Hermiston City Council Approves Business License Program, Delays Implementing Fee Structure

The Hermiston City Council voted at its Monday, Jan. 22 meeting to create a Business License Program but asked city staff to revise the fee schedule for review at a future meeting.

The Business License Fee will apply to all businesses operating within city limits and will be scaled based on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees working in the city. The fee schedule proposed by city staff was built on a League of Oregon Cities model and comparable to other similar cities, including Pendleton. Annual fees range from $85 for businesses with fewer than 6 employees to $1,200 for businesses with more than 50 employees.

The City Council requested a modified fee schedule that increases the cost to large businesses and reduces the impact on small businesses. The ordinance and staff report on the Business License Fee can be found here.

Though a Business License Fee is common in many cities in Oregon, there has never been one in Hermiston. As proposed, the Business License Fee would generate an estimated $100,000 annually. It will go into effect on January 1, 2025.

“Over the past eight months the community has overwhelming identified a desire for additional police officers, and through public testimony and online surveys has said it wants the cost of those officers to be spread among residents, businesses, visitors, and spending cuts,” said Hermiston Assistant Manager Mark Morgan. “Between the proposed annual Business License Fee, a $5 monthly Police Staffing Fee on utilities, and a Transient Lodging Tax increase, the package will generate around $600,000 per year in new revenue. An additional $450,000 in annual cuts allows the city to return to a balanced budget with funding for three new police officers.”

The City Council will review an updated fee schedule at a future meeting.