PINE BLUFF — Some Pine Bluff officials are proposing an ordinance to send a strong message to restaurant and hotel owners who aren’t turning over their share of the city’s advertising and promotion sales taxes: Pay up or face a possible fine of $500 per day and revocation of their occupation licenses.
Bob Purvis, executive director of the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission, which administers the tax, said the proposed ordinance is being finalized and could be put to a vote at the City Council assoon as this month.
The proposal is up for its second reading at tonight’s council meeting.
“We are dotting I’s and crossing T’s, but it’s nearly where we want it to be,” Purvis said Friday. “It’s something that we have really been needing to do for a long time.”
Taxes are collected from hotels and restaurants each month.
Although only about 5 percent of Pine Bluff businesses are on the delinquent tax list, Purvis said it amounts to about $75,000 in lost revenue each year.
There are two hotels and 20 restaurants on the delinquent list, according to information from Purvis’ office.
Money from the taxes is used primarily to maintain the Pine Bluff Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Under the proposed ordinance, business owners would be given 30 days to pay past due taxes or face revocation of their occupation licenses.
If a business continues to operate without a license after then, a $500 fine would be levied against the owner for each day of unauthorized operation.
To regain good standing, business owners would be required to present documents from the city collector’s office showing that all local taxes, fees and penalties have been paid, along with any fines levied by the city, according to the proposed ordinance.
Purvis stressed that his office “is more than willing to work with business owners who may be having a tough time. It’s just the ones who we know are ignoring us that we are trying to go after here.”
One of those businesses is Domino’s Pizza on Dollarway Road. According to information from the Advertising and Promotion Commission, the business hasn’t paid taxes since August 2010, owing about $60,000.
The Pine Bluff collector’s office, which administers occupation licenses in the city, identified Bobby Ladd as the owner of that Domino’s.
Messages left for Ladd at his restaurant were not returned Friday.
Purvis said his office had scheduled a payment plan for the back taxes with Domino’s but that the arrangement didn’t work out.
“They sent in two or three checks, but they were hot checks and were turned over to the sheriff,” Purvis said.
Purvis said his office sends out three warning notices to business owners before enforcing a cumulative 5 percent monthly penalty fee based on the amount of taxes owed.
Next comes a tax lien on the property. But “if an owner doesn’t plan to sell the business, a tax lien doesn’t do much,” Purvis said.
“Beyond that, right now there is nothing we can do. I mean, we could go to court and sue them, but the city doesn’t have that kind of money,” he added.
Purvis said the proposed ordinance offers a “different set of teeth, and we feel like better success at collection the way it’s set up. You can’t ignore a $500 a day fine.”
Alderman Irene Holcomb said the spirit behind the proposed ordinance isn’t to target or financially affect local businesses.
Instead, “we want businesses to pay their fair share. We realize small businesses are struggling right now, but we need them to comply with the laws. It’s not their money to keep. It belongs to the city.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/03/2012