Forum to review new biz fee proposal

By Michael Butler

Two years ago, the Tallassee City Council proposed a change to the city's business license rates. After discussions and public meetings, it was decided to table the proposal.

Councilman Bill Godwin said at the time that over 200 hours had gone into research comparing other communities and their ordinances for business licenses. Since, there have been more hours spent. Plus, Ordinance 2007-426 was added as an item council's July 23 agenda.

That ordinance for business license code was tabled again, just as it was two years ago. But, a decision is expected to be made to repeal the current ordinance. The Tallassee City Council set a date of Aug. 6 for a public forum to discuss the proposal. It will be from 5-5:45 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall.

"We're trying to compare apples to apples," Godwin said. "The problem with Tallassee is nothing has been done in years. It should have been done in increments."

After the initial talk of change with some backlash, the council has looked at capping amounts for businesses where license increases would apply based on gross receipts.

Certain classes of businesses would be subject to an annual payment of 1/20th of 1 percent of all gross receipts. For instance, a retail business that grosses $1 million would pay $500 per year. That same type of business bringing in $10 million would pay 5,000, which happens to be the cap for retail for the first year of the proposed structure starting Jan. 1, 2025.

Mayor Sarah Hill spoke on a variety of options that have been reviewed.

"We discussed capping some things, doing the step program and what works best for business owners as they grow and as we grow," she said. "We haven't updated these license fees in 20-something years. That's something we've identified as behind the eight ball. If a business in Eclectic is paying more than we are here, we're four times the size of Eclectic.

"Some businesses are flat rate either because it's state mandated or the nature of the business. There are some businesses that would be calculated on gross sales. There are different schedules."

Types of businesses that would be set based on revenue include: manufacturing and wholesale (cap - $1,000), automotive (cap - $2,500) and retail (cap - $5,000). The step program that Hill mentioned would raise the caps in increments over the next three years for certain classes of businesses.

Wholesale caps would increase from $1,000 to $1,500 for 2026 and 2027. Manufacturing increases to $2,000 for that same period. Automotive would remain at $5,000 as a maximum annual fee in 2026 and '27. However, the cap would be removed for retail businesses after the first year (2025) with the proposed changes.

If the new rate structure is adopted, it is expected to bring in approximately another $250,000 to the city per year.

"This has been ongoing for a while," said Jerry Cunningham, executive director of the Tallassee Chamber of Commerce. "The council is trying to do the right thing and provide for the city. Something like this can be a source of contention. The open forum is not necessarily a time to gripe but try to understand. I encourage people to be there to understand where we're going."