Cross References — As to miscellaneous business regulations, see ch. 610; fortunetelling prohibited, see §215.710; trailer camps, trailer parks, etc., see §215.720; solicitation for sale of residential property, see §215.740; soliciting rides or business prohibited, see §345.100; as to restricted use of filling station, see §355.120.
[CC 1970 §17-1; Ord. No. 712 §8, 5-21-1968]
Every person required to obtain a license to conduct any business, avocation or occupation in this City under the provisions of this Chapter and any other ordinances requiring licenses to do business in the City, shall procure the license so required from the City Clerk prior to commencing to do business.
[Code 1955 §17-1; CC 1970 §17-2]
No license or permit required under this Code or other ordinance of the City shall be issued to any person until such applicant shall produce satisfactory evidence that all personal taxes, merchant's taxes, license fees, permit fees and inspection fees levied against, or due the City from such applicant, for each of the five (5) years next preceding the date of such application, shall have been paid in full to the City by such applicant.
[Ord. No. 1638 §1, 10-16-2007]
A. 
In addition to all other applicable requirements of this Chapter 605:
1. 
The possession of a retail sales license and a statement from the State Department of Revenue that the licensee owes no tax due under Sections 143.191 to 143.265, RSMo., or Sections 144.010 to 144.510, RSMo., as amended from time to time, shall be a prerequisite to the issuance or renewal of any City license which is required for conducting any business where goods are sold at retail. The date of issuance on the statement that the licensee owes no tax due shall be no more than ninety (90) days before the date of submission for application or renewal of the City license. The revocation of a retailer's license by the Director of the State Department of Revenue shall render the City license null and void.
2. 
Any applicant for a City occupational or business license which is a contractor in the construction industry shall provide with its application a certificate of insurance for Workers' Compensation coverage or an affidavit, in the form developed by the State Division of Workers' Compensation, signed by the applicant attesting that the contractor is exempt from providing such coverage. The City shall not have any duty to investigate such certificate of insurance or affidavit. A contractor shall be denied such license until it complies with this requirement. It is unlawful, pursuant to Sections 287.061 and 287.128, RSMo., for any contractor to provide fraudulent information pursuant to this Section. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to create or constitute a liability to, or a course of action against, a City in regard to the issuance of any license.
[Ord. No. 1662 §6, 7-15-2008]
In addition to all other applicable requirements of this Chapter 605:
In conjunction with the review of any application for a City occupational or business license, the City shall consult any database available under Section 285.543, RSMo., regarding suspension of licenses and permits of businesses that violate State alien employment restrictions. The City shall abide by directions received from any court or the Attorney General regarding suspension of such licenses and permits for such violations.
[1]
State Law Reference — See §§285.525 to 285.550, RSMo.
[Code 1955 §17-2; CC 1970 §17-3]
The City Clerk shall not issue any license or permit until he/she has been satisfied that the taxes and fees mentioned in the preceding Section have been paid.
[Code 1955 §17-3; CC 1970 §17-4]
For the purposes of this Article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this Section:
MANUFACTURER
Every person who shall hold or purchase personal property for the purpose of adding to the value thereof by any process of manufacturing, refining or by the combination of different materials, within the City, or who shall purchase and sell manufactured articles such as he/she manufactures or uses in manufacturing within the City.
MERCHANT
Every person who shall deal in the selling of any goods, wares or merchandise at any store, stand or place occupied for that purpose within the City or who shall engage in the furnishing, for profit, of any services, whether in connection with the sale of goods, wares and merchandise or not, at any store, stand or place within the City.
[Code 1955 §17-4; CC 1970 §17-5]
Any person who shall engage in any of the avocations, occupations or businesses more specifically set forth and enumerated in this Article, within the City, and who shall not be a merchant or manufacturer, shall be subject to the license fees and charges set forth and determined in this Article.
[Code 1955 §17-5; CC 1970 §17-6]
Every person who shall be engaged in any business, occupation or avocation, whether he/she be a merchant or a manufacturer, or otherwise, and shall conduct such a business from a location outside the City, but who shall transact business within the City, shall be subject to the license tax set forth in this Article. No person so engaged shall be subject to a license tax unless such avocation, occupation or business is specifically named in this Article and a tax specifically imposed in this Article.
