Century Must Revamp Business License Rules, Costs

April 19, 2011

The Town of Century failed to update their business license regulations and fees as required by the state by 2008, now the town must try to backtrack and fix the error.

In 1971, the responsibility of issuing building licenses in Florida shifted from the state to local governments. Century adopted a business license scheduled in 1981. But following the 2005 to 2006 Florida hurricanes, Florida mandated that the business licenses should no longer be called a “license”, but rather a tax.

According to Century’s town attorney, Matt Dannheisser, unscrupulous contractors in the state would obtain business licenses in order to give credibility to their hurricane repair businesses, prompting the state to give local municipalities until October 2008 to adopt a local business tax receipt schedule. Century, Dannheisser said, failed to do so.

Now, the town has a few choices, the attorney said –

  • Adopt the 1971 state rates and business classes
  • Adopt business class and rates properly adopted by an adjacent local government such as Escambia County, if the Escambia County scheduled was adopted using an equity study commission.
  • If Escambia County did not adopt their schedule using an equity study commission, Century could then look at other comparable size towns in Florida and adopt their schedule what was recommended by an equity study commission.

To date, Dannheiser and Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez have been unable with simple searches to find the 1971 state rates.

If Century adopts the Escambia County rates, all business tax receipts will be $26.25. Currently, under their outdated law, Century collects $25 per business with few exceptions — such as $100 per day for circuses and $100 per week for carnivals.

The town council will consider business tax classes and fees at a future meeting after more research. There are currently 56 companies and individuals that hold a business license in Century.

Pictured: The Town of Century must revamp its current business license regulations and fees paid by businesses like Food Giant (seen in the aerial photo at top) and Whataburger. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

2 Responses to “Century Must Revamp Business License Rules, Costs”

  1. Century girl on April 21st, 2011 10:31 pm

    Shouldn’t a copy be on file in the state archives?

  2. Sierra on April 19th, 2011 4:24 pm

    Good luck Leslie in finding those records.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News