Minutes 04/15/1958 - Laserfiche WebLink

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instames are tV'rice as high as Danville, 60% higher than the City of Richmond, 2~ times greater than Lynchburg, 4 times greater than the City of Staunton, etc.? The obvious answer is t.~1at. LIartinsville is now requiring its industrial, business ancl occupational group to carry more than its share of the tax burden when compared to the real estate and personal property tax load. We feel that any suggestion as to the license ta.'C rate to be placed on a particular business, industry, trade or profession must have some element of consideration by the Committee as to hovr much of a burden and expense to the city goverrunent that particular group imposes; although this cannot be tilled as an absolute yardstick because in some instances some groups are taxed because t:ley can bear it. Take, for example, the retail merchants as a group. They occupy more of the street frontage than any other one group. Their customers need space to park and to "'.-ralk. The retail merchant displays his merchandise, and of necessity has a great deal of exposure to fires, break-ins, thefts, bad chects an0 otlmr things requiring police protection and fire protection out of proportion to the other groups. The Police Department is required to police the streets and alleys at all hours of night around the retail business establishments. 1.Iuch of their time is Sl)ent trying to apprehend thieves anc~ niGht-time burglars as vmll as the apiJrehension of the bad-check artist, who sells his vrares to the lrerchant primarily. l!lany of the more serious fll~es originate in the retail establishments. Retailers instigate parades and ClU'istrnas lights for the promotion of their business, which L1 turn create additional burdens for the Police and Fire Departments. The Health Dep2.l~tment, including the garbage collection and trash collection, is required to expend large sums of money renderin~ services to the retail group, which includes the restaurant and dining establish- ments. Thus, it can be seen from looking briefly at this group that it must. be cons idered from the standpoint of its burden on city goverrunent to some extent in fixing its license tax. A brief look at the manufacturer discloses that the going-to-vrork hour and the quitting hour create traffic problems for the city government. The manufacturer who maintains a large plant or group of plants creates to some extent a potential fire hazard by virtue of the size and contents of its establishment. The ordinary fire truck that might be adequate for use in the extinguishing of fires in a small home or snall business establishment is not sufficient to control the fire situation in the large industrial plant. The Fire Department must be rraintained in proportion, by equipment and men, to the potential size of your largest fire. This is somowhat true, of course, of your wholesale merchants. Business establishments engaged in the business of furnishing amuserents require some adcQ. ti.onal service from the Police Department in keeping order and in the inspection and reGl..:.lation of.. f:ire protection facilities. The group of businesses which engage in the collection of laundry and dry cleaning create some degree of burden to the govermnent by v:i.rtue of the fact that they use the streets, driveways and alleys for the purpose of collecting and delivering, and to that extent create some traffic congestion. The other groups studied by this Comrai ttee--that is, the group including those who pay a license privilege tax based on gross revenue received--take in the repair service, business service, contractors and the professional group. :Most of this latter group operate from small shops or offices and in most instances are confined to one or two persons, either as an individual or occasionally as a partnership. These groups do not impose any noticoable burden on the city's :::,overrnnental facilities, and yet in this group is found the hiGhest rate of aQY group, that is the professional group, composing doctors, dentists, arc2itects, surveyors, lav~ers, veterinarians, etc. The tax rate on this group (2 )