Council passes business license ordinance

The Liberty Lake council passed a new business license ordinance Tuesday that will allow business owners to apply for a local business license online when they renew their state license.

“It’s one-stop shopping for businesses and it will be less expensive, which is nice,” said Mayor Wendy Van Orman.

Businesses will now pay $26 per year to Liberty Lake, plus $9 to the state for a master business license. Liberty Lake previously charged $36 for most businesses and $20 per year for businesses that do under $10,000 in annual sales.

“It will make it much easier for businesses and it’ll be easier for residents to go online and see if the business they want to do business with actually has a business license,” Van Orman said.

The steps to convert to a new licensing process will take several months. Van Orman said it will save the city money in labor costs. “It takes a good two months for one staff member to take care of all the business licenses.” The city will still maintain emergency contact information for all businesses.

In other business, the council discussed an upcoming comprehensive plan amendment for parks and set a series of public meetings in July and August to discuss the issue. They also discussed the upcoming groundbreaking at Rocky Hill Park at 6 p.m. Monday. Phase I construction should be complete by the end of September. The city will meet with residents over the winter to let them select what type of play equipment should be installed next spring.