News

City imposes $50 business registration fee

By Bill Moss, Published: June 10, 2015

The Hendersonville City Council authorized a new annual fee for businesses that would raise a fraction of the revenue the city lost in the repeal of the privilege license tax.
The council last week approved the fee, which City Manager John Connet was as much about obtaining contact information for police, fire and emergency services as it was raising money. Although privilege license repeal barred cities from collecting tax based on a business’s sales, the School of Government in Chapel Hill advised that a different section in state statutes “might authorize a business registration system and a minimal registration fee that could help a local government keep track of businesses operating in its jurisdiction.”
“It’s basically a registry fee,” Connet said. “It’s just mainly to get good contact information so that it will available to our public safety folks.” The School of Government opinion blessed the imposition of the fee as long as it was “nominal or very reasonable.”
The privilege license repeal, effective on July 1, cost the city $386,000. The annual business fee will raise about $50,000.