Consumer Affairs Programs and Services

Local Law No. 1 For 1992

A Local Law Requiring Item Pricing by Retail Stores in The County Of Albany

By Messrs. Haines, Stackrow and Prentiss, Ms. Denison and Finance Committee:

Be It Enacted by the County Legislature of the County of Albany as follows:

Section 1. Title.

     This Law shall be known as the “Albany County Item Pricing Law”

Section 2. Legislative Intent.

     This Law recognizes that clear, accurate item pricing is a basic consumer right which is no longer protected under State Law. It is the purpose of this Law to ensure that consumer goods offered for sale in the County of Albany are clearly, accurately and adequately marked as to their selling price.

Section 3. Definitions.

     A. “Stock keeping unit” shall mean each group of items offered for sale of the same brand name, quantity of contents, retail price, and variety within the following categories:

1. food, including all material, solid, liquid or mixed, whether simple or compound, used or intended for consumption by human beings or domestic animals normally kept as household pets and all substances or ingredients to be added thereto any purpose; and,
2. napkins, facial tissues, toilet tissues, and any disposable wrapping or container for the storage, handling or serving of food; and
3. detergents, soaps, other cleansing agents, and cleaning implements; and
4. non-prescription drugs, feminine hygiene products and health and beauty aids.

    B. “Stock keeping item” shall mean each individual item of a stock keeping unit offered for sale.

    C. “Universal product coding” shall mean any system of coding which entails electronic pricing.

    D. “Item Pricing” shall mean the tag, stamp or mark affixed to a stock keeping item by an authorized person which sets forth, in clearly readable numerals, the selling price.

     E. “Computer-assisted checkout system” shall mean any electronic device, computer system or machine which determines the selling price of a stock keeping item by interpreting its universal product code, or its price look-up function.

     F. “Price look-up function” shall mean the capability of any checkout system to determine the selling price of a stock keeping item by way of the manual entry into the system of a code number assigned to that particular unit by the retail store or by way of the checkout operator’s consultation of a file maintained at the point of sale.

     G. “Inspector” shall mean the authorized government official and his agents or employees having jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this Local Law.

     H. “Retail Store” shall mean a store selling stock keeping units at retail. A store which is not open to the general public but is reserved for use by its members shall come within the provisions of this definition unless the members must pay a direct fee to the store to qualify for membership and the store is not required to collect sales tax on transactions with members. Pursuant to this section, a retail store shall not include any store which:

1. has as its only full-time employee the owner thereof, or the parent, or the spouse or child of the spouse or child of the owner, or in addition thereto, not more than two full-time employees; or
2. had annual gross sales in a previous calendar year of less than three million dollars, unless the retail store is part of a network of subsidiaries, affiliates or other member stores, under direct or indirect common control, which as a group, had annual gross sales in the previous calendar or three million dollars or more; or
3. engages primarily in the sale of food for consumption on the premises or in a specialty trade which the Director of Weights and Measures determines, by regulation, would be inappropriate for item pricing.

Section 4. Item Pricing Required.

     A. Every person, firm, partnership, corporation or association which sells, offers for sale or exposes for sale in a retail store, a stock keeping unit that bears a Universal Product Code shall disclose to the consumer the price of each stock, keeping item by individually marking each such item with the item price.

     B. Certain items exempted. The following stock keeping items need not be item priced as provided in subdivision A of this section provided that a shelf price and a price look-up function are maintained for such stock keeping items:

1. Snack foods such as cakes, gum, candies, chips and nuts offered for sale in single packages and weighing five ounces or less;
2. Stock keeping items which are under three cubic inches in size, and weigh less than three ounces, and are priced under one dollar;
3. Items sold through a vending machine;
4. Fresh milk, cream, half and half and other similarly packaged liquid dairy products and orange juice;
5. Fresh eggs;
6. Unpackaged fresh produce;
7. Food offered for sale in bulk;
8. Items offered for sale which are packaged in poly-plastic frozen food bags;
9. All sale items merchandised in segregated off-shelf displays for a period of up to 21 days provided the name of the product and the advertised or sale price is clearly and conspicuously posted on a sign at the point of display;
10. Individual jars of strained and junior size baby food;
11. Individual boxes of dry gelatin and pudding;
12. Ice cream and frozen yogurt; and
13. Stock keeping items within a multi-package that is properly item pricing.

Section 5. Pricing Accuracy.

     A. No retail store shall charge a price for any exempt or non-exempt stock keeping which exceeds the lower of any item price, shelf price, sale price of such stock keeping item. In the event that the programmed computer, a stock keeping unit , the store will be subject to a penalty as described in Section 6, Paragraph E.

     B. In a store with a laser scanning or other computer assisted checkout system, the Inspector shall be permitted to compare the item, shelf, sale or advertised price of any stock keeping item sold in the programmed computer price.

Section 6. Enforcement.

     A. Item Pricing Inspection Procedures. For the purpose of determining a store’s compliance with the requirements of Section 4, an inspection shall be conducted of a sample of no less than ten stock keeping units. However, in the event the Inspector has received a specific written complaint, no such minimum sample shall be required in the investigation of same.

     B. Laser Scanner Accuracy Inspection Procedures. For any inspection under section 5, the store representative shall afford the Inspector access to the test mode of the checkout system in use at that store or to a comparable function of said system and to the retail price information contained in a price look-up function. In the event the Inspector has received a specific written complaint, the Inspector, may, in his discretion, conduct an inspection of only those items.

     C. Stop Removal Order. An Inspector shall have the authority to issue a stop removal order with respect to any device, system, or stock keeping unit being used, handled or offered for sale in violation of Section 4 or 5. Any such order shall be in writing and direct that the device, system or stock keeping unit, as the case may be, shall be removed from use or sale pending correction.

     D. Penalties for Item Pricing Violations. Any retail store which fails to mark any stock keeping item in violation of Section 4 shall be subject to the penalties of not less than five dollars per violation. For additional violations during a subsequent inspection in a twelve month period, the above penalties shall be doubled. In doubling penalties, an Inspector shall not be limited to the doubling of any specific fine previously issued. No penalties shall be imposed for a violation of Section 4 if more than ninety-five percent of all the stock keeping items inspected in each stock keeping unit at an I individual point of sale contain clearly readable and correct item prices.

     E. Penalties for Scanner Accuracy Violations. Upon a violation of the provisions of Section 5, a penalty in the amount of fifty dollars per violation shall be imposed for the first two violations of the stock keeping items compared; one hundred dollars per violation of the next two violations; two hundred dollars per violation for the next two violations; and three hundred dollars for each additional violation. For additional violations during a subsequent inspection is a twelve month period, the above penalties shall be doubled.

Section 7. Jurisdiction.

     The provision of this Local Law and any Regulation promulgated hereunder shall be enforced by the Director of Weights and Measures for the County of Albany. The Director of Weights and Measures shall refer cases of unpaid penalties to the Albany County Attorney for appropriate legal action.

Section 8. Appointment of Review Committee.

     Upon the expiration of the first six months of operation; the Chairman of the County Legislature shall appoint a three member Review Committee to study this Law’s strengths and weaknesses and make appropriate recommendations for amendments to the Finance Committee.

Section 9. Severability.

     If any section of this Local Law, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall be adjudged invalid by a Court of competent jurisdiction, such order or judgment shall be confined in its operation to the controversy in which it was revision of any section or the application of any part thereof to any other person or circumstance and to this end the previsions of each section of this Law are hereby declared to be severable.

Section 10. Effective Date.

     This law shall take effect July 1, 1992.

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