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City finance lays out stepwise plan to enforce business licenses and B&O filings
Summary
Finance staff described a multi-step enforcement process — outreach, two warning letters, subpoena, assessment, and potential liens or injunctions — and said implementation would begin after the B&O season, with documentation and certified mail for later steps.
City finance staff presented a stepwise plan Jan. 21 to increase compliance with business-license and Business & Occupation (B&O) tax filings.
Staff described a staged approach: initial outreach by phone and email, a first "welcoming" warning letter, a sterner second warning, and, if necessary, subpoenas for tax records to calculate owed amounts. If compliance still fails, staff said it would assess liabilities (using returned records or comparables) and pursue liens on property or an injunction in circuit court; businesses would have the right to appeal assessments to the finance committee.
"This letter will be nice and welcoming," a finance staffer said of the first-warning step, adding that subsequent mailings would be certified with return receipt to create a documented record. Staff emphasized the process is intended to be front-end heavy — to secure voluntary compliance — and acknowledged implementing it will require time and staff resources. The finance office estimated the first warning letters would begin after B&O returns are processed (end of February) and that a software tool may help centralize correspondence and evidence.
Council members said enforcement has been lax historically and supported a fair, documented process; several members asked staff to report personnel and cost implications during the upcoming budget cycle.
Next step: finance will develop templates and a tracking system, begin outreach at the end of February and return to the council with resource estimates if additional staff or software are needed.
