~Beginning next week, city businesses will be cited for not renewing their licenses
SIKESTON -- Motor vehicle operators are not the only ones who can be ticketed for not having a license.
Starting early next week, Sikeston Department of Public Safety officers will begin issuing citations to businesses that have not yet renewed their business licenses, according to City Collector Vicky Lewis.
City business licenses are issued according to the city's fiscal year which runs from July 1 through June 30, according to Lewis. "Business licenses are due July 1 of each year," she said.
The first renewal notices are sent out by the city collector's office on June 1 of each year. "In August we send out our second mailing to remind business to renew their license," Lewis said.
Businesses licenses that are not renewed become delinquent after August 31. "Beginning Sept. 1 there is a 10 percent penalty," Lewis said.
There are a total of approximately 1,200 active business licenses in the city, according to Lewis. She said in addition to retail sales businesses, these include manufacturers and wholesale businesses; restaurants; contractors, electricians, plumbers, handymen and painters; banks, loan companies and insurance companies; car washes; beauty shops; photographers; and even printers and newspapers, to name a few.
"We have approximately 150 businesses that have not renewed their license," Lewis said.
Lewis said her office will supply DPS with the list of businesses that are delinquent.
Businesses that are based out of town but do business in town, such as contractors, for example, won't be visited by DPS officers but before they can get any kind of building permits or inspections, they need a current business license, according to Lewis.
Lewis said the cost for business license runs anywhere from $25 to $800. "That would be the maximum that any business would have to pay without penalties," she said.
Many types of businesses have a set amount for their license, generally from $25 to $450.
"If it's retail sales, they are figured on their gross sales," Lewis said.
For those businesses that are cited, the minimum fine is $126.50, according to the Sikeston Municipal Court staff, and can be as much as $500 at the judge's discretion.