Council preparing 2,400% fee increase for smallest businesses

A proposed new bylaw would increase the $50 annual license fee for resident Stationary Temporary Vendors to $300 quarterly. Annualized, that is a 2,400% increase. Out-of-town vendors would increase from $100.

On Monday, April 3, the Bylaw and Planning Committee unanimously approved for staff to send the proposed bylaw to the Attorney General’s office for legal review before it comes to the council for approval. The Bylaw and Planning Committee members are Acting Mayor Wannan (chair), Councillors Mann and Seidel. Also present for the discussion were non-voting Councillors Bull and Morrissette. None on the business-oriented council questioned the fee increase, although Councillor Morrissette questioned enforcement matters, noting, “Who enforces this by-law on the weekend when city staff is not around because sometimes these peddlers come in around those times?”

…

Easter Saturday morning, I wandered through the weekly Elliot Lake Community Market at the Renaissance Seniors’ Centre. It was a joy to see something coming to life for the little guy citizens after three long years of Elliot Lake’s collapse-closure, repairs-closure, and covid-closures. The main hall was alive with vendors and prospective customers, and the tables were filled with many enticing opportunities.

The vendors had made some of the sale items themselves and some were resale. I wondered how many of the vendors knew that a 2,400% license fee increase was proposed for vendors selling food or resale items?

And I wondered too, if this is enforced, how many would even bother staying in business? That's a sad prospect for the fledgling vendor. And a sad prospect for us too. It’s an event as important for our social needs as it is for its modest economics.

 

Promoters of the new bylaw will point out that the $50 fee was set in 1979, and that is true. Also true is that accumulated inflation since then is 300% not 2,400%.

Citizens can also expect to hear the “fairness argument.” Promoters of the by-law are likely to point out how unfair it is that businesses that pay property taxes will compete with vendors who do not have those costs. That is true. Also true is: there’s a self-limiting factor for these fledgling start-ups. Their lack of a permanent location means they need to bring their products and set them up and take them down each business day. Eventually, they will grow and need a permanent location. And that is the other side of the free enterprise model: competition, for the benefit of the consumer.

Instead of stifling small businesses, many municipalities actively encourage entrepreneurship by cutting down the barriers to entry by eliminating permits, requirements, and licenses. That keeps the competition side of our market economy healthy and is something good government encourages.

The proposed new bylaw will have the opposite effect. 

If we really are “Open for Business,” this is just twisted.

 

Stephen Calverley, April 13, 2023.

 

The proposed bylaw can be seen here: https://pub-elliotlake.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=5855