City eliminates business tax

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

After multiple attempts through the years to have the business tax eliminated, City Clerk Emily Anderson finally succeeded in getting the council to do away with the annual tax in her last year of office.
“I’ve recommended this before, but this is my last shot,” said Anderson, who did not seek reelection and whose term ends in December.
The business tax program, she said, was one that most cities have done away with. Not only was the measure nonregulatory and simply a tax, but participation in it was low, the administration of it burdensome, and the returns negligible, she said.
The council agreed with her views that the program was “obsolete and worthless,” in the
Awords of council members Julie Conley and John Jones, and voted unanimously to eliminate it.
The form that businesses within the city were required to fill each year was short and to the point. It asked for the business’s name, address, startup date, number of employees, etc., and provided a lengthy list in alphabetical order of business activity classifications and the license fee amount for each.
The list ranged from abstract company, accountant, advertising agency and auctioneer, etc., to vending machines, veterinarians, welders, wrecker/tow trucks, and everything in between. The annual fees ranged from $500 for clairvoyants and divine healers, to as low as $5 for photographers, restaurants seating no more than 10 people and upholsters/furniture menders. The overwhelming majority of fees, however, were in the $10 to $25 range.