Bremerton revisits landlord fee, despite veto threat
By LYNSI BURTON
The Bremerton City Council will consider a new business license fee for city landlords Dec. 1 after six months of deferring the measure and a veto threat from the mayor. The proposal will charge rental owners with properties in Bremerton $65 per year for one property and $25 for each additional property. Currently, landlords are required to renew one $65 business license each year. Council President Nick Wofford, who has pushed for the measure, hopes it will help the city track how many rental owners have properties in the city. When the measure was scheduled for a Council vote in September, Mayor Patty Lent threatened a veto, saying the new requirement would be a burden on both city employees and landlords. Wofford is reintroducing the measure Dec. 1 so the new fee can be effective in 2011. The mayor will have 10 days after passage to veto the law and the City Council will have 30 days to override the veto. An override requires six out of nine votes. Wofford said he has not spoken to Lent about the measure in several weeks. When Wofford first introduced the measure in the spring, it called for landlords to pay $65 per property. He has since reduced the fee for additional properties in an effort to make it easier to pass. So keep your comments: We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters. We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please refer to our Terms of Use for full detail on participating on our site.
Bremerton Patriot Staff Writer
November 29, 2010 · 5:04 PM
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