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Home My WebLink About21297 1 ORDINANCE NO. 21,297 2 3 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 17, ARTICLE II OF THE 1988 4 REVISED LITTLE ROCK CODE OF ORDINANCES TO INCREASE THE 5 DETERMINATE OF A PART-TIME EMPLOYEE; TO REQUIRE 6 WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF A BUSINESS CLOSURE; TO ADD AND 7 MODIFY CERTAIN BUSINESS CLASSIFICATIONS TO THE SCHEDULE 8 OF BUSINESS LICENSE FEES; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 9 10 WHEREAS,new business classifications are needed, periodically to have a more precise schedule of 11 business classifications; and, 12 WHEREAS, the state minimum wage has increased over the last several years and the calculation in 13 the determination of a part-time employee should rise accordingly; and, 14 WHEREAS, written notification of business closure would reduce unnecessary collections; 15 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY 16 OF LITTLE ROCK,ARKANSAS: 17 Section 1. Chapter 17, Section 17-43 of the Little Rock City Code, 1988, is hereby repealed and 18 replaced with the following text: 19 Sec. 17-43.Determination of number of employees. 20 (a)(1) In this article, "employee" means any person who performs services and is paid wages 21 or salary by any business, or is engaged in a profession or occupation under any 22 appointment, agency, contract of hire, or apprenticeship,expressed or implied,oral or 23 written. Employees leased from an employee leasing company are deemed employees 24 of the lessee company for purposes of computing the business license fee due. 25 (2) A "part-time employee" is any person who performs services within the City of Little 26 Rock and is paid quarterly wages or salary less than 235 times the hourly minimum 27 wage. 28 (3) In this article, "hourly minimum wage" shall mean the per hour minimum wage in 29 effect for the State of Arkansas as set forth in Arkansas Code Annotated § 11-4-210(a) 30 on January 1St of current calendar year, to the extent such wage meets or exceeds the 31 minimum wage set forth in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 32 (b)(1) Where the amount of Business License due under this article is computed on the number 33 of employees, the responsible person shall report to the city manager the number of 34 employees employed during the first three(3)quarters of the previous fiscal year.The (Page 1 of 4i 1 number of employees reported for each quarter shall be in agreement with the number 2 of employees reported on IRS Form 941. The information required shall be furnished 3 to the Finance Department Treasury Management Division on an employee report form 4 provided by the Treasury Management Division.The license amount due will be based 5 and computed upon the average number of all employees reported. Employees whose 6 quarterly earnings shown on the IRS Form 941 are less than 235 times the hourly 7 minimum wage and employees who worked exclusively outside the city shall be 8 excluded from computation. 9 (2) Businesses that begin operations after the beginning of the current fiscal year shall pay 10 a business license based on the number of employees at the time the business begins 11 operations. 12 (c) Where the Business License amount due is based on specific amounts for certain 13 designated types of employees rather than the total number of employees, the amount 14 there designated will be the applicable charge. The number of designated employees 15 who are employed during the first three(3)quarters of the previous fiscal year shall be 16 furnished to the Treasury Management Division on a designated employee report form, 17 which form will be provided by the Treasury Management Division for such purpose. 18 Those designated employees who worked exclusively outside the City shall not be 19 subject to such charge. 20 Section 2. Chapter 17, Section 17-48, of the Little Rock City Code, 1988, is hereby repealed and 21 replaced with the following text: 22 Sec. 17-48.—Refund of fee. 23 (a) A refund not to exceed 1/2 of the annual license fee actually paid may be made if a business 24 is closed or sold on or before June 13th of any calendar year and a written notification of 25 closure or a sale as required under(d) is filed on or before the date of closure. A Fifteen- 26 Dollar($15.00)Administrative Fee shall be charged for processing such request for refund, 27 except in those cases in which a refund is required due to error caused by the City. 28 (b) The City Manager is authorized to approve, in writing, a refund of a business license up 29 to Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). All Business License refunds in excess of Five 30 Hundred Dollars($500.00)require written approval of the Finance Department Director. 31 The City Manager is authorized to issue a credit in lieu of a refund to be applied to the 32 future license payments due from a business. 33 (c) (I) No Business License fee refund shall be made for more than one(1)-year. A business 34 is responsible for review of the license for accuracy upon receipt. 1 Page 2 of 41 1 (2) Where a Business License fee is due but not paid,the City Manager shall collect not 2 more than three (3)years in arrears, plus the current year. 3 (d) Any business that is closing operation or is sold shall submit a written notification of 4 closure on or before the date of the closing or sale. The notification shall include the 5 anticipated date of closure, the reason for closure and signature of the business owner. 6 No refund under subsection (a) or (b) shall be made unless a written notification of 7 closure is filed with the Treasury Management Division of the City. 8 Section 4. Chapter 17, Section 17-52, Classification 0.50.0 of the Little Rock City Code, 1988, is 9 hereby repealed and replaced with the following text: 10 (050.0) BOTTLERS OF SOFT DRINKS/WATER $135 Base 11 Plus Cumulative Amounts Per Employee: 12 1 —50 Employees $8.00 Per Employee 13 51 —200 Employees $7.00 Per Employee 14 201 —400 Employees $6.00 Per Employee 15 Over 400 Employees $5.00 Per Employee 16 Section 5. Chapter 17, Section 17-52, Classification 161.0.0 of the Little Rock City Code, 1988, is 17 hereby repealed and replaced with the following text: 18 (161.0) NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS $135 Base 19 Daily, Weekly, Monthly Publications Accepting Paid 20 Advertising. 21 Base Charge Plus Cumulative Amounts Per Group of Employees 22 161.OA 1 — 50 Employees $8.00 Per Employee 23 161.OB 51 —200 Employees $7.00 Per Employee 24 161.0C 201 -400 Employees $6.00 Per Employee 25 161.0D Over 400 Employees $5.00 Per Employee 26 Note: Publication sponsored by a public or private educational institution and not 27 engaged in such business for profit are not subject to the tax levied by this section. 28 Section 6. Chapter 17, Section 17-52, Classification 211.0, of the Little Rock City Code, 1988, is 29 hereby added with the following text: 30 (211.0) TV, RADIO, STEREO& SOUND EQUIPMENT SALES $200 Base 31 0.24% Inventory 32 INSTALLATION $100 Base 33 Section 7. Repealer. All ordinances and parts of ordinances that conflict with this ordinance are 34 hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency. 'Page 3 of 41 1 Section 8. Severability. In the event that any title, section, item,sentence,clause,phrase,or word 2 of this ordinance is declared or adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such declaration or adjudication 3 shall not affect the remaining portions of the ordinance which shall remain in full force and effect as if the 4 portion so declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional was not originally a part of the ordinance. 5 Section 9. Emergency. The Board of Directors has previously declared that the collection of 6 business license fees is necessary for the performance of essential municipal functions and that,without the 7 same, the delivery of City services will decrease, and the City's ability to provide and support the public 8 peace, health and safety will be diminished. To ensure that licensees receive their statements in time to 9 meet the fee collection deadlines, this ordinance should be given effect immediately. An emergency is, 10 therefore, declared to exist and this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its 11 passage. 12 PASSED: September 6,2016 13 •iiw APPROVED: 14 IWO 15 %(i 16 ' • •n �ngle• City Clerk Mark Stodola,Mayor 17 AP' 'O ED S TO LEGAL FORM: 18 19 !' 20 Thomas M. Carpenter,Ci0 Attoriy 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 29 // 30 // 31 // 32 // 33 // 34 // 35 // 36 // [Page 4 of 41