Possible Changes to Union City Business License Ordinances

Current city law requires Union City business owners to pay up their personal property and real estate taxes before receiving their annual business licenses.

There are, however, some real estate developers who owe large sums in back taxes for real estate they own. They blame the economic downturn and falling housing market for their inability to sell their properties and pay off their debts.

The downward spiral continues if they don’t pay off their taxes and are unable to get the necessary business licenses, they then can’t legally sell the properties that would give them the funds to pay the taxes money they owe.

In order to break the cycle, Community Development Director Joseph Graves proposes changing the ordinance to only require business owners to pay off their personal property taxes in order to qualify for a business license.

He argues that there are enough other regulations in place to ensure the eventual payment of real estate taxes without using business licenses.

Franklin County places a tax lien on properties who have over 3 years of unpaid real estate taxes. The county could then seize the property.

According to The Missourian, as of now “city permits can’t be issued to the businesses, but the city may have to call a special meeting to possibly change the ordinance and only require personal property be collected before issuing licenses.”

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