I've attached the opinion of the U.S, Supreme Court in Quill v. North Dakota, which is probably the latest Supreme Court authority on how far a city can go on imposing taxes on a business with limited phyusical contact with the taxing jurisdiction. My speculation is that your executive rectuirter certainly has enough nexus with Sisters to be subject to a tax, although you obviously need to go over that with your City Attorney. I tend to take a pretty expansive view of what we can tax.

Sorry to be so needy with another inquiry, but….

Of those cities with business licenses in place, do you license Internet based businesses? A person called last week, her bank is asking for a copy of her city business license, which she doesn’t have. She lives in the city and works out of her home. She does executive recruitment, is registered in the State of Delaware, and says she has no Oregon clients. A reading of our City Code would indicate that any provider of a professional service who does business with the public and is located in Sisters is subject to a business license. The local paper has picked up on the story, resulting from my seeking clarification with the City Council last week, and there will be a big story in tomorrow’s paper. So, how do you handle these situations?

Eileen Stein

City Manager

City of Sisters

P.O. Box 39

Sisters, OR 97759

(541) 549-6022, Ext. 1

(541) 549-0561 - fax

estein@ci.sisters.or.us