PORT ANGELES — City Council members heard a pitch from the state Department of Licensing on how the organization could handle the processing of business licenses if the city decides to implement them for all businesses.
No decisions were made at the Wednesday meeting, held for informational purposes.
Councilmen Brad Collins and Max Mania were absent from the meeting.
John Jacob, outreach and partnership manager with the state Department of Licensing, spoke on how the state handles partnerships with cities on business licensing.
Under the state’s program, businesses would pay for all their licenses under one “master license,” Jacob said.
The other licenses could include liquor licenses as well as licenses for other cities if a business operates in more than one city, he said.
The city now has only a limited business license ordinance that comes with a $25 fee, mostly for public safety purposes.
It covers about 150 businesses that fall under 18 categories, such as ambulances, dance halls that serve liquor, taxis and pawn shops.
A proposal to consider licenses for all businesses was dropped in November after a petition with signatures from 72 business owners was presented at a council meeting.
Business directory
The council was considering requiring the license in order to create a complete directory of businesses in town.
The idea was that the directory could then be used by the city and entrepreneurs to understand what services are already provided by businesses in Port Angeles.
All businesses already pay a one-time $15 application fee to register with the state.
The state’s renewal fee is $9 per year.
The amount of city fees would be up to the council to determine if it decided to move forward with the idea.
Most cities charge about $30 for a business license, Jacob said.
Deputy Mayor Don Perry asked if the city could require licenses but charge no fee or if the information for a business directory could be gathered from other sources.
Nathan West, city economic and community development director, said that though the city has limited information from its occupancy certificates, it doesn’t currently have anything that can render that information.
Staff time, supplies
City Manager Kent Myers said staff time and supplies to keep up with the licenses — even with the state doing much of the paperwork — could not be absorbed into the budget.
Jacob said he encouraged cities that were considering joining the state program to think about the purpose of the licenses.
“Are you doing it to have an inventory of what is in town? Are you doing it to generate revenue?” he said.
“It is important to think about the reasons, especially since this is a city that doesn’t already have licenses.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
