Wallace eyes business fees

WALLACE — The Wallace City Council examined a proposed fee structure for its new business registration ordinance during its monthly meeting Wednesday.  

The council adopted the new ordinance last month. It allows the city to know what and how businesses are operating within the city limits.

The proposed fee structure includes an initial registration fee of $50 and a $30 charge for annual renewal. Businesses who have surveillance systems would get a 50% discount.

Within the proposed resolution there were caveats. These include not requiring subcontractors to have a business license if the general contractor has an active business registration. Separate businesses being operated by the same business owner would need separate registrations for each different business. However, if a business is being operated in multiple locations, it would only require a single registration.  

Nonprofits, festivals, community events and flea markets are exempt from the proposed ordinance.  

The council had mixed reactions to the proposed fees. Councilor Cindy Lien thought the fees could be reduced, while Councilor Michele Bisconer said the proposed fee of $50 was far less than the average of $140 she saw in other places.  

“I’m not saying it should be free, but we should make it as low as we can,” Lien said. “We’re asking business owners, again, to pony up more money.” 

Bisconer said she would like to see the resolution changed to offer some sort of discount or tiered pricing for anyone operating multiple businesses.

“I don’t think these fees we are asking are unreasonable,” Bisconer said. “But I would suggest for multiple businesses owned by the same people, that we offer a discount or something.”  

Concerns over what constituted a surveillance system were discussed, with city attorney Ben Allen explaining that within the language of the proposed resolution, this could be defined however the council wanted. For instance, a business could have a single camera or multiple.  

“That provision came as a result, largely, by law enforcement,” Allen said. “They want to see that the city of Wallace has taken steps proactively to reduce crime and when crime is committed, that it is prosecutable.”  

Councilor Rick Shaffer cautioned against changing anything until they had more input from the public.  

“Since we’re not determining the fees tonight, I think we should leave them as-is and let the public forum happen next week,” Shaffer said. “Changing it now shouldn’t take too much work, but if we left it as-is and let the residents and business owners have it in front of them and then we take it from there, change it from there. Making more changes tonight, I don’t think, is going to serve us.”  

A public meeting on the proposed fee resolution is scheduled 5 p.m. Oct. 15.