(1) As used in this section:

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(a) ‘Business license tax’ means any fee paid by a person to a city or county for any form of license that is required by the city or county in order to conduct business in that city or county. ‘Business license tax’ does not mean a franchise fee or privilege tax imposed by a city upon a public utility under ORS § 221.420 or 221.450 or under a city charter.

(b) ‘Conducting business’ means engaging directly, or through officers, agents and employees, in an activity in pursuit of gain.

(c) ‘Principal place of business’ means the location in this state of the central administrative office of a person conducting business in this state.

(d) ‘Within a metropolitan service district’ means that city limits are wholly or partially inside district boundaries.

(2) A landscape contracting business shall pay directly to any city within a metropolitan service district any business license tax imposed by the city if:

(a) The landscape contracting business has its principal place of business within the city; or

(b) The landscape contracting business does not have its principal place of business within the city but derives gross receipts of $250,000 or more from conducting business within the city during the calendar year for which the tax is owed.

(3) A landscape contracting business may apply for a business license from a metropolitan service district if the business conducts business in a city that is within the district but that is not a city to which the business directly pays a business license tax for that year.

(4) The metropolitan service district shall issue a business license to a landscape contracting business if:

(a) The business proves to the district that the business has directly paid the business license tax imposed by each city within the district to which the business must directly pay a business license tax; and

(b) The business pays a license fee to the district.

(5) The license fee charged under subsection (4) of this section shall be twice the average business license tax charged to landscape contracting businesses by cities located within the metropolitan service district plus an amount that is sufficient to reimburse the district for the administrative expenses of the district incurred in carrying out its duties under this section.

(6) If a landscape contracting business is issued a business license by the metropolitan service district under subsection (4) of this section, and a city within the district other than a city described in subsection (2) of this section demands that the business pay a business license tax, the demanding city shall waive payment of the tax if the business proves by possession or otherwise that the business has a business license issued by the metropolitan service district for the calendar year for which the tax is owed.

(7) The metropolitan service district shall distribute the business license fees collected by the district under this section, less administrative expenses, to the cities within the district that collect a business license tax. In any year, each of the cities shall receive a share of the license fees based upon the proportion that the number of residential building permits the city issued during the year bears to the total number of residential building permits issued during the year by all of the cities within the district. The district shall determine the number of residential building permits issued by cities within the district from statistics. A district shall distribute moneys under this subsection at least once each year. [2007 c.541 § 47; 2015 c.180 § 48]