Havre considers new business registration requirement

Tonight, the Havre City Council will consider adding a requirement that local businesses register with the city, accompanied by a one-time fee, primarily for the sake of city record keeping for things like emergency services.

Havre Mayor Doug Kaercher said the city used to require businesses to be licensed by them in order to operate, but the recurring fees associated with that license were perceived by many as “being double taxed,” so the city council got rid of the requirement.

Kaercher said the city isn’t interested in bringing that system back, but getting rid of it had the unforeseen consequence of the city no longer having an up-to-date record of what businesses are in what buildings and what said buildings have in them as a result, which has been a problem for the city’s first responders.

He said first responders have told him and the council that because they don’t have these records they often go into buildings not knowing what is in them which makes first responders less prepared for any given situations, and, consequently, less safe while doing their work.

The registration would not need to be renewed and would only need to be filed when a business opens or moves to a new location, with a fee of $23, he said.

Kaercher said the rule would only apply to businesses that open or change location after the regulation takes effect.

The first reading of the proposed change will be held during the council’s meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at Havre City Hall.