Chapter 5.02
BUSINESS REGISTRY
Sections:
5.02.030 Registration – Required.
5.02.040 Registration – Application information – Denial.
5.02.080 Fee payment – Late fee – Registration cancellation.
5.02.100 Penalty – Failure to register or submitting false information.
5.02.110 Appeal from denial of registration.
5.02.010 Authority.
The provisions of this chapter are an exercise of the power of the city council to require any person or entity engaging in business to be registered and obtain a license. (Ord. 977 § 1, 2018: Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 553 § 1, 1988)
5.02.020 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows:
A. “Business” means all kinds of vocations, occupations, professions, enterprises, establishments, industries, services and all other kinds of activities and matters which are conducted for private profit or benefit in or on any premises in the city.
B. “Business license” means the document indicating the licenses and registrations that have been issued to a business through the Business Licensing Service.
C. “Business Licensing Service” means the office within the state Department of Revenue administering the application and renewal of the city business registration, and issuing the business license on behalf of the city of Deer Park.
D. “City” means the city of Deer Park, Spokane County, Washington.
E. “Engage in business” or “engaging in business” means commencing, conducting, or continuing in business, and also the exercise of corporate or franchise powers, as well as liquidating a business when the liquidators thereof hold themselves out to the public as conducting such business.
1. This section sets forth examples of activities that constitute engaging in business in the city, and establishes safe harbors for certain of those activities so that a person who meets the criteria may engage in de minimis business activities in the city without having to pay a business license fee. The activities listed in this section are illustrative only and are not intended to narrow the definition of “engaging in business” in subsection E of this section. If an activity is not listed, whether it constitutes engaging in business in the city shall be determined by considering all the facts and circumstances and applicable law.
2. Without being all-inclusive, any one of the following activities conducted within the city by a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on its behalf, constitutes engaging in business and requires a person to register and obtain a business license as further set forth in this chapter:
a. Owning, renting, leasing, maintaining, or having the right to use, or using, tangible personal property, intangible personal property, or real property permanently or temporarily located in the city.
b. Owning, renting, leasing, using, or maintaining an office, place of business, or other establishment in the city.
c. Soliciting sales.
d. Making repairs or providing maintenance or service to real or tangible personal property, including warranty work and property maintenance.
e. Providing technical assistance or service, including quality control, product inspections, warranty work, or similar services on or in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf.
f. Installing, constructing, or supervising installation or construction of real or tangible personal property.
g. Soliciting, negotiating, or approving franchise, license, or other similar agreements.
h. Collecting current or delinquent accounts.
i. Picking up and transporting tangible personal property, solid waste, construction debris, or excavated materials.
j. Providing disinfecting and pest control services, employment and labor pool services, home nursing care, janitorial services, appraising, landscape architectural services, security system services, surveying, and real estate services including the listing of homes and managing real property.
k. Rendering professional services such as those provided by accountants, architects, attorneys, auctioneers, consultants, engineers, professional athletes, barbers, baseball clubs and other sports organizations, chemists, psychologists, court reporters, dentists, doctors, detectives, laboratory operators, teachers, veterinarians.
l. Meeting with customers or potential customers, even when no sales or orders are solicited at the meetings.
m. Training or recruiting agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others, domiciled or operating on a job in the city, acting on its behalf, or for customers or potential customers.
n. Investigating, resolving, or otherwise assisting in resolving customer complaints.
o. In-store stocking or manipulating products or goods, sold to or owned by a customer, regardless of where sale and delivery of the goods took place.
p. Delivering goods in vehicles owned, rented, leased, used, or maintained by the person or another acting on its behalf.
3. If a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on the person’s behalf, engages in no other activities in or with the city but the following, it need not register and obtain a business license:
a. Meeting with suppliers of goods and services as a customer.
b. Meeting government representatives in their official capacity, other than those performing contracting or purchasing functions.
c. Attending meetings, such as board meetings, retreats, seminars, and conferences, or other meetings wherein the person does not provide training in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf. This provision does not apply to any board of directors member or attendee engaging in business such as a member of a board of directors who attends a board meeting.
d. Renting tangible or intangible property as a customer when the property is not used in the city.
e. Attending, but not participating in, a “trade show” or “multiple vendor events.” Persons participating at a trade show shall review the city’s trade show or multiple vendor event ordinances.
f. Conducting advertising through the mail.
g. Soliciting sales by phone from a location outside the city.
4. A seller located outside the city merely delivering goods into the city by means of common carrier is not required to register and obtain a business license; provided, that it engages in no other business activities in the city. Such activities do not include those in subsection (E)(3) of this section.
The city expressly intends that engaging in business include any activity sufficient to establish nexus for purposes of applying the license fee under the law and the Constitutions of the United States and the state of Washington. Nexus is presumed to continue as long as the taxpayer benefits from the activity that constituted the original nexus generating contact or subsequent contacts.
