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CITY. OF SAN BERtORDINO - REQUEST OR COUNCIL ACTION
From: Rachel Krasney, City Clerk
Subject: Ordinance of the City of San Bernardino
Amending Chapter 5.04 of the San
Bernardino Municipal Code relating to
Business Registration Certificates.
Dept: City Clerk's Office
Date:
December 5, 1991
Synopsis of Previous Council action:
11/21/91: Legislative Review committee approved (2 to 1) the attached proposal to change
designation of -Business License- to -Business Registration Certificate- and removal
of Certificate of Occupancy requirement from Business Registriation Certificate
process.
Recommended motion:
To approve City Clerk's proposal to change designation of "Business License"
to "Business Registration Certificate"; authorize the City Clerk to take
necessary action to implement the change; and that the Ordinance amending
Chapter 5.04 of the San Bernardino Municipal Code relating to Business
Registration Certificates he laid over for final adoption.
~~v~
Contact person:
Rachel krasnev
Phone:
5]02
Supporting data attached: Yes
Ward:
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount:
S4,lOl qt;;
Source: (Acct. No.! 001-033-53016
(Acct. DescriPtion)
Printing Charges
Finance:
Council Notes:
75-0262
Agenda Item No
19--
CITY OF SAN BERNC"DINO - REQUEST PjR COUNCIL ACTION
STAFF REPORT
TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Rachel Krasney, City Clerk
November 22, 1991
DATE:
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION AT MEETING OF DECEMBER
16, 1991 RE PROPOSAL TO CHANGE DESIGNATION OF
"BUSINESS LICENSE" TO "BUSINESS REGISTRATION
CERTIFICATE" AND REMOVAL OF CERTIFICATE OF
OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENT FROM BUSINESS REGISTRATION
CERTIFICATE PROCESS
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At the November 21, 1991 meeting of the Legislative Review
Committee, the attached proposal to change the designation of
"Business License" to "Business Registration Certificate" and
removal of the certificate of occupancy requirement from the
Business Registration Certificate Process was approved by a vote
of two to one.
As outlined in the attached report to the Legislative Review
Committee, our experience in the past has been that oftentimes
when a new business owner obtains a "business license" the owner
mistakenly believes that no other permits are needed. Yet, there
may be other steps to be taken to comply fully with other
requirements imposed by other levels of government.
By changing the designation from "business license" to "Business
Registration Certificate" we will more clearly define the
document which is being issued when a business pays their tax for
doing business in the City of San Bernardino.
In a survey of other cities, we found at least nine cities which
use either of the following designations: "Business Tax
Certificate" or "Business Tax Registration Certificate". Those
cities include: Alhambra, Anaheim, Bakersfield, Downey, Fresno,
Fullerton, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Barbara.
Since the word "tax" has a negative connotation, I am
recommending that we simply call our document a Business
Registration Certificate. This change does not necessitate our
incurring any additional costs other than that for redesigning
the application form and certificate to reflect the new
designation. Funds are set aside annually to allow us to order
the forms needed to process applications/licenses.
o 0
Staff Report to the Mayor and City Council
From: Rachel Krasney, City Clerk
Date: November 22, 1991
Page Two
If this change is approved by the City Council, and the Ordinance
amending Chapter 5.04 of the Municipal Code is approved for first
reading at the December 16, 1991 Council meeting, second and
final reading will take place at the meeting of January 6, 1992,
with the Ordinance taking effect on February 6, 1992.
We will continue to utilize existing application forms/licenses
until the supply is exhausted and phase in new application
forms/certificates when the need arises.
The second part of the proposal presented to the Legislative
Review Committee was to remove the requirement for a Certificate
of Occupancy from the business license process.
Past practice was that when someone came in to apply for a
business license, they also had to verify that a valid C of 0
existed and a business license could not be issued unless a valid
C of 0 existed for the premises. This resulted in a loss of
revenue for the business license division (estimated to be
$100,000 annually) because we could not collect business license
fees; however, in most cases, the businesses were already
operating and generating sales yet the City was not receiving its
fees for doing business here.
A survey of other cities was also conducted to determine what
their practice is and the results of that survey are included in
the attached report to the Legislative Review Committee.
Several meetings have taken place with all of the departments
concerned, Le., Department of Planning and Building Services;
the City Attorney; Fire Department; City Administrator; in an
effort to streamline the process. Since July of this year, the
Department of Planning and Building Services has modified the
process so that the issuance of a business license is not
delayed; however, such changes will require an amendment to
Section 5.04.025 of the Municipal Code. The action requested
will formalize those changes.
If any further information is needed, please do not hesitate to
call me at extension 3210.
~~s~
City Clerk
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