product Code scanners, price look-up codes, or any other system of commerce between a retailer and consumer.

   

(e)

"Location" shall mean a premise on which a single business operates point-of-sale stations.

   

(f)

"Commercial purpose" includes any sale of a commodity or thing by a person to a consumer.

   

(g)

"Commodity" shall mean any article of commerce or anything that is bought or sold.

   

(h)

"Advertise" shall mean to give a notice to attract public attention.

   

SECTION 5.144.020. REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS

   

(a)

No person shall temporarily or permanently, alone or in conjunction with others, establish, maintain, conduct or operate any point-of-sale stations without first obtaining a Scanner Registration Certificate.

   

(b)

Applications for Scanner Registration Certificates and renewals thereof shall be filed with the Department upon such forms as may be prescribed.

   

(c)

The permits shall be effective for up to one calendar year and shall expire on December 31. Such permits may be renewed without addition of a late charge if application for renewal is made within 60 days of the date of the first billing notice.

   

SECTION 5.144.030. DURATION AND TRANSFERABILITY OF REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE

   

(a)

All registration certificates shall be valid for up to one year and expire on the first day of the following calendar year. Renewal of a certificate shall be made in a manner similar to the issuance of the original certificate. Registration certificates not renewed within 60-days of the date of the first billing notice shall be considered expired, until such time as the certificate fee and the applicable late charge have been received by the Department.

   

(b)

Registration certificates shall not be transferable between persons or locations.

   

(c)

In the case where a holder of a registration certificate leases, sublets, subcontracts, or in any manner allows any other person or entity to engage in activities regulated under the certificate, all point-of-sale stations must remain the responsibility of the certificate holder, unless the other person or entity obtains a separate registration certificate in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.

   

SECTION 5.144.040. AVAILABILITY OF REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE

 

At each location, the certificate holder shall make available to any official of the Department the applicable Scanner Registration Certificate.

 

SECTION 5.144.050. ANNUAL SCANNER REGISTRATION FEE

   

(a)

An annual registration fee is required of each business location in the County that operates a point-of-sale station for commercial purposes.

   

(b)

The registration fee for the calendar year or any part thereof during which the permitted activity is carried on and for renewal thereof shall be that established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.

   

(c)

A late charge in the amount of 100% of the prescribed registration fee shall be added to the fee if application for renewal of the required certificate is made after 60-days of the date of the first billing notice.

   

SECTION 5.144.060. REGISTRATION FEE PAYMENT AND USE

 

The fees imposed by section 5.144.050 shall be due and payable at the commencement of each calendar year. For businesses commencing operations during the calendar year, the fees shall be due and payable as of the date of commencement. The fees collected shall be placed in the general fund of the County and used solely to recover the costs of inspection of point-of-sale systems and the consumer notification program.

 

SECTION 5.144.070. VIOLATIONS

 

It shall be unlawful for any person, or any registration certificate holder, employee or agent thereof to violate the provisions of this Chapter, and specifically it shall be unlawful to:

   

(a)

Use point-of-sale stations without a current Scanner Registration Certificate.

   

(b)

Fail to make available the Scanner Registration Certificate as required per Section 5.144.040.

   

(c)

Fail to post the phone number for consumers as specified in Section 5.144.090.

   

SECTION 5.144.080. PENALTIES

 

(a)

Unless otherwise provided, any person failing to comply with the provisions of this Chapter, and specifically the violations as defined in Section 5.144.070, shall be guilty of an infraction or misdemeanor as hereinafter specified.

   

(b)

Any person so convicted shall be:

     
 

1.

Guilty of an infraction offense, punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) and not less than fifty dollars ($50) for a first offense.

     
 

2.

Guilty of an infraction offense, punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) and not less than one hundred dollars ($100) for a second offense.

     
 

3.

Guilty of a misdemeanor for the third and any additional offenses and punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) and not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or any other penalty imposed by a court, or both.

     

(c)

Pursuant to Government Code section 25132, a first or second offense may be charged and prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

   

(d)

Payment of any fine or other penalty imposed by a court shall not relieve a person from the responsibility of obtaining a registration certificate for a point-of-sale station and/or the requirements of Section 5.144.090.

   

(e)

In addition to all other remedies provided by this Chapter or state law, in the event of continuing violation of the provisions of this Chapter, the Department may seek injunctive relief to restrain further violations.

   

SECTION 5.144.090. NOTICE TO CONSUMER

 

In addition to the registration certificate requirements of this Chapter, every person who uses a point-of-sale station for commercial purposes shall post a notice which will be provided by the Department and displays the following information so as to be clearly visible to the general public and to consumers at each point-of-sale station.

 

"Attention Consumer: You are entitled to the lowest advertised price offered by this store. For information or complaints, you may call the County of San Mateo Sealer of Weights and Measures at a phone number provided by the Department."

 

"Clearly visible" for this section shall mean that the notice shall be so positioned that it may be accurately read from some reasonable consumer position.

 

Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall be punishable as specified in Section 5.144.080

 

SECTION 2. This ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days from the date of adoption.