South Carolina Code 58-4-60. Expenses to be borne by regulated utilities; assessment and collection
(B)(1) The expenses of the Transportation Department of the Office of Regulatory Staff, with the exception of the expenses incurred in its railway jurisdiction, must be borne by the revenues from license fees derived pursuant to Article 5, Chapter 23 of Title 58, assessments to the Transportation Network Companies pursuant to §§ 58-23-1690 and 58-23-1700, and assessments to the carriers of household goods and hazardous waste for disposal carriers. The expenses of the railway section of the Office of Regulatory Staff must be borne by the railroad companies subject to the commission‘s jurisdiction according to their gross income from operations in this State.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 58-4-60
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Commission: means the Public Service Commission. See South Carolina Code 58-4-5
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Public utility: means public utility as defined in § 58-5-10, telephone utility as defined in § 58-9-10, government-owned telecommunications service provider as defined in § 58-9-2610, radio common carrier as defined in § 58-11-10, carriers governed in Chapter 13 of Title 58, railroads and railways as defined in § 58-17-10, motor vehicle carrier as defined in § 58-23-10, or electrical utility as defined in § 58-27-10. See South Carolina Code 58-4-5
- Regulatory staff: means the executive director or the executive director and employees of the Office of Regulatory Staff. See South Carolina Code 58-4-5
(2) All other expenses of the Office of Regulatory Staff must be borne by the public utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the commission. On or before the first day of July in each year, the Department of Revenue must assess each public utility, railway company, household goods carrier, and hazardous waste for disposal carrier its proportion of the expenses in proportion to its gross income from operation in this State in the year ending on the thirtieth day of June preceding that on which the assessment is made which is due and payable on or before July fifteenth. The assessments must be charged against the companies by the Department of Revenue and collected by the department in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes from the companies including the enforcement and collection provisions of Article 1, Chapter 54 of Title 12 and paid, less the Department of Revenue actual incremental increase in the cost of administration into the state treasury as other taxes collected by the Department of Revenue for the State.
(C) The Office of Regulatory Staff must certify to the Department of Revenue annually on or before May first the amounts to be assessed; however, the deadline shall not apply to the certification made to the Department of Revenue in 2004.
(D) The Office of Regulatory Staff shall operate as an other-funded agency.
(E) The appropriation for the Office of Regulatory Staff shall be advanced by the State until such time as funds have been collected from the corporations liable therefor and, when collected, must be placed in the state treasury.