Board Eases Application For Business Licenses

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors issued a directive last week that will make it easier for small-business owners to prove they are living in the country legally.

Business owners will be able to certify their legal status, with no documentation required, online or by mail. Under the old requirement, part of a controversial immigration measure the board passed in October 2007, company owners had to provide proof in person when they applied for a business license.

Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles) "struggled with this regulation," he said, because it was unnecessarily onerous and time consuming.

"We are correcting a policy that was implemented poorly," he said. "To me, this marks a positive step forward in terms of the county trying to make ourselves more business friendly."

Notice of the policy change went out Thursday to company owners who have not renewed their business license. They have until March 1 to apply.

Carrying out the requirement would have cost the county $80,000, according to staff estimates. Although the county will save money with the change, it is difficult to quantify how much, Nohe said.

Prince William's ordinance went into effect July 1. In the county, 4,000 small-business owners have licenses. It issued 286 licenses -- new ones and renewals -- after the ordinance took effect last year and 148 in January.

"The county was looking at a huge revenue loss due to noncompliance," said John Gray, a county resident and accountant, who led the opposition to the requirement.

Supervisors, who discussed the changes in closed session, initially considered requiring applicants to submit an affidavit. Board directives are issued by consensus, which do not require on-the-record votes by board members.

Supervisors also issued a directive Tuesday that will require county contractors to use an electronic system to check workers' documents.

The system, known as E-Verify, screens workers to confirm whether they are in the country legally. The county also will run names of new government employees through the verification system.

Last month, President Obama delayed a planned crackdown on federal contractors that hire illegal immigrants to determine whether the electronic system can handle the surge in workload. The federal government planned to require all contractors with projects worth more than $100,000 to use the system after Jan. 15. The requirement was postponed until May 21 while it is being studied.

Prince William officials decided to develop a procedure to be implemented within 120 days after the federal mandate goes into effect.

In other business Tuesday, the board passed an update to the housing chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, despite community opposition.

Members of advocacy organizations, including Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement and the Cooperative Council of Ministries, packed the board chambers in an effort to persuade supervisors to delay voting on the measure. The groups said the plan, designed to guide development for 20 years, addressed the temporary surplus of homes on the market but not the needs of working families.

Nohe offered four amendments, which were adopted, that addressed concerns with the update by reinserting references to the county's need for more affordable housing.