ROWESVILLE, S.C. — The Town of Rowesville isn't charging people to get a business license. According to town officials, they simply don't have the staffing necessary to make sure mobile businesses are paying these fees.
“Because we’re not able to do that, we felt our brick and mortar stores here in town were being unjustly taxed," said Mayor Paul Bishop.
Bishop says last year, the town made over $1,800 in business licensing fees. However, he says thanks to $33,000 in American Rescue Act (ARPA) funds received last month, they are able to overcompensate for this loss.
“And even at that $1,800, we’ve lost one of our anchor, our big anchor stores here in town, which was Bonnett Printing, which was normally about half of our business license revenue," said Bishop.
The town is also working to improve its infrastructure to accommodate more businesses coming in the future. The City of Orangeburg currently supplies its water, but the town does not have its own sewage system.
The goal is to begin sewage operations under the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities, which would support potential growth.
“Without having to pay a business license, it could be beneficial for the business owner to come in instead of staying outside into the county requiring to pay the county’s business license fee or the City of Orangeburg’s business license fee," said Bishop.
Bishop says he plans to discuss these plans with the Orangeburg County Development Commission.
