Tempe City Council recently received a presentation from city staff about a proposed business license program that would allow the city to better support and communicate with the local business community.
Financial Services Director Lauren Calder and Joshua Bies, tax and license manager, delivered the presentation to council during its April 3 meeting, going over the proposed general business license program and discussing it with the council members.
This new program would help to solve the city’s issues with managing the number of Tempe businesses, allowing the city to create its own database of businesses outside Transaction Privilege Tax license data from the Arizona Department of Revenue.
Tempe relies primarily on the license data to track its businesses, but this poses an issue as the number of city staff allowed to view the data is restricted, and not all businesses are required to obtain this license.
Calder said there are an estimated 30,000 businesses operating in Tempe, and the city only has significant information about roughly 1,300 of them.
“For us, having that complete database of Tempe businesses will help us to communicate essential updates and provide some business support,” Calder said.
The program staff has developed so far would not require businesses obtain a TPT license to obtain the city’s potentially new license. The city would charge $25 annually with a target implementation date of Aug. 1.
In comparison to other Valley cities with business license programs, Calder said Tempe’s fee structure aligns with the average pricing.
For example, Mesa, Glendale and Peoria all charge $25 for the initial and renewal fees, while Scottsdale charges $50 and Chandler charges $35 for both fees. Gilbert charges $35 initially and $15 for renewal.
Tempe’s license program would offer a five-month grace period before mandatory renewal in January 2027, as previously reported by the Independent.
Calder also noted during the presentation the Tempe Chamber of Commerce endorsed this program, which Vice Mayor Jennifer Adams said “meant a lot,” in the council’s following discussion.
Adams and other council members expressed their support for the program after the staff presentation.
“I’m a huge supporter of businesses, and I think this is a good way to work with businesses and also with the city to kind of have more communication with businesses in our city on ways that maybe we can help that we haven’t thought of yet,” Adams said.
However, council members did have recommendations for the plan before its anticipated first public hearing May 22.
Councilmember Randy Keated suggested making the first year free for new businesses, and Councilmember Berdetta Hodge asked staff to consider ways to ensure that the application is accessible to older business owners.
Mayor Corey Woods and the rest of council agreed with Keating’s point, expressing support for delaying the initial payment for new businesses and the initial and renewal fee of $25.
Staff was instructed to move forward with that recommendation, as they continue to develop the program before council adoption. The final public hearing, where council will vote on the program, is scheduled for June 5.
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Meet Caroline Caroline Yu joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2020 as a summer intern covering Scottsdale. As an intern, she continued her coverage of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Tempe. After graduating in 2022, Caroline became a full-time reporter for Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. She is currently reporting for the Tempe market.
Community: She is a supporter of the environment and tries to get involved with related community events.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in French.
Random Fact: She used to be a ballet dancer for 10 years.
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