The city has doubled our business licence fee for all brick-and-mortar businesses. My question, why?
I understand a group of home-based business wanted their business licence fee to be reduced and so approached city council. Was the increase a reason to subsidize home-based business by increasing the brick-and-mortar business licences? Am I getting a message from the city that we don't want more small business but we do want more home-based businesses?
When you double the business licence, what do we receive for the doubled fee? The business licence, I understand, is a fee to do business in the city. When you double it, what does that mean in that context then, double approval?
If you needed to reduce licences for other business (i.e. home-based businesses), will the city attach the business mill rate to that portion of their homes that they are using for business? That would subsidize the decrease in their fee!
Businesses like mine have huge overheads and if we can't afford to pay these overheads, our option is to quit doing business. That is the option for all businesses, home or brick and mortar. We incur higher rates in communication (telephone and Internet), and we pay higher mill rate than residential. We pay higher utilities, taxes, security, staff and have the cost of shrinkage. We provide many services to shoppers that, if we were not in business, would not be available. Business licences in Medicine Hat and Calgary are lower. What did our city council base their increase on?
I am disappointed in city council to have put very little thought in their "across the board" fee; well, not really, there are still exceptions to the rule, some are higher. I request that the business licence be reduced and if an increase is required, it should reflect only cost of increases, not to subsidize, penalize or compare rates to other cities.
Sharon Hudemka
Lethbridge