252 / 49.51% Yes votes ...... 257 / 50.49% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

On November 5, 1996, the California voters adopted Proposition 218, which prohibits the City Council from raising general revenue taxes without the approval of a majority of the electorate voting at an election at which the question is submitted. Business license fees are used for general revenue purposes and are subject to Proposition 218.

The City Council has proposed the adoption of Ordinance No. 474, which would revise the categories of business licenses and increase the business license rates in an amount roughly equivalent to the increase in the Consumer Price Index since the current rates were established in 1989. Resolution No. 792 calls for an election to submit to the voters the question of the approval of Ordinance No. 474.

Ordinance 474 increases the minimum annual general business license fee from $30.00 to $50.00. For specific changes to other categories of business license and rates, voters are referred to the text of Ordinance 474. Approval of Ordinance 474 also allows the City to adjust rates annually based upon the federal Consumer Price Index. Charitable and non-profit organizations are exempt from paying a business license tax.

If a majority of those voting vote "Yes" on the question, then the City Council may adopt Ordinance No. 474 updating the rates for business licenses within the City of Blue Lake. The new rates would be applicable beginning with the first calendar year following the effective date of the ordinance. If a majority of those voting vote "No", the City Council will not adopt Ordinance No. 474, and the categories of business licenses and the business license rates will remain the same as established in 1989 by Ordinance 396.

Blue Lake has not adjusted its business license rates since 1989. The City relies on these fees as part of its General Fund revenues which directly affect our daily life in Blue Lake through their support of parks and recreation programs, public safety, and street maintenance. The General Fund is also supported by a percentage of property taxes and vehicle licensing fees, but as we learn from recent experience, this source is unreliable as the state legislature has ultimate control of how many if any of these dollars the City receives. The new proposed schedule in Ordinance 474 attempts to adjust for the lack of a rate increase since 1989 as well as implement an annual cost of living adjustment to help compensate for future cost increases. Some representative changes follow. Licenses for a one-person business will go from the current $30 to $50 a year. Typical increases that landlords experience will range from less than $1 per space per month in mobile home parks to less than $2 per unit per month for landlords with apartment buildings or most other multiple unit situations. Charitable and non-profit organizations are exempt from payment of these fees. Unlike many other cities, the City of Blue Lake receives little sales tax and no bed tax. Therefore, the business license fees are an important supplement to General Fund revenues. This measure requires a simple majority vote to pass. The City Council unanimously urges a YES vote on this measure.

s/ David Nakamura, Councilperson
s/ Marlene Smith, Councilperson
s/ Brian Julian, Councilperson
s/ Adelene Jones, Councilperson
s/ Marlene Smith, Councilperson
s/ Sherman Schapiro, Councilperson

ORDINANCE NO. 474

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BLUE LAKE UPDATING RATES FOR BUSINESS LICENSES WITHIN THE CITY OF BLUE LAKE AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 396

The City Council of the City of Blue Lake does ordain as follows:

Section 1. RATES DECLARED ESTABLISHED. The City Council of the City of Blue Lake hereby determines and proposes that the rates of license for the business, trades, professions, exhibitions, and occupations hereinafter set forth may be, and the same are, hereby declared established for and within the City of Blue Lake and shall be collected pursuant to the provisions of Ordinance 471.

Section 2. GENERALLY.

(a) Every person conducting or carrying on a business consisting of selling any goods, wares and merchandise or commodities, services, or conducting or carrying on any profession, trade, occupation, calling or business not otherwise specifically licensed by other sections of this ordinance, shall pay an annual or semi-annual license tax of $50.00 per year plus $15.00 per year for each employee for the first fourteen (14) employees in excess of one (1) plus $7.50 per year for each employee in excess of fifteen (15).

(b) Every person not having a fixed place of business within the City of Blue Lake, who delivers goods, wares, or merchandise of any kind or performs services within the City (other than those services specifically exempted by City ordinance or State Law), by the use of a vehicle, shall pay a license tax of $50.00 per year. Every person who is a licensed contractor and who performs business within the City, shall pay a license tax of $15.00 per quarter, if paid quarterly, or $50.00 per year, if paid annually.

