Chapter 5.05
BUSINESS LICENSES
Sections:
5.05.010 Exercise of revenue license power.
5.05.040 Business license required.
5.05.045 Business license application.
5.05.046 Business license renewal – Penalties.
5.05.050 Additional license fees.
5.05.060 Violations – Penalties.
5.05.080 Sale or transfer of business.
5.05.090 Fee constitutes debt.
Prior legislation: Ords. 87, 88, 90, 97, 104, 113, 115, 164, 279.
5.05.010 Exercise of revenue license power.
For the town of Yacolt to carry out its duties delegated to it by the laws of Washington State, maintenance of current information with respect to business, trade, service, commercial and professional activities carried on within the town is necessary and essential for the protection of public health, safety and welfare. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 1), 2018.]
5.05.020 Definitions.
In construing the provisions of this chapter, except when otherwise declared or clearly apparent from context, the following definitions shall be applied:
“Business Licensing Service” or “BLS” means the office within the Washington State Department of Revenue providing business licensing services to the town of Yacolt.
“Canvasser” means any person, whether a resident of the town or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place, or from street to street, soliciting or taking or attempting to take orders for the sale of goods, wares or merchandise, including magazines, books, periodicals, or personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery, or for service to be performed in the future, whether or not the individual has, carries, or exposes for sale an example of such subject of such orders. Such definition shall include any person who for himself, or for another person, firm or corporation, hires, leases or occupies any building, motor vehicle, trailer, structure, apartment, shop, or other place within the town for the primary purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
“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.
1. This definition sets forth examples of activities that constitute engaging in business in the town, and establish safe harbors for certain of those activities so that a person who meets certain criteria may engage in de minimis business activities in the town without having to pay a business license fee. The activities listed in this section are illustrative only and are not intended to narrow the definition of “engaging in business” in this subsection. If an activity is not listed, whether it constitutes engaging in business in the town shall be determined by considering all the facts and circumstances and applicable law.
2. Without being all inclusive, any one of the following activities conducted within the town 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.
a. 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 town.
b. Owning, renting, leasing, using, or maintaining an office, place of business, or other establishment in the town.
c. Soliciting sales.
d. Making repairs or providing maintenance or service to real or tangible property, including warranty work and property maintenance.
e. 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.
f. Installing, construction, or supervising installation or construction of, real or tangible personal property.
g. Soliciting, negotiating, or approving franchise, license, or other similar agreements.
h. Collecting current or delinquent accounts.
i. Picking up and transporting tangible personal property, solid waste, construction debris, or excavated materials.
j. Providing disinfecting and pesticide 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 listing of homes and maintaining real property.
k. Rendering personal services such as those provided by accountants, architects, attorneys, auctioneers, professional athletes, barbers, baseball clubs and other sports organizations, chemists, consultants, psychologists, court reporters, dentists, doctors, detectives, laboratory operators, teachers, veterinarians.
l. Meeting with customers or potential customers, even when no sales or orders are solicited at the meetings.
m. Training or recruiting agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others, domiciled or operating on a job in the town, acting on its behalf, or for customers or potential customers.
n. Investigating, resolving, or otherwise assisting in resolving customer complaints.
o. In-store stocking or manipulating products or goods, sold to and owned by a customer, regardless of where sale or delivery of goods took place.
p. Delivering goods in vehicles owned, rented, leased, used, or maintained by the person or another acting on its behalf.
3. The town expressly intends that engaging in business include any activity sufficient to establish nexus for the purpose of applying the license fee under the law and 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.
“Hawker” means every person, either as principal or agent, selling or offering for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise, articles, things, or personal property of whatsoever nature or description, by peddling the same from house to house, upon any street, highway, or public place, who shall make public outcry or give any musical or other public entertainment or make any public speech to draw customers or attract notice is hereby defined to be a hawker.
