LIVE OAK — If someone owns three or more homes within Live Oak city limits, that person could be taxed like a business in the future.

The City of Live Oak’s second Equity Study Commission met on Monday, May 9. John Gill, Live Oak City Clerk, recommended that anyone owning three or more homes be treated like a business. He said he got the idea after reading Lake City’s business tax receipt ordinance.

“There are certain individuals who have up to 30 to 40 mobile homes in the city spread out all over the place, and that’s a business,” Gill said. “And that’s how I’m looking at it, like a business.”

He compared the tax to mobile home parks that tax $25 per mobile home after the first three.

The commissioners are responsible for reviewing the city’s rate structure for the Business Tax Receipt (BTR) fee schedule. They can only make recommendations to the city council, which will ultimately be responsible for making changes.

A BTR is a tax on a business looking to work within the city limits. Different businesses are taxed at different rates and put into categories that best fit its individual function.

The last equity study was conducted in 1994 in which important classifications were inadvertently omitted, according to the City Clerk’s Office. Many omissions were resolved by adding a few words to the ordinances or being more specific.

Some businesses needed to be added to the ordinances, like marital arts studios or taxidermists, while others were put into categories the commissioners thought better fit their function.

For example, massage therapists being moved into a higher tax bracket because it is licensed through the state health department.

The commission will continue discussions at their next meeting on Monday, May 23, at Live Oak City Hall.