If you're a hairdresser, contractor or another trade working at sites in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, your mobile business licence fee is about to go up.
On Monday (April 24), Coquitlam city council unanimously gave first, second and third bylaw readings to bump up the licence fee by $10 to $175 for the year (Mayor Richard Stewart was not at the meeting).
If approved by Port Coquitlam and Port Moody councils this and next month, the new rate would go into effect on June 1 — the first fee hike since the Tri-Cities Intermunicipal Business Licence (IMBL) program began.
According to a report from Stephanie James, Coquitlam's general manager of legislative services, the proposed increase will bring in about $4,500 more for the three cities, of which Coquitlam would reap an additional $1,500 to pay for inflation and administration.
James also noted the numbers since IMBL started in 2013 when 95 businesses signed up; today, there are 562 mobile licences, of which 219 are Coquitlam resident businesses.
"I think that speaks to the success of the program and shows the cooperation between the three municipalities," said Coun. Craig Hodge, who was on the original committee to propose the Tri-Cities IMBL.
In her report, James wrote that when the Tri-Cities IMBL started a decade ago, there was a push for a similar region-wide program; however, "these formal conversations were suspended due to various administrative, enforcement and regulatory concerns that limited the appeal of broader participation," she wrote.
