Independent contractors to pay fee

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The Town of Jackson is trying to spread the word about a new independent contractor and agent-licensing program that will require many workers to pay annual fees to the city or possibly face fines and other penalties.

Under the ordinance, many professional service providers, including agents working in realty, financial and law services, taxi drivers and even some part-time delivery people, are required to register with the Town of Jackson and pay an annual $100 licensing fee. The ordinance applies to workers who receive the 1099 IRS tax form – used for independent contractors – but not those who file income tax statements on the W-2 form.

Most real estate agents, for example, will have to apply for a business license while the support staff at the same agency – like office managers and receptionists – will not.

The licensing program was conceived to generate revenue for the Town, which has seen a shift towards the kinds of contractor-and-agent-reliant service businesses occurring parallel to more aggressive efforts by the town to invest in public services, Mayor Mark Barron said.

“Professional services have grown considerably in town,” Barron said in an interview, explaining the office space used by those types of outfits has replaced some other traditional town businesses, like retail. “The question was, ‘are these people benefiting from services of the Town of Jackson?’”

Some have recently criticized the ordinance, which passed in late 2007 after appearing in a sequence of Town Council meetings occurring over several months.
Tim Mayo, the managing owner of Art Hazen Real Estate, said he did not oppose the idea of town looking to raise revenue or even impose higher business licensing fees, but said the hundreds, possibly thousands, of workers affected under the system could become a bureaucratic nightmare.

“If you read the municipal code, it’s an artist, a gallery employee who works for commissions that will be affected,” Mayo said. In addition, he estimated there could be as many as 400 licensed realtors alone who are supposed to get a contractor license with the town. The costs of staff processing and printing paperwork and issuing all of the licenses could negate the revenue raised, Mayo cautioned.
“They’re going to tie up or burn up more than they raise,” he said.

Barron, however, said town staff could handle the workload efficiently.
“Right now enforcement isn’t our goal,” Barron said. “It’s communicating the changes to the public.”

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Independent contractors to pay fee | Planet JH News Article: General News

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