“Peddler” means any person, whether a resident of the town or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place, or from street to street, conveying or transporting goods, wares or merchandise, or offering or exposing the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers.
“Person” means any individual, receiver, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, trust, company, firm, co-partnership, joint venture company, joint stock company, business trust, corporation, association, or any group of individuals acting as a unit. It shall not include clubs, fraternities or any other type of association of a benevolent, charitable, religious or fraternal nature, nor shall it include any public or private school or members of associations thereof.
“Taxpayer” includes any individual, group of individuals, corporations or associations required to have a business license hereunder, or liable for any license fee, or for the collection of any license fee hereunder or who engages in any business, or who performs any act, service, or labor receiving wages, salary, commissions or other compensation having monetary value.
“Town” means town of Yacolt.
“Transient merchant” means any person, firm or corporation, whether as owner, agent, consignee, or whether a resident of the town of Yacolt or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling, delivering goods, wares and merchandise within said town, and who in furtherance of such purpose hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, motor vehicle, trailer, tent, apartments, shops, or any street, alley, or other place within the town for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares and merchandise, either privately or at public auction; provided, that such definition shall not be construed to include any person, firm, or corporation who, while occupying such temporary location, does not sell from stock, but exhibits examples for the purpose of securing orders for future delivery only. The person, firm or corporation so engaged shall not be relieved from complying with the provisions of this chapter merely by reason of associating temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant, or auctioneer, or by conducting such transient business in connection with, as part of, or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant, or auctioneer.
Words in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural shall include the singular. Words in one gender shall include all other genders. [Ord. 581 § 1.2, 2020; Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 2), 2018.]
5.05.030 Exemptions.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:
A. Persons selling personal property at wholesale to dealers;
B. Newspaper delivery people;
C. Merchants or their employees delivering goods in the regular course of business;
D. Persons conducting garage sales;
E. Sales or solicitations conducted by a charitable, religious, patriotic or philanthropic organization; provided, however, that such organization, association or corporation shall furnish all of its members, agents and representatives conducting solicitation credentials, stating the name of the organization, the name of the agent and the purpose of the solicitation.
F. To the extent set forth in this section, the following persons and businesses shall be exempt from the registration, license and/or license fee requirements as outlined in this chapter:
1. 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 town, shall be exempt from the general business license requirements in this chapter. The exemption does not apply to regulatory license requirements or activities that require a specialized permit.
2. If a person, or its employees, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on the person’s behalf, engages in no other activities in or with the town but the following, it need not register and obtain a business license:
a. Meeting with suppliers of goods and services as a customer.
b. Meeting with government representatives in their official capacity other than those performing contracting or purchasing functions.
c. 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 directors member or attendee engaging in business such as a member of a board of directors who attends a board meeting.
d. Renting tangible or intangible property as a customer when the property is not used in the town.
e. Conducting advertising through the mail.
f. Soliciting sales by phone from a location outside the town.
3. A seller located outside the town merely delivering goods into the town by means of common carrier is not required to register and obtain a business license; provided, that it engages in no other business activities in the town. Such activities do not include those in subsection (F)(2) of this section. [Ord. 581 § 1.3, 2020; Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 3), 2018.]
5.05.040 Business license required.
A. No person may engage in any business activity in the town without first having obtained through the Business Licensing Service (BLS) and being the holder of a valid and existing license to do so, as approved by the town clerk, to be known as a business license, issued through BLS under the provisions of this chapter as hereafter provided, and without paying the license fee as set forth in the town’s fee schedule for business license issuance. Such business license issued will expire on the date established by the Business Licensing Service, and must be renewed through BLS on or before that date to continue to engage in business in the town after that date. Renewals of business licenses are charged a town renewal fee as set forth in the town’s fee schedule for business license issuance.
