County puts teeth in license rule

Alan Mauldin

September 04, 2008 09:51 pm

— MOULTRIE — Colquitt County Commission put some teeth in its business license ordinance Tuesday night, approving a measure that would impose fines on business owners who do not purchase annual licenses.
The ordinance, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2007, required owners who do business in unincorporated Colquitt County to purchase $125 licenses, was initially passed without an enforcement mechanism.
The action Tuesday allows for a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 60 days in jail for those who do not comply.
A number of businesses are not up to date on licenses, County Administrator Marion Hay said during a telephone interview Wednesday.
“They had a significant number of people that had not purchased a license,” he said.
Prior to the ordinance approved Tuesday “they didn’t have any recourse” when business owners flaunted the requirement. “When the ordinance was first passed it was to start charging a license fee. They forgot to put in an enforcement mechanism.”
The county will send letters to businesses that are not in compliance with the ordinance. The owners will have 30 days to purchase a license before the county begins taking enforcement action.
For businesses that were “grandfathered” in at locations where their presence does not fit in with zoning when the county approved its comprehensive land use plan there is another reason to comply with the business ordinance. If their business license is lapsed the county could withdraw the zoning exemption.
“They need to get on in and get it before they lose that grandfather provision,” Hay said. “Right now, if they don’t buy a license they could be considered as not having been in business and they could lose that privilege.”
The licensing ordinance includes a number of exemptions for businesses, including those operating under a veteran’s certificate of exemption, nonprofit agencies, farms, agricultural products and livestock.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners:
• Approved a contract for disaster debris removal and disposal. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires that counties have contracts in place in the event of a natural disaster, Hay said.
• Approved a Colquitt County School Board bond issue of $9.8 million
• Approved the purchase of five patrol cars for the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office at a total cost of $98,205 from Hutson Motors.