-Pilot program will run for one year-
OSOYOOS TIMES-December 12, 2007-
By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times
At its meeting last Monday, Osoyoos Town Council passed its first three readings on the creation of a single mobile business licence program.
For a yearly cost of $150, the licence would allow Osoyoos businesses that consider themselves mobile to operate in other Okanagan communities, without having to acquire business licences in those places.
The program would be given a one-year trial and is designed not to step on the economic toes of other communities, but to make operations easier for small-business owners.
Mayor John Slater used the example of an Osoyoos roofer who might have an occasional job in Oliver. This licence program, he said, would save that individual the hassle of having to acquire an Oliver business licence to shingle a roof or two.
I think it's important to support small business and try to simplify their life, said Councillor Allan Carswell. When you read through the fine print, I'm not entirely sure it's going to simplify anybody's life, but it's worth a try.
Councillor Stu Wells was adamant that Staff keep an eye on the program's progress.
I hope Staff is going to track this for us . . . so at the end of the year we can have a report, Wells said.
Carswell quipped he was sure small-business owners would update Council on the effectiveness of the program.
Should it pass fourth reading, the program will begin Jan. 1, 2008. Business licences are normally effective May 1-April 30, in accordance with the beginning and end of the fiscal year.
Because the mobile business licence would become effective at the beginning of the calendar year, businesses that buy single mobile business licences would be given a 33 per cent discount for 2008.
Vehicles for hire, social escort services and businesses such as fruit stands and seafood trucks would be excluded.
Several communities in the North Okanagan and Vancouver Island have had success with their own single mobile business licence programs.
