City of Fernie staff will be developing a plan to increase business license fees.
The current annual business license fee is set at $100 with added fees for changes to business location, ownership transfers, name changes and inspections.
The money the city collects every year is roughly $80,000, however, finance director Bryn Burditt says they spend nearly $90,000 in operational expenses.
“We’re losing money on running the program as it is, which means it’s being subsidized by our regular property tax payers,” he said.
If the city were to collect more money, Burditt thinks they would be able to make the process better.
“We also believe we can provide a higher level of service if get a little more money coming in,” he added.
“We can expedite the application process either by exploring an online application process or hiring additional temporary staff during the busy business license renewal time.”
The city still has to decide how they will increase the fees.
Options on the table include an across the board fee increase or a tiered structure where standard business licenses and home based businesses would see a smaller increase bad high impact businesses would see a larger jump.
The city will be working on the report and getting feedback from the Fernie Chamber of Commerce through the summer months.
A bylaw amendment with an increase is expected to come back to council sometime this fall.
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