The city business license model threshold workgroup will be meeting later this month to continue consultation with the business community on the provisions of the threshold. Their initial feedback expressed some concerns about the proposed threshold level of $1,000 per city per year and the threshold based solely on revenue.
As currently proposed, the draft model business license language would:
- Only apply to general business licenses, not regulatory licenses or local taxes;
- Allow cities the option to require registration with no fee for businesses under the threshold;
- Require a license for businesses with a location in the city without regard to the threshold; and
- Apply a minimum threshold of $1,000 per year in the city for businesses that do not have a location in the city.
The city workgroup must complete its work by July 1, 2018. All cities with business licenses will be required to adopt it by January 1, 2019, and those cities that partner with the state business licensing service (BLS) will need to adopt it and provide notice of the business license change to the BLS program by October 17, 2018, 75 days prior to it taking effect.
BLS is developing a new form for their partner cities to provide the required notice. They also plan to hold webinars with those cities later this summer about the notification process and how the threshold will work within the BLS system once the model threshold is complete.
AWC is also planning training sessions on the final version of the model, including at the AWC conference on June 28 and the WFOA annual conference on September 19.