Julie Crowe feels officials unfairly failed to approve her vehicle-for-hire application last year to drive a 15-passenger van, WJBC reported.

The law suit was filed on the grounds that the city violated Ms. Crowe’s due-process rights.

Officials claim that her license application was denied because a lack of funds would prevent the business from running properly and the downtown transportation market was already filled with competition.

However, Jacob Huebert, Ms. Crowe’s attorney, told the news provider that limiting competition is not a valid reason to deny a business license application.

“The only way to know how much of a service is needed, and what form that service should take, is to let entrepreneurs like Julie enter the market and see who succeeds and who fails,” he said.

What’s more, at the initial hearing Ms. Crowe was unable to cross-examine would-be competitors that spoke out against her application.

If the court finds in favor of Ms. Crowe, Bloomington could be forced to overturn its decision.

Officials voted to create a technology zone in the city, which will offer incentives to business, the Daily Press reported.

The new zone will comprise all of Poquoson’s village commercial, research, development and general commercial zoning districts.

Portions of the B-1 office and professional zoning district and the B-2 business and commercial zoning district will also be included.

Among those incentives offered to businesses in the zone in a 30 per cent reduction on business license, real estate and business tangible taxes for a period of three years.

According to the city, a technology business will be defined as a designer or developer of computer hardware or software, a producer of multimedia products, or those who develop technology for healthcare, security, defense or alternative energy.

To qualify for the incentives, a company must have a minimum of five employees, make a capital investment of $500,000 and a have a 5,000-square-foot owner occupied premises.

Attracting technology business to the area will be a big boost for the city’s economy and growth prospects.

Officials are expecting business license tax revenues to be down nearly by $300,000 at the year’s close, according to the Long Beach Business Journal.

Disparity between projected business license income and that collected is, however, just one element contributing to the $11 million budget deficit in the city for the fiscal year 2012.

Utility users tax revenue is expected to be $2.4 million below budget, while income from parking citations will be approximately $900, 000 down.

As a result, officials have had to use last year’s $5 million in savings and ask all departments to take a budgetary cut.

A one per cent savings target will also be applied, in an attempt to create $3.7 million in extra revenue.

The budget deficit could potentially cause problems for city services, as investment opportunities will be limited.

In an attempt to be more in line with costs and pricing from neighboring municipalities, officials are planning to increase a range of fees, according to The Reporter.

Business licenses are expected to see the biggest hike, rising from $50 every three years to $75 dollars.

Occupancy fees are also set to increase from $60 to $80, following recommendations from borough code enforcement officer Carl Stuart.

Borough manager Michael Coll explained that as both process are time consuming, the new prices will be more reflective of the time paid to code enforcement.

Speaking about bringing fees in line with other municipalities, he told the newspaper, “We don’t want to set the bar, but we want to be reasonable.”

Other fees up for review are sign permits, annual rental registration, rental inspection, and fence permits.

The increase in fees will bring in vital revenue for Souderton Borough Council, which can be invested in services and growth initiatives.

During a routine business license check, the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving unit arrested the worker who was caught performing a lewd act on a customer, the Ventura County Star reported.

Sergeant Romano Bassi told the newspaper that the 29-year-old Monterey Park resident was charged with a misdemeanor for the incident and ultimately released.

Because officers, who entered the building in plain clothes, did not witness any money changing hands she was not charged with prostitution and the customer was not arrested.

Although the massage parlor held a valid business license, operations of this kind have increasingly come under scrutiny in Thousand Oaks, as part of a drive to crack down on unlicensed workers and wrongful conduct.

Police in Suffolk County, New York also ran a similar crack down on massage parlors, which yielded more than 20 arrests.

Despite the fact that all companies in the county are required to have a business license, many establishments are flouting this law, ABC News reported.

The discovery was made by Tami Fralick, manager of the Revenue Collections Department, when looking over a state annual report listing sales taxes from businesses.

Upon on analysis, Ms. Fralick realized that the business ratio didn’t add up.

“These were mainly home occupied businesses,” she told the news channel. “They are usually the ones our revenue inspectors wouldn’t find on a sweep.”

Companies who had been operating without a license consequently received a letter informing them of their violation, the response to which was predominantly positive.

According to Ms. Fralick, some $10,000 has already been recouped for county revenues.

Business licenses are vital tools to allow authorities to keep track of companies and ensure their compliance with ordinances and trading standards. It is also a useful way of generating income.

IGA has objected to paying its new business license fee, which has changed this year in light of an ordinance that requires businesses to pay an annual charge based on a percentage of their gross income, the Times and Democrat reported.

Previously the town charged a flat rate for business licenses of $325. However, IGA has this year been forced to pay $13,915.82.

The business had appealed the ordinance in November but had been unsuccessful.

Although officials have this week discussed the matter again, no decision has yet been made over IGA’s fate.

While the company has paid its license fee, it feels that it shouldn’t have to pay such a large sum.

Charging fees based on a company’s income could discourage larger corporations from relocating to the area, hindering the town’s growth.

Revisions to modify the appeals process for building code violations and business license revocations have been invalidated by the failure of officials to have the measures approved by the County Council, the Hyattsville Patch reported.

To correct the error, the City Council has had to issue a series of emergency measures.

City attorney Richard Colaresi has blamed the oversight on city staff and claimed that from now on measures that need County Council approval with be noted in the headings.

The mistake came to light last week when attorneys for a business whose license had been revoked pointed out the oversight. Officials were forced to reinstate the license of the business in question.

A legal conundrum could now be faced by the city, which has been governing businesses under a code that hadn’t been rectified since October 2011.

Sports Rock Cafe and Sports Rock Cafe II have ceased operations after owner Brent Taapken didn’t reapply for a license before the annual deadline passed.

However, Phenix City police had recommended that the businesses’ licenses be suspended anyway, following numerous violations.

Police chief Ray Smith claims that the cafes were a danger to the community and had been so for several years.

Among the violations leveled against the business were unpaid taxes, no “responsible” person managing the bar, and flouting alcohol regulations.

“When we find that there’s problems…the taxes aren’t being paid, there’s no responsible person managing the bar, other criminal activities allowed to go on,” Smith says.

Speaking about Mr. Taapken, the police chief said, “As a license holder he is responsible for at least maintaining some kind of organization and supervision over that business.”

Phenix City has the right to refuse a license to any business where the owner has shown reasonable cause for officials to believe that they are unable to run an operation in line with city ordinances.

Currently people who want to open such an establishment face a daily business license fee charge under a regulation that dates back decades, the Orange County Register reported.

However, officials are looking to amend the code to help a tattoo shop that is opening this year.

Susie Floyd will be the first person to open a tattoo store in San Clemente and would thus be the only one ever subjected to the code, designed to discourage such establishments.

While other applicants had claimed that the code was unfair, Ms. Floyd was the first to not back down and city staff have been forced to review the code after a precedent was discovered in Hermosa Beach.

The code also applied to fortune telling businesses, which will now be able to avoid the $20 daily fee as well.

San Clemente is a small town founded in the late 1920s and has grown in popularity over recent years.