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BOOK 92 PAUU lQ <br />(1) The Committee shall review the businesses, <br />professions, and occupations within each classification and recommend <br />any reclassifications or new classifications. <br />(2) The Committee shall recommend a classification for any <br />business activity not currently paying an occupational license tax. <br />(3) The Committee shall review the rates of each <br />classification, and recommend any fee changes -necessary to establish <br />equity between the rates for such classification. <br />After considering objectives (1) through (3) above, the Committee was <br />directed to propose a rate structure that would not generate a decrease <br />in revenues. It was determined that the target revenue goal would be <br />approximately $140, 000. 00. <br />Under the guidelines given to the Committee by the Board of County <br />Commissioners, the County will collect an occupational license tax only <br />for businesses located in the unincorporated area and there will be no <br />distribution to the municipalities of taxes collected . <br />Committee Deliberation <br />The Committee met on six separate occasions with County staff and the <br />Tax Collector and his staff. One of the major problems was to <br />determine the loss of revenue that would result from not issuing county <br />occupational tax license in the incorporated areas of the County. In <br />addition, an attempt was made to determine the actual number of <br />licenses that would be issued under the new procedures; however, this <br />was not possible with the data available. <br />After much debate, the Committee reached a consensus that a single fee <br />for each business would be the most equitable approach. This in effect <br />restricted the Committee, by statute, to a maximum tax of a 200% <br />increase in the current minimum tax of $14.00 ($42.00) . It shall be <br />noted that this revised tax may, by statute, be increased only by 5% <br />every other year. <br />Relying on figures provided by County staff, it was estimated that <br />approximately 4000 licenses would be issued. Initially, the Committee <br />was allocating to collection cost 2% of the money collected; however, the <br />Tax Collector did a study and concluded that 2% was not sufficient to <br />cover cost. The Committee feels that an increase to 10% of the money <br />collected would be appropriate for the tax collection and the Tax <br />Collector has agreed to this percentage for the first year of <br />implementation. In light of this information, a single fee of $40.00 was <br />recommended. A transfer fee of 10% was recommended. <br />Inasmuch as a single fee is being proposed classifications of businesses <br />is no longer necessary. <br />The current ordinance has exemptions for certain activities (e.g., <br />banking and insurance) that are not exemptions under Chapter 205, <br />F.S. The Committee feels that except for minors under 18 the only <br />exemptions should be those set forth in Chapter 205, F.S. <br />Currently, independent sales representatives (Avon, Amway, <br />Tupperware, etc.) are not licensed in the County. The Committee feels <br />that these persons should be required to be licensed. <br />With respect to Flea Markets, the Committee feels that the owner of the <br />flea market should be licensed and each person selling from a stall <br />should be licensed. <br />With respect to special events, unless exempt under Chapter 205, F.S., <br />each vendor should be licensed. <br />10 <br />