(c) Every person conducting or carrying on a business consisting of door-to-door salesman or traveling salesman shall pay an annual license tax of $100.00 per year or pay a daily fee of $30.00 plus $5.00 for each salesperson in excess of one (1).

Section 3. GAMES. Every person operating or maintaining a coin operated electronic or arcade game, pool table, pinball machine or similar device shall pay a license tax of $40.00 per machine per year.

Section 4. VENDING MACHINES. Every person operating or maintaining a coin operated juke box, vending machine, cigarette machine or similar device shall pay a license tax of $20.00 per machine per year.

Section 5. CARNIVALS AND CIRCUSES. For every person owning, maintaining, conducting, or presenting a Carnival, Circus, menagerie, acrobatic performance, or exhibition of trained animals, after first having obtained a permit so to do, from the City of Blue Lake, the following license fee shall be charged and collected in advance: $50.00 per day plus $10.00 per day for each and every additional show, attraction, or exhibition for which a separate admission charge is made. For the purpose of this ordinance the word "carnival" shall mean and include any group of attractions such as ball games of chance, Ferris Wheels, and similar forms of entertainment.

Section 6. MOVING PICTURES. For every person conducting or showing moving pictures in the City of Blue Lake a fee of $50.00 per year or $10.00 per day.

Section 7. MOTHER-IN-LAW AND SELF-CONTAINED UNITS. Any person carrying on the business of renting at their personal residence a self-contained unit with private access or a mother-in-law unit shall pay an annual license fee of $40.00 for the first unit plus $10.00 per unit for each additional unit .

Section 8. ROOMING HOUSES, HOTELS, MOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST INNS, MOBILEHOME PARKS, DUPLEXES AND APARTMENTS, AND COMMERCIAL OR MIXED USE RENTALS. Any person carrying on the business of conducting or operating a rooming house, hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, mobilehome park, duplex or apartment, or commercial or mixed use rentals shall pay an annual license fee of $50.00 per year for each parcel and for each unit or rental space in excess of one on the parcel shall pay an additional $10.00 per unit per year.

Section 9. RESIDENCES. Any person carrying on the business of renting one or more residences shall pay a license fee of $50.00 per year for one such rental unit on a parcel, and if there is more than one such rental unit on a parcel, including attached or separate self-contained units such as mother-in-law units, an additional fee of $25.00 per year for each such additional unit with a maximum of $100.00 per year per parcel. A residence shall be construed to mean living quarters having facilities for cooking as well as sleeping.

Section 10. MINI STORAGE. Every person conducting or carrying on the business of mini storage shall pay an annual license fee of $50.00 for up to twenty units, plus an annual fee of $2.50 per unit for each unit over twenty.

Section 11. CPI ESCALATOR. On January 1 of each year, commencing January 1, 2005, each rate, fee, or charge established by this Ordinance and then in effect shall be subject to an increase. The amount of the increase shall be based upon the consumer price index (CPI) of the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Statistics, for November, 2004, (all urban consumers). The increase shall be in the same proportion as the index price for the month of November just preceding the adjustment has increased over the base index. The increase of the fees, rates, and charges shall be the amount so determined, rounded to the nearest $.05. Any adjustment to the fees, rates, and charges as hereinbefore provided shall likewise be adjusted on January 1st of each succeeding year.

Section 12. VOTER APPROVAL. This Ordinance must, by law, be submitted to the qualified voters of the City, whose approval by a majority vote of those casting ballots is required if the tax is to become effective. The City Council of the City of Blue Lake resolved to call for a special election to be held on November 2, 2004, for this purpose.

Section 13. AUTHORITY. The City Council of the City of Blue Lake enacts this Ordinance pursuant to Government Code Section 37101 and intends by this Ordinance to satisfy the requirements of Article XIII C of the Constitution of the State of California.

Section 14. SEVERABILITY. If any section, subsection, sentence, phrase, portion or part of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, clauses, phrases, parts or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

Section 15. REPEAL. Ordinance No. 396 is hereby repealed.

Section 16. ADOPTION. The City Council of the City of Blue Lake is empowered and authorized to adopt this Ordinance 474 upon its confirmation by the voters of the City at the special election of November 2, 2004.