City officials turn to Fayetteville Forward group for public input on business registry | Opinion
Banner, Opinion — By Christopher Spencer on March 25, 2010 at 12:24 am
The city’s Economic Incentives and Job Growth Group plans to hold a public forum April 7 to let the community talk about the proposed business license and registry.
You should come and speak your mind, for or against.
The group’s leader Eva Madison told the Ordinance Review Committee the forum will be an opportunity to hear resident’s concerns about the proposed ordinance that requires businesses to pay a fee and register with the city annually. Her group favors the proposal, she told the committee.
The Economic Incentives and Job Growth Group was spawned during the Fayetteville Forward initiative. A second Fayetteville Forward conference is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 17 at East Square Plaza.
Committee chair Brenda Thiel of Ward 1 thanked Madison for gathering public input. The committee agreed to wait until after the forum to send the ordinance to the city council for approval.
The committee also agreed to consider a tiered payment system that requires a smaller annual payment from home-based businesses that generate no traffic. That adjusted fee is estimated at $18 less than the $57 fee for online registration and $64 on paper.
City attorney Kit Williams will now draft that language into the proposed ordinance.
Williams also pointed out to the committee that the business license fees could be less than the proposed amount, but that difference must be made up by city funds. The fees being considered are based on an internal study by the city.
If the committee feels that operating this business registry is in the public interest, other city funds could be used to subsidize its creation and maintenance, as is done with some other city fees, he said.
Committee member Matthew Petty of Ward 2 challenged Karen Minkel, the city’s strategic planning and internal consulting director, about the methodology used in the study, saying the dollar amount seemed too high.
Minkel defended the study and said she would invite any city council member or member of the public to go through the data so she could explain how the dollar amount was determined.
I spoke at this meeting. It was my first time to ever speak publicly on a topic in a city council meeting.
For years, I’ve sat and listened and reported public meetings, but since I took an editorial stance in favor of this business registry and it affects me directly, I think it’s fair for me to speak in public as well.
I told the committee that I supported the registry. I think it’s a required tool for developing Fayetteville’s economy. I also asked the committee to use the tiered-payment approach.
I’ll pay whatever the final fee is, of course, but an employer with 100 or more employees is much better able to pay the proposed fee than someone, like myself, who works out of their home and is trying to build a small business.
Charging both the same seems regressive to me, and could jeopardize our place as one of the best places to launch a small business.
It pleased me that the committee opted to go in that direction.
I have no illusions that it was because of anything I said, but at least I can be on the record as an advocate for home-based businesses paying a smaller license fee than our big employers.
See our ongoing coverage: Fayetteville business registry
SIMILAR POSTS
- *UPDATED* Fayetteville business registry passes 6-2 by city council | Opinion at 4:10 pm on September 7, 2010
- Ordinance Review Committee takes up Fayetteville business registry issue today | Opinion at 12:18 am on March 24, 2010
- Many business owners opposed to Fayetteville registry | CF at 11:02 am on April 8, 2010
- Northwest Arkansas Newspapers is wrong to discourage a Fayetteville business registry | CF at 3:57 pm on March 17, 2010
- The Tragedy that is the Business License and Why the Chamber’s Hands are Dirty from Mid-Riffs | CF at 1:37 pm on September 16, 2010
Loading ...
7 Comments
This is a terrible idea. Just another way for Fay to bleed small business. Doesn’t make a lick of sense. Somebody tell me what the point is, if not to take more from individuals.
Billy, I support it because I see the value in a public list of businesses in the city, identified by the type of work they do. We can have year to year comparisons that show just how much business growth is occurring or how many businesses we are losing.
There’s also the issue of making sure city workers – firefighters, police, etc – know where businesses are in a more systematic fashion. It appears the list will also help identify hotels, motels and restaurants that are not keeping their HMR tax current.
I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me that it’s needed. But I think it is. I also hope you come to the forum to state your opinion on the matter.
I wonder if this would be considered a benefit to businesses if the fee included supporting a Buy Fayetteville campaign?
I support the business license, but think it should be a very minimal cost, perhaps $25. Did Karen Minkel give an abbreviated answer as to how the particular number was arrived upon?
An important aspect not mentioned in any of the literature is how much City staff time this will save when a business opens and operates in a location where such a business is not allowed under zoning ordinance. For instance, last year a tattoo “parlor” opened in a space that normally would not be allowed by right, but could be with a conditional use permit. Neighbors complained to their council people. Hours were spent by Planning staff, Planning commission and City Council on the subject. If there was a license procedure, the business owner would have been told that the location did not fit the planned business by right. Would’ve saved a bundle of money and time.
my gut check says that its a bad idea, but maybe I will change my mind as I read more about it.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. It’s an interesting thing. Close friends have told me they think it’s a bad idea, government is over-reaching, etc. Even within Ozarks Unbound there is contrasting opinion.
I do respect that constrasting opinion and think it raises some valid points.
I didn’t like the city’s attempt to regulate cars on folks lawns and how many cars could be parked on private property.
But this registry seems different to me. It’s an economic development tool and a public safety issue. I know some people feel the city’s role is not economic development, but I disagree with that.
One of the city’s roles is to promote its businesses and keep some form of accounting for who is doing business in the city and whether they remain open or closed. This registry allows that.
On the public safety front, it’s much better for police and firefighters going into a home to know what’s there. Is it a business or is it residence, what business is it and who do they need to contact when something happens.
I think the price tag is now practically nothing.
Again, I respect the contrasting opinion, but I think it’s a good tool for the city.