Sparks puts teeth in business license program

Businesses that don't have the required Sparks business licenses will come under more pressure to get legal.

The city is scheduled to announce today a program to recover lost fees from businesses with delinquent business licenses. Sparks, which has about 6,600 business licenses, says it recovered $65,000 in lost revenue from outdated licenses in the first phase of the crackdown.

Now it's relying on streamlined business license software that includes an online complaint form as well as list of renewals of business licenses updated in real time.

In a prepared statement, city officials said they want to protect licensed businesses from unfair competition, and they want to ensure that business operations meet the requirements of safety codes.

"An added benefit is that the ability to go after lost revenue through the new program is at no cost to the taxpayers," city officials said.

In the past, people who wanted information about business licenses were required to visit City Hall and fill out a request for information.

Along with the real-time listing of business licenses renewals, the city's new software will include monthly online lists of new business licenses and an updated master list of all operations with business licenses in the city.

The listings of business licenses are searchable by name, address or delinquent status.