Mount Clemens advances first readings to repeal outdated vending and amusement-device licenses

The Mount Clemens City Commission voted to introduce and give first reading to ordinances repealing the city's vending-machine licensing rule (Ordinance 20.57) and the amusement-device licensing rule (Ordinance 20.58), and set second readings and adoption for Jan. 18, 2022.

City Clerk Miss Martin told commissioners the vending and amusement-device licenses are largely outdated, generate little revenue and are hard to enforce now that the city no longer maintains its own police department. "They generate minimal revenue, and they serve no real purpose," she said.

Commissioner Mentzer pressed for more data before final action, asking, "What does not having our own police department have to do with this? The sheriff department, won't they enforce this?" He also requested figures on how many licenses had been issued and what revenue those licenses produced, and said he intended to vote no without that information.

Supporters of the repeal said the city's licensing accounts are being streamlined as part of budgeting and that vending machines and amusement devices are rare in the city now. The commission approved the introductions on a roll-call vote; one commissioner recorded a dissenting vote during the vending-machine item. The second reading and adoption for both ordinances is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2022.

The measures were presented as housekeeping to remove obsolete licensing requirements rather than to create new policy; commissioners asked staff to provide more detailed counts and revenue figures ahead of the second reading.