F. “Home occupation” means an occupation carried on entirely within a residence in the residential zones established by city ordinance.
G. “Person” means any individual, company, partnership, receiver, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, trust, estate, firm, joint venture, club, corporation, association, society or any individual or group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit or otherwise. (Ord. 977 § 2, 2018; Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 553 § 2, 1988)
5.02.030 Registration – Required.
Unless exempted under DPMC 5.02.060, no person may engage in business in the city without first having registered the business and acquired a business license as provided in this chapter. The registration must be renewed annually by the expiration date established by the Business Licensing Service. (Ord. 977 § 3, 2018: Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 553 § 3, 1988)
5.02.040 Registration – Application information – Denial.
A. Application to register a business or renew a business registration, and receive a business license is made through the state Department of Revenue’s Business Licensing Service. All information and fees required to register a business must be submitted to the Business Licensing Service.
B. The city may deny an application for registration or refuse to register any business or activity upon a written finding by the mayor, or his or her designee, that:
1. Such business or activity proposed for registration is not in compliance with any applicable city regulation, general law of the state of Washington, or provision of federal law. (Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 907 § 1, 2011: Ord. 553 § 4, 1988)
5.02.050 Nontransferable.
A. The registration required is personal and nontransferable. A person acquiring an existing business must register the business and may not use the registration of the previous owner.
B. A registration applies only to the place of business for which it was issued. If business is conducted at multiple fixed locations in the city, a separate registration must be filed and a separate license obtained for each fixed location.
C. If more than one person conducts business at the same location each person must register their own business separately. (Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 553 § 5, 1988)
5.02.060 Exemptions.
A. The following entities and activities are exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
1. The city of Deer Park, Washington;
2. The state of Washington or any agency thereof;
3. The United States government or any agency thereof;
4. Deliverers of newspapers and periodicals;
5. Deliverers to and persons soliciting orders from retail establishments for the delivery and sale of goods, wares and merchandise to retailers for resale unless located within the city;
6. Persons soliciting orders to be filled by shipment of goods in interstate commerce;
7. Any person or organization conducting a nonprofit enterprise when the enterprise is operated without private profit, for a public, charitable, educational, literary, fraternal or religious purpose; provided, that no such enterprise shall be operated that is detrimental to the public peace, health, or welfare, or that violates or is not in compliance with city, state, or federal laws or regulations;
8. The casual sale of items of personal property where the person conducting such sale is not regularly engaged in the business of selling items of personal property (for example, garage sales, service agency bake sales);
9. Temporary merchants, mobile vending units, and peddlers operating pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 5.36 DPMC;
B. Any person or business whose annual value of products, gross proceeds of sales, or gross income of the business in the city is equal to or less than $2,000 and who does not maintain a place of business within the city shall submit a business license application to the city license officer, but need not pay a license fee to the city. This threshold does not apply to regulatory license requirements or activities that require a specialized permit. (Ord. 977 § 4, 2018: Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 907 § 2, 2011; Ord. 553 § 6, 1988)
5.02.070 Fees.
Registration fees shall be as established by resolution of the city council from time to time. (Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 640 § 1, 1994; Ord. 553 § 7, 1988)
5.02.080 Fee payment – Late fee – Registration cancellation.
A. The registration fee is due with the application for registration, and annually for renewal of the registration on or before the expiration date established by the Business Licensing Service.
B. The registration fee may be prorated as necessary to accommodate synchronizing the expiration of the registration with the common expiration date established by the Business Licensing Service.
C. Total fees due include the Business Licensing Service application or renewal handling fee authorized by RCW 19.02.075.
D. Failure to renew the registration by the expiration date may result in the assessment of a late renewal penalty as authorized by RCW 19.02.085. Failure to complete the renewal of a registration by 120 days after the expiration date may result in the cancellation of the registration and require reapplication for the registration in order to continue to conduct business in the city. (Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 553 § 8, 1988)
5.02.100 Penalty – Failure to register or submitting false information.
Any person subject to this chapter who fails to pay the fee required or submits false information shall be deemed to have committed a civil infraction and shall be subject to the penalties set forth in DPMC 1.16.020. (Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 640 § 3, 1994; Ord. 553 § 10, 1988)
5.02.110 Appeal from denial of registration.
A. In the event an application for registration pursuant to this chapter is denied or refused, the applicant may appeal such decision by filing an action in the Spokane County superior court and serving a copy of the action filed on the city within 21 days of the date of the written denial or refusal issued by the city.
B. Once an application for registration has been denied or refused, and during the pendency of any appeal therefrom, the applicant shall not engage in the business or activity for which the registration was denied or refused unless a final, nonappealable judgment of the Spokane County superior court reverses the decision of the city that is the subject of the appeal. (Ord. 921 § 2, 2013: Ord. 907 § 3, 2011)