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Bath considers business licenses tax
By Cynthia B. Coleman • Staff Writer
WARM SPRINGS - Mike Collins, Bath County attorney, presented the supervisors April 29 with some findings on a proposed business license tax.
Bath County had a business tax license placed into its ordinance in 1997, but since it did not "mirror" the state regulations, it was repealed because of local protest that it taxed business unfairly.
The state regulates how much counties can charge for business licenses based on population size. There are guidelines for counties of more than 50,000 in population and for those between 25,000 and 50,000. But Collins could findlittle information for counties with populations under 25,000. He propose that counties with small populations could set their rate at the rate of counties with a populations of 25,000 or these small counties could set their rates below.
Collins said there are two categories for business licenses. The first requires a license for all business, which for Bath is proposed at $30, and failing to obtain a license would be considered a misdemeanor.
When asked who would enforce the fees and licenses, Collins said the commissioner of revenue has subpoena power and could demand businesses come in for questioning about their license, having to fillout questionnaires under oath.
However, the records held by the commissioner of revenue would not be public information. They would be "highly confidential" and not released to any other governmental body.
The second type of business license is based on gross receipts, but Collins felt this type would not be a good option for Bath County.
Collins had a list of other types of taxes that Bath could install to generate revenue. Certain criminal fines could be taxed as a fineand fortitude tax. The county could designate which criminal fines would be paid to the county rather than to the state. He said the county should not instate fines with a high rate of loss, as they would mostly likely not be collected and the county would lose money with incurred court costs.
Collins said he would continue his research and present more information to supervisors later.
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