MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – A new, proposed state law on business licenses could cause the city of Myrtle Beach to lose millions in revenue.

House bill 3650 aims to standardize how cities across the state regulate business licences. “We’re working with our lawmakers in Columbia to make sure that this bill that’s presented right now does not pass because it’s a city killer, it’s a county killer. They cannot survive if this law passes in its current form,” says Myrtle Beach spokesperson Mark Kruea.

If the bill is passed, certain businesses would no longer have to buy licenses and the city wouldn’t be able to charge businesses outside city limits a higher fee than those inside. Kruea says the city could lose at least a third of its general fund revenue if these changes go into effect. “Just one provision alone in here, the one that says you couldn’t charge an outside business more than an inside business, that’s a 2.6 million dollar just to the city of Myrtle Beach alone.”

Kruea says the city simply wouldn’t be able to replenish that loss. “We cannot make up that kind of money. We’d have to close recreation centers, close libraries, cut staff. We could not raise taxes enough to cover the losses this would cause.”

State Representative Jay Jordan of Florence County is one of the sponsors of the bill. He says the goal is to simplify the business license process by streamlining it through the secretary of state. “If you have a business that does business in, let’s say, 10 different municipalities across the state, you’d be responsible for making sure you’re in compliance with all those municipalities. All those municipalities may have different ways of how they go about executing and completing the business license process. This would make it much simpler.”

However, Kruea says the law would do the opposite since businesses would probably have to increase their own record-keeping and pay in other ways. “Our only choices if this passes is to raise the business license fees on everybody else or raise property taxes. And again, we can’t raise property taxes enough to cover what we would lose.”

The bill has made it through the House subcommittee and full committee, and is now headed to the debate floor. Rep. Jordan says it is still evolving, and that lawmakers are meeting with local officials to hear their input.