[Code 1955 §17-6; CC 1970 §17-7]
Every person defined to be a merchant or a manufacturer shall, before doing or offering to do business as such within the City, procure from the City Clerk a license in conformity with the provisions of this Article. No person shall engage in business as a merchant or manufacturer within the City without first securing such license and complying with the provisions of this Article.
[Code 1955 §17-7; CC 1970 §17-8]
A. 
The City Clerk shall, after July first (1st) and before August first (1st) of each year, notify every person defined by this Article to be a merchant or manufacturer and require him/her to furnish, and it shall be the duty of such person, whether notified or not, to furnish to the City Clerk a statement of the aggregate amount of sales made by him/her during the fiscal year immediately preceding July first (1st), which statement shall be made in writing, verified by the affidavit of the merchant or manufacturer, or of an officer thereof, and delivered to the City Clerk.
B. 
Any person collecting from the purchaser any license, charge or tax on the sale of tobacco or on high wines and on beer may deduct the amount of such tax from the total sales made by such person.
[Code 1955 §17-10; CC 1970 §17-11; Ord. No. 567 §1, 6-16-1959; Ord. No. 712 §1, 5-21-1968; Ord. No. 1299 §1, 5-16-1995]
A. 
There shall be levied and collected on or before August first (1st) of each calendar year a license or occupational tax which shall be paid to the City Clerk every year on or before August first (1st) thereof by every merchant, warehouseman or manufacturer of one dollar ($1.00) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or fractional part thereof of sales made by such merchant, warehouseman or manufacturer at each factory, plant, store or place occupied for that purpose within the City; provided, that no license shall be issued under the provisions of this Section for a sum of less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), except as otherwise provided by this Chapter, which sum shall be paid by each merchant, warehouseman or manufacturer doing an annual business of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) or less.
B. 
Each merchant, warehouseman or manufacturer may reduce the license or occupancy tax due to the City of Rock Hill by one percent (1%) from the one dollar ($1.00) for each one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of sales made by such merchant, manufacturer or warehouseman for the prescribed period by paying the license or occupancy tax to the City of Rock Hill based on the one (1) year period immediately preceding June first (1st) provided that said reduced amount is received by the City of Rock Hill no later than July first (1st).
[Code 1955 §17-12; CC 1970 §17-12; Ord. No. 712 §2, 5-21-1968]
There shall be a license or occupational tax levied and collected on or before August first (1st) of each calendar year from every manufacturer or warehouseman whose sales office is not located within the City or whose total sales are not made within the City but whose factory or warehouse is located within the City, a license or occupational tax in addition to the tax for sales made in the City as is provided in this Article, of five dollars ($5.00) for each one thousand (1,000) square feet of floor space occupied by such manufacturer or warehouseman, and ten dollars ($10.00) for each person employed not in excess of ten (10) employees, and five dollars ($5.00) for each employee in excess of ten (10) persons in or on the premises within the City, the number of employees for the purposes of this tax to be determined by the average number of persons employed by the licensee in the preceding twelve (12) months; provided, that if the business for which the license is applied for is a new business, then such tax shall be based on the number of persons employed at the time of the starting of such business; provided, that the minimum annual license or occupational tax as is provided by this Section shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00), except as is otherwise provided by this Article.
[CC 1970 §17-13; Ord. No. 712 §3, 5-21-1968]
A. 
There shall be levied and collected on or before August first (1st) of each calendar year a license or occupational tax of five dollars ($5.00) for each one thousand (1,000) square feet or fraction thereof of floor space occupied within the City by the businesses, avocations or occupations hereinafter enumerated, and of ten dollars ($10.00) for each employee or agent of such business or avocation not in excess of ten (10) employees, and of five dollars ($5.00) for each employee or agent thereof in excess of ten (10); provided, that the annual license fee as is provided by this Article shall not be less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), except as otherwise provided by this Article:
1. 
Appraisers.
2. 
Bank and trust companies.
3. 
Barbershops.
4. 
Beauty shops.
5. 
Building and loan associations.
6. 
Collection agencies.
7. 
Contractors and excavators.
8. 
Draying, moving and furniture storage.
9. 
Insurance companies and agencies.
10. 
Loan companies.
11. 
Manufacturers' agents.
12. 
Office buildings.
13. 
Real estate companies and agencies.
A. 
