Chapter 5.05
BUSINESS LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
Sections:
5.05.010 Engaging in business.
5.05.020 Business license registration required.
5.05.040 Application procedure.
5.05.060 Transfer or sale of business – New registration required.
5.05.010 Engaging in business.
A. The term “engaging in business” means commencing, conducting, or continuing in business, and also the exercise of corporate or franchise powers, as well as liquidating a business when the liquidators thereof hold themselves out to the public as conducting such business.
B. SVMC 5.05.010 sets forth examples of activities that constitute engaging in business in the City, and establishes safe harbors for certain of those activities so that a person who meets the criteria may engage in de minimis business activities in the City without having to pay a business license registration fee. The activities listed in SVMC 5.05.010 are illustrative only and are not intended to narrow the definition of “engaging in business” in SVMC 5.05.010(A). If an activity is not listed, whether it constitutes engaging in business in the City shall be determined by considering all the facts and circumstances and applicable law.
C. Without being all inclusive, any one of the following activities conducted within the City by a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on its behalf, constitutes engaging in business and requires a person to register and obtain a business license registration:
1. Owning, renting, leasing, maintaining, or having the right to use, or using, tangible personal property, intangible personal property, or real property permanently or temporarily located in the City.
2. Owning, renting, leasing, using, or maintaining an office, place of business, or other establishment in the City.
3. Soliciting sales.
4. Making repairs or providing maintenance or service to real or tangible personal property, including warranty work and property maintenance.
5. Providing technical assistance or service, including quality control, product inspections, warranty work, or similar services on or in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf.
6. Installing, constructing, or supervising installation or construction of real or tangible personal property.
7. Soliciting, negotiating, or approving franchise, license, or other similar agreements.
8. Collecting current or delinquent accounts.
9. Picking up and transporting tangible personal property, solid waste, construction debris, or excavated materials.
10. Providing disinfecting and pest control services, employment and labor pool services, home nursing care, janitorial services, appraising, landscape architectural services, security system services, surveying, and real estate services including the listing of homes and managing real property.
11. Rendering professional services such as those provided by accountants, architects, attorneys, auctioneers, consultants, engineers, professional athletes, barbers, baseball clubs and other sports organizations, chemists, consultants, psychologists, court reporters, dentists, doctors, detectives, laboratory operators, teachers, veterinarians.
12. Meeting with customers or potential customers, even when no sales or orders are solicited at the meetings.
13. Training or recruiting agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others, domiciled or operating on a job in the City, acting on its behalf, or for customers or potential customers.
14. Investigating, resolving, or otherwise assisting in resolving customer complaints.
15. In-store stocking or manipulating products or goods, sold to and owned by a customer, regardless of where sale and delivery of the goods took place.
16. Delivering goods in vehicles owned, rented, leased, used, or maintained by the person or another acting on its behalf.
D. If a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on the person’s behalf, engages in no other activities in or with the City except the following, it need not register and obtain a business license registration:
1. Meeting with suppliers of goods and services as a customer.
2. Meeting with government representatives in their official capacity, other than those performing contracting or purchasing functions.
3. Attending meetings, such as board meetings, retreats, seminars, and conferences, or other meetings wherein the person does not provide training in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf. This provision does not apply to any board of director member or attendee engaging in business such as a member of a board of directors who attends a board meeting.
4. Renting tangible or intangible property as a customer when the property is not used in the City.
5. Attending, but not participating in, a “trade show” or “multiple vendor events.” Such activities may be subject to other City regulations.
6. Conducting advertising through the mail.
7. Soliciting sales by phone from a location outside the City.
E. A seller located outside the City merely delivering goods into the City by means of common carrier is not required to register and obtain a business license registration; provided, that it engages in no other business activities in the City. Such activities do not include those in SVMC 5.05.010(D).
The City expressly intends that engaging in business includes any activity sufficient to establish nexus for purposes of applying the license registration fee under the law and the Constitutions of the United States and the state of Washington. Nexus is presumed to continue as long as the taxpayer benefits from the activity that constituted the original nexus generating contact or subsequent contacts. (Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.020 Business license registration required.
A. Every person engaging in business shall register such person’s business with the City. License registration shall include completion of a registration request, payment of any applicable license registration fees, and receipt of endorsement or approval of the license registration application by the City. If more than one business is located on a single premises, including residential home-based businesses, separate license registrations shall be required for each separate business conducted. Businesses with more than one City location shall register each location separately.
B. Valid License Registration. No person may engage in business in the City or with the City without first having obtained and being the holder of a valid annual Washington State business license registration, and a valid annual City license registration.
C. The city manager is hereby authorized to enter into an agreement with the State of Washington Master License Service, its successor, or any other entity as allowed by law under which that agency shall accept and process City business license registration applications.
D. Threshold for Out-of-City Businesses. For purposes of the license registration by Chapter 5.05 SVMC, any person or business whose annual value of products, gross proceeds of sales, or gross income of the business in the City is equal to or less than $2,000 and who does not maintain a place of business within the City shall submit a business license registration to the City. The threshold does not apply to regulatory license requirements or activities that require a specialized permit. (Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.030 Exemptions.
The following services and activities shall be exempt from the provisions of Chapter 5.05 SVMC:
A. Delivering newspapers and periodicals.
B. Soliciting orders from retail establishments via telephone, Internet or mail for the delivery and sale of goods, wares, and merchandise unless the person’s place of business is located within the City.
C. Minors engaged in babysitting.
D. The casual sale of items of personal property where the person conducting such sale is not regularly engaged in the business of selling items of personal property (for example, garage sales, service agency bake sales).
E. Sales by farmers or gardeners of their own farm products raised and grown exclusively upon lands owned or occupied by them.
