West Valley City » Some city council members want West Valley City to become the state's first local or county government to verify whether applicants for business licenses are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

For the past three years, a similar bill has been proposed at the Utah Legislature but has not passed. This year, a bill passed the House but the Senate put it on hold.

Council members Steve Vincent and Steve Buhler said at a recent study meeting that they want West Valley City to lead the way by passing such an ordinance.

"We can set the example," said Vincent, who works for BNA Consulting as an electrical designer.

Buhler, a lawyer in West Valley City, said while the federal government regulates eligibility to work in the U.S., the city shouldn't be giving undocumented immigrants the right to start businesses.

An estimated one-quarter of the residents in West Valley City, the state's second-largest city, are Latino; 39 percent of the city's residents are minorities, according to census estimates.

Alan Anderson, Chamber West president and CEO, said the chamber of commerce would have to review a proposed ordinance before deciding whether to support it. Still, he said, the chamber believes immigration reform requires national solutions.

A patchwork of local laws can just move problems -- a business owner could get a license from another city and still operate in West Valley City, he noted. "It doesn't solve anything," he said.

Ryan Reeder, a Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce board member, said the chamber opposes efforts -- whether by lawmakers or West Valley City -- to use the federal E-Verify system in connection with business license applications.

The system's purpose is to check an employee's status for working in the U.S., and "it should not be used for any other purpose," he said.

Reviewing immigration status for business owners in West Valley City would require additional staff and higher business license fees, said Russ Condie, assistant city treasurer. And some of the city's 5,200 businesses might start operating without licenses, he added.

A need to increase fees or hire staff should not block an ordinance, because residents and the city should follow federal immigration law, Buhler said.

"I don't think potential difficulty should deteriorate us from doing the right thing," he said.

As the weak economy begins to recover, investigating a possible ordinance is "something we would have to be very careful with," Mayor Mike Winder said. It's a "touchy topic and controversial" issue, he added.

"I'd want to make sure the system doesn't become a bureaucratic hindrance to the business license department," he said in an interview. Still, Winder said the city will obey "the law of the land" and support regulations approved by the council.

At the study meeting, Buhler also said he would like to start a database of private and public employers in the city who use the E-Verify system to check their employees' immigration status and "encourage" consumers to support only those businesses.

City officials noted they use the E-Verify program to screen new city employees.

The city has two workers who oversee new business license applications and renewals. Since 2005, the number of businesses in West Valley City has increased by about 33 percent, Condie said.

To register, business owners pay an annual fee of $110 and $10 per employee, plus a one-time $50 inspection fee. About 5 percent of owners undergo a state-required background check to sell alcohol.

Condie said he would have to hire at least one staffer to help verify applicants' immigration status and help with enforcement. "There's no question we would most likely have to adjust the fees accordingly," he said.

Condie also said he "foresees a lot of people running businesses without a license."

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, who has sponsored legislation for three years, said he's happy to hear West Valley City is looking into the idea. He said he tried to get the Orem City Council to pass such an ordinance in about 2005 when he was a councilman, but he didn't get much support.

 

jsanchez@sltrib.com