No person following for a livelihood the profession or calling of minister of the gospel, duly accredited Christian Science practitioner, teacher, professor in a college, priest, lawyer, certified public accountant, dentist, chiropractor, optometrist, chiropodist, or physician or surgeon in this City shall be taxed or made liable to pay any municipal or other corporation tax or license fee of any description whatever for the privilege of following or carrying on such profession or calling, and after December 31, 2003, no investment funds service corporation as defined in Section 143.451, RSMo., may be required to pay any such license fee in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) annually, any law, ordinance or Charter to the contrary notwithstanding.
B. 
No person following for a livelihood the profession of insurance agent or broker, veterinarian, architect, professional engineer, land surveyor, auctioneer, or real estate broker or salesman in this City shall be taxed or made liable to pay any municipal or other corporation tax or license fee for the privilege of following or carrying on his/her profession unless that person maintains a business office within the City of Rock Hill.
[Code 1955 §17-11; CC 1970 §17-14; Ord. No. 712 §4, 5-21-1968; Ord. No. 1606 §1, 7-18-2006]
When any merchant or manufacturer shall commence business in the City after August first (1st) in any year, he/she shall apply for and procure from the City Clerk a merchant's or manufacturer's license, as the case may be, but before any such license shall be issued to him/her, he/she shall pay to the City Clerk a one hundred dollar ($100.00) deposit for the fees to be assessed in this Chapter. On or before the first (1st) day of the second (2nd) month next following, he/she shall furnish to the City Clerk a statement, verified by affidavit, of the aggregate amount of all sales made by him/her between the date upon which he/she commenced business and the last day of the first (1st) full month next following, and he/she shall at such time pay to the City Clerk a sum for the fees assessed hereunder based on the sales so reported and shall also pay a license fee for the next year which shall be computed by multiplying the amount of the aggregate daily sales from the commencement of business to the last day of the first (1st) full month next following by the number of days until the next full tax year which begins on August first (1st), which sum shall constitute the license charge fee for such year or partial year next following such initial payment; provided, that the minimum license or occupational tax payable in any year shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
[Code 1955 §17-12; CC 1970 §17-15]
It shall be the duty of every person coming within the definition of a merchant or manufacturer to keep in a proper book and to enter in ink therein an account of all sales made by such merchant or manufacturer, which account shall always be open to the inspection of the City Clerk for purposes of verification of the statements furnished by such merchant or manufacturer.
[Code 1955 §17-13; CC 1970 §17-16]
The statements or returns made to the City Clerk under the provisions of this Article shall not be made public nor shall they be subject to the inspection of any person, except the Mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen.
[CC 1970 §17-17; Ord. No. 1175 §1(17-17), 9-19-1989]
Any person defined to be a merchant or manufacturer who shall fail, neglect or refuse to deliver the statement required and to pay the tax and license levied under the provisions of this Article on or before August first (1st) each year shall be subject to an assessment for late payment of tax and license by the City Clerk based upon double the aggregate amount of the annual sales of such merchant, such aggregate amount to be ascertained by the best information or means available, and in addition thereto any license previously issued to such merchant or manufacturer shall be revoked. If, however, the tax and license is paid within five (5) months of its due date, the late payment assessment, exclusive of the amount of tax that would have been due had the tax been paid by the due date, shall be reduced by twenty percent (20%) for each full month and partial month less than five (5) months between the payment and the due date.
[Code 1955 §17-15; CC 1970 §17-18]
Any person who shall make or file with the City Clerk, a false statement, shall forfeit any license issued to him/her under this Article and such false statement shall be deemed to be a misdemeanor. It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to examine carefully all statements filed with him/her and to report all false statements to the Board of Aldermen for whatsoever action such Board shall take, but before making such report the City Clerk shall give the merchant or manufacturer a fair opportunity to explain the statement and the figures therein and to correct the same if inadvertently made. If it shall appear to the City Clerk that such statement is false and was willfully and corruptly made, he/she shall report all such facts to the Board of Aldermen and, if deemed advisable, to the grand jury of the County.
[Code 1955 §17-19; CC 1970 §17-20; Ord. No. 1706 §2, 7-21-2010]
Nothing in this Article shall be construed to authorize any person to conduct a dram shop or to sell intoxicating liquors. Such business shall be authorized only when commenced in conformance with the provisions of this Code or other ordinances relating to licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors.
[CC 1970 §17-22; Ord. No. 500 §1, 10-3-1956]
A. 
