AGENDA #8

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

TO:                  W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

FROM:            Kay Johnson, Finance Director

SUBJECT:      Home Occupation Application Fee

DATE:            June 7, 2006

This budget work paper presents a discussion of home occupation fees and recommends retention of the Town’s current fee.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

Council Member Easthom requested information on the home occupation application fee.  The current home occupation application fee of $100 is a one-time charge to recapture the cost to the Town for conducting a review to determine the appropriateness of allowing a business in a home occupation.  Frequently the license can be issued after meeting with the citizen.  Sometimes a member of the Planning Department staff must make a visit to the neighborhood in order to properly review the request. Occasionally, problems caused by home occupations generate substantial research, investigative work, and enforcement requirements.

The community benefits from home occupations in that the business owners have no commute, so the community benefits from reduced traffic congestion and air pollution.  However, sometimes there are disadvantages to the community of certain home occupations, as well, such as increased traffic into a neighborhood. 

The fee for Chapel Hill is higher than Carrboro’s current fee of $50 (which Carrboro is considering raising to $60.)  The Town currently has revenues of about $2,500 annually for home occupation fees. 

RECOMMENDATION

We recommend that the Council maintain the fee for a home occupation license at $100.