FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Janet Watermeier, Economic Development Office
                (941) 338-3161

FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 20, 2001) – The Board of Lee County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously gave the go ahead Tuesday (June 19) for the county and cities of Fort Myers and Cape Coral to create a "one-stop" occupational license process.

Occupational licenses are required for all businesses operating in the county and cities of Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Sanibel. Currently, if your business is located in a city you need to go to city offices to obtain a city occupational license and visit separate county offices to get a county occupational license – requiring numerous trips to different locations.

An Occupational Licensing System Task Force of the Horizon Council is recommending one-stop licensing for businesses physically located in the cities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers resulting in a city/county dual occupational license. The City of Bonita Springs and Town of Fort Myers Beach don’t require separate occupational licenses. The second step of the process will be to work with the City of Sanibel on a coordinated system.

By resolution, the BOCC gave its approval to the concept and the task force will continue to meet to address the administrative and legal details involved.

Once the process is complete, it should:

• Reduce paperwork;
• Provide a better level of service and elimination of duplication;
• Streamline enforcement of those businesses not holding any license, which will resolve zoning and health/safety issues.

Under the change, the Tax Collector no longer would issue, or be responsible for, county occupational licenses for businesses in the cities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers. Renewals and enforcement would be handled by the respective cities.

An occupational license registers your business and makes sure it is being operated in compliance with zoning requirements. County license fees are based on the number of employees located at the physical address of the business. The annual fees are ($30) 1-40 employees, ($60) 41-100 employees, ($90) 101+ employees, and a flat rate of $30 for professionals (examples: attorney, physician, etc.). A surcharge of $20 is added by the county Division of Natural Resources for businesses that produce under 2,200 pounds of hazardous waste (Small Quantity Generators) to pay for pollution prevention programs.