The City of Richmond gave out 170 tickets in the third quarter of this year to businesses that were non-compliant with municipal bylaws, collecting more than $35,000 in fines.
The total revenue for fines this July to September was significantly higher than the same time last year when the city received $3,750 in revenue for business bylaw infractions.
A report going to the next week notes the increase is a result of city staff investigating business that continue to operate while not being compliant with city bylaws.
Any business operating without a valid license will get a warning. However, if a follow-up inspection shows the business is still without a valid license, a ticket will be issued.
While the city doesn’t break down what kinds of tickets were issued in their report, they note that some of the tickets were due to sign bylaw infractions.
There were 207 new business licenses issued in the third quarter, which is 57 per cent more than were issued in Q3 2022.
“This is a positive indicator of economic health, especially as businesses continue to face inflationary pressures and other economic challenges,” the report reads.
There were a total of 17,079 businesses operating in Richmond at the end of September, up four per cent from September 2022.
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