B. The business license is personal and nontransferable. In case the same person conducts business at two or more separate places in the town on a permanent basis, a separate license for each place at which business is transacted is required, but for such additional licenses no additional fee will be required, provided also that only one license per location is required regardless of whether the person operates multiple types of business at the same location. In the event two or more persons each operate their own business at the same location, each person must obtain their own licenses for their respective business. Each license will be numbered, and show the name and place of the business of the taxpayer, and such other information as the clerk of the town deems necessary, and shall at all times be conspicuously posted in the place of business for which it is issued. If the place of business of the taxpayer is changed, the taxpayer must notify the Business Licensing Service sufficiently before the change to allow review and approval by the town clerk before business is commenced at the new location. A change of location may require submitting a new application for license as provided for in this chapter.
C. No person to whom a license has been issued pursuant to this chapter may allow any other person for whom a separate license is required to operate under or display such license. [Ord. 581 § 1.4, 2020; Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 4), 2018.]
5.05.045 Business license application.
Applications for the business license provided under this chapter are made through the Business Licensing Service (BLS). The application must include all information required for all licenses requested, as well as the total fees due for all licenses, including the application handling fee required by RCW 19.02.075. The application must be reviewed and approved by the town clerk in order for the license to be issued through BLS. Business may not be conducted within the town until the town business license has been approved and issued. [Ord. 581 § 1.5, 2020.]
5.05.046 Business license renewal – Penalties.
A. The town business license provided for under this chapter expires on the date established by the Business Licensing Service (BLS), and must be renewed on or before that date in order to continue conducting business in the town.
B. The license renewal is submitted through BLS, and must include all information required to renew all licenses held, as well as the total fee due for all licenses being renewed, including the renewal application and handling fee required by RCW 19.02.075.
C. The term of the town business license and respective town license fee may be prorated as necessary to synchronize the license expiration date with that of the business license account maintained by BLS.
D. Failure to complete the license renewal by the expiration date will incur the late renewal penalty required by RCW 19.02.085 in addition to all other fees due.
E. Failure to complete the renewal within 120 days after expiration will result in the cancellation of the town business license and will require submitting a new application for a business license as provided for in this chapter in order to continue engaging in business in the town. [Ord. 581 § 1.6, 2020.]
5.05.050 Additional license fees.
The license fees herein levied shall be additional to any license fee imposed or levied under any law or any other ordinance of the town except as herein otherwise expressly provided. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 5), 2018.]
5.05.060 Violations – Penalties.
Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed $500.00 plus legal fees. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 6), 2018.]
5.05.070 Method of business license payment.
Repealed by Ord. 581. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 7), 2018.]
5.05.080 Sale or transfer of business.
Upon the sale or transfer of ownership of a business account for which a license fee is required by this chapter, the original license will be invalid and the purchaser or transferee is responsible for obtaining their own license prior to commencing business in the town under the acquired business. [Ord. 581 § 1.8, 2020; Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 8), 2018.]
5.05.090 Fee constitutes debt.
Any license fee due and unpaid under this chapter, and all penalties thereon, shall constitute a debt to the town and may be collected by court proceedings in the same manner as any other debt in like amount, which remedy shall be in addition to all other existing remedies. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 9), 2018.]
5.05.100 License revocation.
The town council may revoke the license issued to any person who is in default of any payment of license fee hereunder, or who shall fail to comply with any provisions of this chapter. Notice of such revocation shall be mailed to the person by the clerk, and on and after the date thereof any such person who continues to engage in business shall be deemed to be operating without a license and shall be subject to any and all penalties herein provided. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 10), 2018.]
5.05.110 Notices.
Any notice required by this chapter to be mailed shall be sent by ordinary mail, addressed to the address of the person or taxpayer shown by the records of the town clerk, or if no such address is shown, to such address as the town clerk is able to ascertain by reasonable effort. Failure of the person or taxpayer to receive such mailed notice shall not release the taxpayer from any license fee or penalties thereon, nor shall such failure to operate to extend any time limit set by the provisions of this chapter. [Ord. 571 § 2 (Exh. A § 11), 2018.]