COUNTYWIDE : Business License Fee Deadline Nearing
July 1 is the deadline for businesses that operate in unincorporated Ventura County to pay a new business license fee, the Ventura County treasurer’s office announced.
County officials mailed applications for the new business tax to about 5,000 businesses, from produce stands to multinational oil companies. Businesses within city limits that operate in unincorporated areas also are subject to the new fee.
Penalties of 10% of the taxes or $10 per month will begin accruing the last day of July.
Business owners will pay $35 to $500 a year under the new ordinance, assistant treasurer John McKinney said.
The county expects to collect about $500,000 in fees.
McKinney said the new levy spreads the tax burden more equitably, since businesses in cities already pay such a license fee.
“We’ve had a couple of unhappy people and, interestingly enough, we’ve had a couple of people who were real proud to get their first business license,” he said.
The county adopted state classifications under which businesses such as locksmiths and billboard owners will pay the lowest rates, and oil well operators and cemeteries the most.
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