Submitted By: Endira Madraveren
Presentation By: Jeff Shrum
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Department: Growth Management
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FORMAL TITLE:
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Ordinance 2027-1 to amend the Code of Ordinances repealing Chapter 62, Taxation, Article III. – Local Business Tax, Section 22-356 and Section 10-33; and amending Sections 6-2, 10-205, 22-2, 22-32, 22-428, 54-32, 54-98, 110-3, 110-52, 122-921, 122-1198, 122-1210, 122-1214, 122-1216, 122-1224, 122-1225 and Appendix A, Article III, Section 6 by removing references to local business tax, business tax certificate, business tax receipt, and occupational license
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OCALA’S RELEVANT STRATEGIC GOALS:
Quality of Place, Economic Hub
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PROOF OF PUBLICATION:
N/A
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BACKGROUND:
The City currently administers a Local Business Tax program, also known as a Business Tax Receipt (BTR), as a general fund revenue source pursuant to Chapter 205, Florida Statutes.
The City’s current Local Business Tax fee schedule was adopted by Ordinance No. 2553 in September 1995 and has not been comprehensively updated in more than 30 years. As a result, the existing classification structure and fee schedule are outdated and increasingly difficult to administer appropriately and equitably. Additionally, Florida law (F.S. Chapter 205) has changed since the BTR program was implemented. These changes have further restricted local government’s ability to implement and modify the classification and fee structure, limiting changes to the fee structure and further limiting the ability to increase fees in any given year, with a cap on overall BTR revenues.
While the City has been experiencing significant growth over the last few years, the trend in revenues from the BTR program continues to decline while the costs of implementation have increased:
Year Revenues Staffing Cost (implementation only)
2022 $457K $64K
2023 $426K $61K
$411K $68K
2025 $374K $69K
The staffing cost indicated above includes only the staff salaries needed to impleme...
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