F. Providers of Internet or wireless phone services where the provider operates from premises located outside the City and the only event occurring within the City is receipt of such goods and services.
G. Temporary craft booths and food booths lasting 10 days or less in any one location. (Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.040 Application procedure.
A. Application for the business license registration or renewal shall be made in writing to the City upon a form provided by the City, which may be electronic, and which may be through any agency the City has contracted with for processing of license registration applications. Business license registrations shall include a physical address for the business which shall not be a post office box or a mail delivery designation for addresses associated with a commercial mail receiving agency. Complete applications shall include all necessary information as set forth on the form, any additional information requested by the City such as additional information about the nature of the business operations, and complete payment of any applicable fees.
B. If the applicant is a partnership, the application shall be made by one of the partners; if a corporation, by one of the officers thereof; if a foreign corporation, partnership or nonresident individual, by the resident agent or local manager of the corporation, partnership or individual.
C. Home Businesses. A business license registration application for a home business shall not be approved until a home business permit is applied for and received from the City by the applicant.
D. Review. The city manager or designee shall review each application for completeness and may return any application that is incomplete. The city manager or designee may deny and reject any applications on grounds listed in and pursuant to SVMC 5.05.070(B). In the event any application is rejected, the City may, but is not required to, refund any fees collected.
E. Effect of Business License Registration. Receipt of a business license registration shall not be deemed or construed as approval of or right to any particular land use, approval of a particular structure, facility, or improvement, or approval under any other code provision. Persons with business license registrations shall comply with all applicable code provisions, including but not limited to land use, zoning, environmental, and building regulations. The City may enforce such provisions regardless of any business license registration that may have been received by an owner or operator. (Ord. 23-008 § 2, 2023; Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.050 Fee.
A. City business license registration shall occur on an annual basis and shall automatically expire one year from the date of registration or renewal for which the City registration or previous renewal was issued.
B. An annual fee shall be charged for registering a business or businesses and renewing any license registration. Business license registration fees shall be established by city council through adoption of a resolution. The City may impose an additional delinquency fee for any late renewal that is not paid by the applicable annual renewal due date. (Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.060 Transfer or sale of business – New registration required.
Upon the sale or transfer of any business, the license registration issued to the prior owner or transferer shall automatically expire on the date of such sale or transfer and the new owner intending to continue such business in the City shall apply for a new license registration pursuant to the procedures established by Chapter 5.05 SVMC. (Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.070 Violation – Penalty.
A. Violation. Failure to comply with any provision herein shall be a violation of Chapter 5.05 SVMC. The City may seek any remedy available by law, including but not limited to denial, suspension or revocation of a business license registration and imposition of penalties pursuant to SVMC 5.05.070(D).
B. Grounds for Denial, Suspension or Revocation of License. The city manager or designee may deny, suspend, or revoke a business license registration when he/she has reason to believe based upon investigation of documents, physical evidence, or witness statements that the following grounds exist:
1. The license application contains an omission or misrepresentation of material fact;
2. The license application is inconsistent with applicable land use regulations, including zoning, home business, or other applicable land use regulations;
3. The license was procured by fraud;
4. The license is used, or intended to be used, for a business materially different from that applied for;
5. A violation of any of the requirements of Chapter 5.05 SVMC;
6. The business operates in a manner that constitutes a nuisance pursuant to common law or the laws and regulations of the state or City; or
7. The business, licensee, or the employee, director, manager, partner or agent of the business or licensee is cited by law enforcement or any other regulatory authority for violation of any regulation or law authorizing or regulating the license, or regulating the business, activity, or purpose for which the license was issued, regardless of whether such citation results in a conviction by a court.
C. In the event the city manager or designee determines to deny, suspend or revoke a City business license registration, he/she shall issue a determination in writing to the business owner listed on the license registration, stating the basis for such determination, the business owner’s rights to appeal, and the effect of the determination. The determination shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall become effective three days after issuance. A business owner shall cease all business operations upon denial, suspension or revocation of a business license registration. A determination to deny, suspend or revoke a license registration shall not in any way limit the City’s right to any other remedy, including but not limited to assessment of applicable penalties.
D. Penalty. Any person, firm, or corporation who knowingly violates or fails to comply with any term or provision of Chapter 5.05 SVMC shall be deemed to have committed a civil infraction. A person, firm, or corporation found to have committed a civil infraction shall be assessed a daily monetary penalty pursuant to RCW 7.80.120, as adopted or subsequently amended, including any applicable statutory assessment. The penalties shall be assessed as follows:
1. First offense: Class 3 civil infraction.
2. Second offense arising out of the same facts as the first offense: Class 2 civil infraction.
3. Third offense and any other subsequent offenses arising out of the same facts as the first offense: Class 1 civil infraction. (Ord. 23-008 § 2, 2023; Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).
5.05.080 Appeal.
A. A person may appeal any (1) determination of a violation of Chapter 5.05 SVMC other than violations associated with the imposition of penalties, which shall be appealed pursuant to SVMC 5.05.080(B), (2) denial, suspension, or revocation of a City business license registration, or (3) determination that a person is engaged in business and the person disputes that determination to the City’s hearing examiner within 14 days of such determination. The date of determination shall be three days after the date that the determination is mailed by the City to the address listed on the City business license registration. Appeals shall comply with SVMC Appendix B, Rules of Procedure for Proceedings Before the Hearing Examiner of the City of Spokane Valley, Washington. The hearing examiner’s decision is the final decision of the City and may be appealed to the Spokane County superior court within 21 days of the decision being issued.
B. Appeals of the imposition of penalties shall be made pursuant to Chapter 7.80 RCW. (Ord. 23-008 § 2, 2023; Ord. 18-020 § 3, 2018).