Wichita proposes increased garage-sale license fee | The Wichita Eagle

Editor's note: Bel Aire and Haysville allow two garage sales a year. The number was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

The two cities that do require a license, Bel Aire and Haysville, charge $3 a day and allow two sales a year, the report said.

Because the city of Wichita is losing about $3.50 on every garage-sale permit it issues, city staff is proposing to raise the license fee by a dollar a day.

If approved by the City Council on Tuesday, the cost of a permit for garage, yard and similar sales would rise from $1.50 to $2.50 a day.

A Finance Department report to the City Council said a recent study showed that while permits cost $1.50 for each day of the sale, it costs the city $8 per permit in staff time and resources to process the paperwork.

That means the city spends about $44,000 a year on permit processing, while only bringing in about $19,000 in fees.

Raising the permit price to $2.50 a day would bring the city’s fee income up to about $32,000, the report said.

Despite the loss the city takes on permitting garage sales, the Finance Department recommended that there’s still a value to doing it.

“The City has long issued licenses for garage sales as a way of tracking the number of sales each year to ensure compliance with code requirements,” the report said. “An important consideration in limiting the number of sales each year is to ensure that secondhand businesses do not operate in residential areas, contrary to zoning limitations.”

The city code limits homeowners to two sales a year of no more than three days duration. The average sale lasts 2.3 days, the report said.

Finance Department research on other Kansas cities found that most don’t require a permit for garage and yard sales.

Of 11 cities contacted, nine – including Overland Park, Olathe, Topeka and Lawrence – don’t require a license.

The two cities that do require a license, Bel Aire and Haysville, charge $3 a day and allow two sales a year, the report said.

In addition to raising the permit fee, the city also is working with a vendor to put the application process online. At present, permits can be purchased from a city office or at The Eagle, 825 E. Douglas.

Once the process moves online, the city will provide advertising on its website as part of the license package.

“The location of a sale will be posted on the City’s website and a map will be available with ‘pins’ of all garage sale locations within the city limits,” the report said. “Citizens interested in shopping at garage sales can then search information about each sale, identify garage sale locations and locate items they are interested in buying.”

City Council members will consider the proposal at their meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 455 N. Main, Wichita.