OXNARD : City May Lower Fees for Arcade Operators
The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday will consider lowering the city’s business license fees for arcade and vending-machine operators after arcade owners complained that the costs were unfairly high.
Oxnard began taxing arcade operators $10 per $1,000 in gross receipts in 1983, around the time that Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and other arcade games were the rage.
“The arcade owners were making money hand over fist,” City Manager Tom Frutchey said. “So they didn’t care.”
But the arcade business has markedly decreased in popularity due to high-tech home video games, and arcade owners are complaining that the fees--now $14 per $1,000 in gross receipts due to inflation--are too high.
That represents a 40% increase, compared to a retail business rate increase of 18% for that period. Oxnard officials are recommending that license fees for arcade and vending machines be reduced so that they are in line with other retail license fees.
Although a city report did not specify how much the rates would be under the proposal, city officials estimate that the fee cut would cost Oxnard about $8,000 a year.
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