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Mayor Tim McKinney told the Berryville City Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2, that he and economic development director Dean Lee have been studying the possibility of requiring licenses for businesses operating in the city.
“About, I’d say, 90 percent of the people that come in to put down a deposit for a new business say: ‘Where do we get our business license,’ ” McKinney said. “We’ve even had several cases of people saying: ‘Well, if you don’t have a business license, can you give me a letter, saying you don’t require it?’ Something to do with their financing or their management. But it gives you a good connection to all your businesses and we want to try to put something together where we’ll have a list of businesses and be able to keep them informed of any changes going on at City Hall.”
McKinney said businesses licenses also can help “tremendously” with zoning.
“As people make applications for their business license, you can make sure they’re in the proper zone,” he said.
McKinney said the annual cost for a business license will be relatively low.
“We’re not looking at making it a big money deal,” he said. “But hopefully we’ll have something by right after the first of the year to present to you all on that.”
Later, McKinney said: “We’re looking at something like $100 or something like that.” “We’re going to try to implement it slowly and probably try to make it a mid-year renewal instead of end of the year when everything else is so hectic,” McKinney said later in the meeting.
Also at the Dec. 2 meeting, council members received a proposed 2026 city budget, which includes projected total revenue of a little more $20 million, with proposed appropriations of just less than $17 million.
The council is expected to vote on the proposed spending plan at its next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 16.
In other business, McKinney said the city has hired a new code enforcement officer and a water department clerk, adding that the water department clerk is bilingual.
The council also approved the city’s 2024 audited financial statements. With council members Ashley Sharpe and Jason Williams absent, McKinney joined council members Max Nichols and Linda Riddlesperger to create a quorum and all three voted to approve the financial statements.
The Berryville City Council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, at City Hall.
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