Business fees given extension to May 31

City Council aiming to lighten firms’ burden

MILPITAS » In an effort to offer some relief to local businesses during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Milpitas City Council will extend the deadlines for business-related fees by several months and will waive all late penalties against businesses for that time.

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the council directed city staffers to draft an ordinance and a resolution that would allow businesses in Milpitas to hold off until as late as May 31 on paying their business license fees, fire permit fees and other charges that come along with an annual business license renewal.

Any late payment penalties for those fees that have been accrued so far will be waived, and city staffers won’t issue any further late penalty notices until after May 31, city staffers said.

“I think it’s important for us to do whatever we can to help support our small-businesses community, and that’s starting in-house first,” Councilwoman Karina Dominguez said at the meeting.

“I’m in huge support of this,” Mayor Rich Tran said.

Nearly 3,300 invoices for business license taxes and related fees were issued this year, city staff reports said, with an average cost of about $116. About 1,000 businesses also needed to pay fire

permit fees, bringing their total average bills to about $753, staff reports said.

Though such license and permit fees are typically due at the beginning of the year, Walter Rossmann, the city’s finance director, said in an interview Thursday that as of Jan. 31, about 57% of the businesses that owe business license taxes and fees had not paid, and about 40% of the businesses that also need to pay a fire permit fee had not paid that fee.

City Council and staff members agreed that allowing businesses to defer costs of up to several hundred dollars could be a boon for local proprietors, and it would be an unfair burden to hit them with late fees.

“I don’t think given where we are in the economy, where we are in the fiscal situation for our businesses, I don’t think it’s right to charge them late fees,” Rossmann said.

“How many businesses did not even apply for a 2021 permit, maybe because they went out of business?” Tran said at the meeting, underscoring the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The council also briefly considered creating a water bill assistance program for businesses, similar to one it already runs for residential customers in lower-income households, but ultimately held off, noting there were not many businesses who were delinquent on their water bills, so the effect would be limited.

The council will need to approve the new ordinance and resolution at upcoming council meetings to finalize the fee deferments and penalties waiver, which may not officially go into effect until about April.

Rossmann reiterated, however, that with the direction from council, staffers will not issue any late fees to businesses in the meantime.