White, Cain kill Town business info collect ordinance change
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s action to approve, on final reading, an amendment to replace the Town’s existing business license requirements with a new ordinance, titled Business Registration Program, failed during the Board’s meeting Thursday, Dec. 12.
“In the first reading of the ordinance (amendment), the Board requested the Home Occupation definition be referenced in the ordinance for second reading,” Town recorder Allison Myers said. “That update has been made.”
Still, “I can’t vote for this, mayor, because of the section on home businesses and booth businesses,” Alderman David White said. “A lot of citizens in Farragut are retired; they run businesses out of their homes to supplement their income.”
White and Alderman Alex Cain voted against the amendment, while Mayor Ron Williams and Vice Mayor Scott Meyer voted for it, creating a tie and causing the motion to fail. Alderman Drew Burnette was absent.
“I realize (the staff is) just wanting permission to collect information, but if you collect the information, something’s got to be done with it someday,” White said. “It may not be this Board, but another Board could take it up and do whatever they want to.
“I just feel like these people shouldn’t have to pay sales tax if we ever try to put a sales tax on them,” he added. “The rest of this ordinance I don’t have a problem with, but if it did not have that about home businesses and booth businesses, I could support it.”
Town administrator David Smoak said the ordinance already has been in place for some time. “We’re just changing the name of it to the Business Registration Program rather than the Business License Program because a lot of cities have business licenses, and they have a business tax that goes with the licenses,” he said.
“We don’t do that (tax), so we just wanted to make sure it was really clear to businesses that come into Town that this isn’t a licenses process like they’re used to,” Smoak added. “It’s a business registration program.”
Regarding “the piece about the home-based business, there’s a section in our zoning ordinance that talks about the types (of businesses) that are allowed in homes,” Smoak said. “Many of those are service-based businesses. They could be architects; they could be a masseuse (or) a hairdresser, and they don’t do any kind of sales tax.
“Any of those businesses would have to register, anyway, with the state of Tennessee if they have a sales use on permit,” he added. “That would not be something that goes to the Town of Farragut.”
Any sales businesses, however, could include Internet sales, and “there are thresholds (of amount of sales) they would have to reach” before sales tax is collected, Smoak said. “That’s state law.”
