09-17-25 EDC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – SEPTEMBER 17, 2025 6 Commissioner Poelzer said she is happy to help with getting new information. B. Business Licenses/Registration Process Senior Planner Fransen said she is bringing this back after the discussion at the August meeting. Staff described the difference between licensing and registration. Licenses are issued to businesses required by statute and by those outlined in the fee schedule, based on business type. Other businesses are requested to register. This topic was brought to the EDC to take a look at the process and offer feedback. Senior Planner Fransen said Staff heard the EDC question the fees outlined on the fee schedule. The fees are set at the levels they are based on the fee schedule adopted by City Council every year. The Council is responsible for setting those fees. The comments from EDC were that some of these are out of alignment and sought to find a way to make licensing more equitable for all businesses. Senior Planner Fransen said there was discussion about separating the business license and business registration forms to create two separate forms. This would make it clearer which businesses require a license and which are registrations. Staff has confirmed the forms can be separated. She asked if there are other fields that the EDC may suggest be added to the forms. Chair Murchie asked if business owners would rather have one or two things to fill out. Commissioner Gronquist said it will either be one or the other. Senior Planner Fransen said that staff would separate the list into two separate lists. Then the businesses would get whatever form they are required to, based on business type. The problem is how does a business know when they need to register. If there are two forms, then the ones who are only required to register wouldn’t get hung up on trying to determine if they owe a fee and what that amount may be. Commissioner Bonine said the license form would collect the same data as a registration. But an abbreviated form for businesses who don’t require a license may help avoid some of the confusion. He thinks there are still some questions surrounding fees, but this is a good starting point. Commissioner Gronquist said the sign question would have to be on both since a registered business may still have to pay a sign fee. Commissioners agreed the signs should be on each form. Commissioner Bonine asked what the code is. He thought the fee was based on the type of business. Senior Planner Fransen said renewal of a permanent sign has been incorporated into the license form but it is separate from the license fee. So it can be broken out differently on the form. Someone who is just registering may not realize there is still a fee for a sign.