WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) —The Williams City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance Sept. 17 that removes the 50 percent cap on penalties for delinquent business licenses, a move city officials say will improve compliance and fairness among local businesses.
Ordinance No. 272-25 amends Section 5.04.250 of the Williams Municipal Code. Under the old rules, penalties compounded at 10 percent each month but stopped once they reached half of the base license fee. For some businesses that pay the city’s minimum $34 annual fee, the maximum penalty was just $17.
City Planner Katheryn Ramsaur, who now oversees business licensing, told the council that low-fee license holders have been the most consistent offenders.
“For some of these business licenses, a flat rate fee of $34 and those seem to be the worst offenders of not paying,” Ramsaur said. “So when we go up to 17, it doesn’t touch them and they don’t care.”
She said some businesses have gone as long as three years without paying.
The change comes after the city restructured its licensing process last year, moving responsibility from the Finance Department to the Planning Department. Since then, collections have increased. In the first year under the new system, the city collected $70,412, an increase of $15,375 compared to the previous year.
“We have been recouping a lot of those business licenses,” Ramsaur said. “But one of the issues that we’ve run into is that our municipal code caps what we can fine somebody at 50 percent.”
The new ordinance eliminates that cap, meaning penalties will continue to compound at 10 percent per month until full payment is made. City officials said the change is intended to encourage timely payment and prevent repeat offenders from ignoring the system.
The ordinance will take effect 30 days after adoption.