October 21, 2008


Business registration fee stalls before County Council

By Ben Szobody
STAFF WRITER

A business registration fee that would cost roughly 11,500 county businesses $15 a year stalled before County Council on Tuesday -- nearly 18 months after it first came up -- with at least one council member saying he wants to explore using the registration to police the local employment of illegal immigrants.

Councilman Bob Taylor said Beaufort County has tailored its business license program to effect a "dramatic" change in the work force he saw on a recent visit to Hilton Head Island.

The county attorney said he’s studying the issue in light of a new state law requiring employers to verify the legal status of their workers. Taylor said Beaufort has faced litigation over its program.

The proposed business registration has heretofore been pitched as a way to enforce existing tax collections and create a formal county registration that could be revoked when officials want to force nuisance businesses to close.

The matter had idled before the council’s Finance Committee since May 2007 until Tuesday night, when other council members got a look at the proposal and said they had too many questions to vote up or down.

Council Chairman Butch Kirven said "mom-and-pop" businesses would be exempt from the new fee, and he proposed an amendment clarifying that where independent insurance agents operate from a single umbrella office only the business location would pay the annual fee.

A draft of the ordinance says the fee would apply to businesses already required to get licenses or registrations with the state -- to operate a retail business or sell liquor, for example.

The ordinance says a business registration could be revoked in case of a large number of police calls, frequent arrests, ongoing litter problems or code violations. Violation of the proposed system would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine no greater than $200.

At least two specific nightclubs on the Westside have figured prominently in previous discussions about the business license. Sheriff’s Office officials have said they generated hundreds of police calls, and Councilwoman Judy Gilstrap said Sheriff Steve Loftis originally requested the measure.

County officials have said the fee would only generate enough revenue to cover the cost of administrating it, and they have speculated that it would help catch some restaurants that may be ducking the newly imposed hospitality tax for local parks.

Councilman Joe Dill questioned how the county would enforce the registration for such a vast number of county businesses. County Administrator Joe Kernell said the county would use a state-provided list of firms with various registrations to mail fee notices.

Councilwoman Lottie Gibson said she has had numerous inquiries about the measure and successfully moved to hold the matter.

Small-government activists have previously called the proposal "communistic," but only Ed Paxton -- a frequent council critic -- opposed the measure in a public hearing Tuesday night.

He listed 10 current economic hardships and then characterized the business fee as "foolishness," and a "mess of crap."

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