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HUSTONVILLE — The city of Hustonville may have an untapped source of revenue available that it hasn't been using for about 14 years.
Mayor David Peyton said a decades-old Hustonville ordinance creating a business license fee hasn't been enforced since 1998, even though it appears as though it was never repealed.
The ordinance, which was passed into law in 1988, sets up annual fees of varying amounts for different individuals and companies that conduct business within the city limits.
Most of the fees range from $25 to $75 per year depending on the type of business. Peyton said the fee schedule was taken from Stanford's business license fee ordinance when Hustonville put its own in place.
Peyton said he wants to talk to former city council members and look into why the city stopped collecting the business license fees before Hustonville takes any action, but he's interested in the potential revenue the ordinance could generate.
"It would bring some revenue in and lord knows, the city needs some revenue," he told city council members Dec. 4. "(But) I want to find out why it stopped before we bring it back."
Peyton said according to all the city records he's been able to review, the ordinance is still legally binding.
Peyton said he still needs to do more research into the ordinance and doesn't have an estimate for how much money the ordinance used to generate or how much it might generate if it were enforced today.
Hustonville City Council may discuss the ordinance at its January meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 8 because of the New Year's holiday.