Bureaucrats keeping you safe from out-of-control kids trying to make a few bucks:
Teens in Gardendale (Alabama) are in for a rude awakening this summer when it comes to cutting grass. According to the city's ordinance, you must have a business license.
Teenagers have been threatened by officials and other lawn services to show their city issued license before cutting a person's lawn for extra summer cash.
Cutting grass is often one of the first jobs many have in the summer. But a business license in Gardendale costs $110. And for a job, just for a couple of months, that can be a bit extreme.
The "good" news is that the mayor would like to have a mini-license just for this sort of thing, not that they shouldn't be licenses at all:
“I would really love to have something on our books that gave, I guess, a more favorable response to that student out there cutting grass,” Hogeland told the local ABC affiliate. “And see if there’s maybe a temporary license during the summer months that targets teenagers.”
Related - here's a roundup from a few years ago of lemonade stand shut-downs by government officials. I'm sure the list would be longer now.
More at Daily Caller.
Business licencing isn't about permitting work, it's about excluding people from actually making money...and about cities/counties/states making a cash grab. This is ridiculous and the local politicians involved should be tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail.
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