The license fees for the business, avocation or occupation of building wrecking are as follows:
1. 
Each day for the first (1st) fifteen (15) days for which license is issued: $5.00.
2. 
Each day from the fifteenth (15th) to twentieth (20th) day, inclusive: $10.00.
3. 
Each day after the twentieth (20th) day: $25.00.
B. 
At the time application is made for a license for the wrecking of any building in the City, the applicant shall deposit with the City Clerk twenty-five dollars ($25.00), which sum shall be applied to the payment of the fees as are herein provided for. If the fees shall amount to less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), then the City Clerk shall, upon completion of the wrecking for which the license was issued, refund that portion of the deposit which is not due as a fee.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 605.200, Fee Schedule For Certain Businesses, Etc., was repealed 5-21-2024 by Ord. No. 2053. Prior history includes Code 1955 §17-21; CC 1970 §17-23; Ord. No. 497; Ord. No. 500; Ord. No. 712; and Ord. No. 1006.
[Code 1955 §17-23; CC 1970 §17-25]
No person shall engage in any of the businesses, avocations or occupations within the City which do not come within the definition of merchant or manufacturer and which are specifically set forth and described in Section 605.200, without first applying for and obtaining from the City Clerk a license to do so. The City Clerk shall issue to any applicant therefor, a license for any of the named businesses, avocations or occupations described in Section 605.200, with a license fee as prescribed in such Section.
[Code 1955 §17-24; CC 1970 §17-26]
A. 
Any person engaged in any business, occupation or avocation, whether he/she be a merchant or a manufacturer, or otherwise, and having his/her place of business located outside the City, but who shall transact business within the City, and whose business, occupation or avocation shall be listed, specified and described in Section 605.230, shall pay to the City Clerk a license fee in the sum set opposite the description of such business in the following Section, and no person shall be permitted to transact any business in the City unless he/she has first secured such license and paid the charge therefor.
B. 
Such license shall be procured on or before August first (1st) of each year and shall be for the year next following from August first (1st) to the last day of July of the succeeding year.
C. 
No person shall transact any such business without first having procured the requisite license therefor.
[Code 1955 §17-25; CC 1970 §17-27; Ord. No. 712 §6, 5-21-1968]
The businesses, avocations and occupations hereinafter listed and described shall procure a license to transact business within the City as is provided in Section 605.220, and shall pay an annual license fee to the City Clerk in the amount as is set opposite each such business, avocation or occupation:
Bakery trucks, each truck: $25.00.
Cleaning delivery trucks, each truck: $25.00.
Dairy trucks and wagons, each truck: $25.00.
Book, magazine, newspaper agencies: $25.00.
[CC 1970 §17-28; Ord. No. 712 §7, 5-21-1968]
When any business, avocation or occupation required to obtain a license under the provisions of Sections 605.100, 605.110, 605.200 and 605.230, and to pay the license or occupational tax levied thereby, commences business in the City after August first (1st) in any year, such license shall be issued upon the payment of a license or occupational tax, computed by dividing the amount of the annual license or occupational tax by the number of months from the date of the commencement of such business, avocation or occupation to July first (1st) next following, or twelve dollars fifty cents ($12.50), whichever sum is the greater.
[Code 1955 §17-26; CC 1970 §17-29; Ord. No. 695 §2, 12-5-1967]
A. 
Any person desiring to do business within the City and to transact such business from any store, plant, factory, place or stand within the City and whose business is not specifically mentioned in this Article shall, before entering upon such business, apply to the City Clerk for a license so to do, and the Board of Aldermen shall, within fifteen (15) days from such application, determine the type of license to be issued therefor and shall set the license tax therefor.
B. 
The payment of any license fee provided for by this Article and the issuance of any license herein provided for shall not permit the transfer of such license to any other person than the applicant nor shall it be construed to permit the person to whom such license was issued to carry on a business or occupation for which such license was obtained at more than one (1) store, plant, factory, place or stand within the City, but a separate fee shall be charged for each such store, place, stand, plant or factory within the City. No license issued under this Article shall be used for the operation of any business other than at the location noted on the application for such license.
C. 
Where any person is engaged within the City in two (2) or more of the businesses, avocations or occupations embraced within the provisions of this Article, whether he/she be a merchant or a manufacturer or otherwise, such person shall be required to obtain a license for each such business, avocation or occupation and to pay the license fee therefor as is provided by this Article.