Many local governments are suffering because many small businesses in their town have gone out of business or major large retailers and anchor tenants in the bigger shopping centers have closed. This means the sales tax revenue is less and with less money coming into the city, they can no longer afford to provide all the services that they once did when the economy was clicking along at a fast pace.
The only way for cities to maintain their sales tax revenue is to make it easier to do business in the city, and the easiest way to do that and about the only lever the city really has is to reduce regulations. When these cities ask me how to do this first, I normally recommend that they establish a Mayor's Roundtable where businesses can talk to the city council people, the city manager, and the city attorney.
What needs to happen first is permitting processes need to be streamlined, and planning commissions need to be able to fast-track projects especially those that provide jobs and sales tax revenue. I further recommend that a red magic marker committee is established in the city and on this committee; it should be made up of many small business people in many different industries.
They need to go through all the city codes, rules, laws, regulations, ordinances, resolutions, and look over the fines, the fees, and the cost to enforce each and every single one of the rules or laws. By red-lining those things that do not make sense, cost the city too much enforce, or cause decisions keeping small business from wishing to expand or from entrepreneurs starting a business in the first place, those rules need to go. I hope you will consider all this.
