$1K Tax Fee Not Charged In Years Levied On Herndon Businesses

Herndon VA

24 January, 2022

4:12 PM

Description

HERNDON, VA — Massage therapists and the owners of massage establishments in Herndon got a bit of a shock last week in their mail. The town's Finance Department sent them the following notice: "Effective January 1, 2022 all massage parlors/establishments and therapists will pay a flat fee of $1,000.00 per year for their Town of Herndon business license on gross receipts attributed to massage therapy. Please refer to the Town Code Sec 30-246 for fees and taxes." Meg Donnelly is a licensed massage therapist who has operated NoVa Weekend Warriors within town limits for years and has never had to pay the $1,000 fee before. "We have always been treated like every other business," she said. "In every other business in the town of Herndon, typically, if you make under $100,000, you will pay either $30 or $50, depending on what your income is. Once you make over $100,000, then you are moved to X amount of cents for every $100." While it's true that Donnelly and owners of other massage therapy establishments haven't had to pay it in the past, the $1,000 annual fee has been in the town code since 1992. "It was a tax rate that we were incorrectly charging the massage therapist businesses," said Robert Tang, Herndon's director of finance. "We haven't been assessing that rate for all massage therapists. It currently is $1,000. Nothing has changed. It has always been $1,000." In preparation of the fiscal year 2024 budget, the town ran a financial audit at the beginning of January. That's when Tang, who has been the director of finance since April, said he discovered the discrepancy. "Once I became aware of the situation, as a director of finance, I had to enforce what's in code," he said. "I can't speak for previous directors, but obviously now that I know that the rate was incorrectly assessed, I had to correct the issue immediately." In Virginia, massage therapists are licensed through the Department of Health Profession's Board of Nursing and its five member advisory board. "Any business that has massage has a Fairfax County massage establishment permit, and every individual massage therapist also has their own personal massage therapy permit through the county," said Casey White, owner of White H.A.R.T. Holistic and Rehabilitation Therapy. In addition to the annual $1,000 fee, massage establishment owners like White and Donnelly face many other requirements. "The town of Herndon started background checking us about three years ago, because they didn't when I first started," White said. "Our state license is background checked every two years." By Donnelly's estimate, the average massage therapist in Herndon earns less than $40,000 a year, so the $1,000 assessment on top of all the other hoops they have to go through to stay in business is a bit much. Another concern is that while massage therapy and massage therapists are defined terms under the Code of Virginia, which affords the businesses some protections, the Town Code of Herndon lumps businesses that provide massage therapy under the term "massage parlor." "It's our contention that 'massage parlor' is an antiquated term that typically means sex work at best and at worst trafficking," Donnelly said. Over the last week, Donnelly and White have been trying to raise awareness in the community of the fee and their opposition to the "massage parlor" label. They launched a website #WeAreNotMassageParlors, where people can sign a petition or show their support by sending an email to the town clerk. So far, White and Donnelly's efforts at engaging local officials and the Herndon business community for support have been positive. On Monday, Vice Mayor Cesar del Aguila recorded an interview with Donnelly that will be posted on his Facebook page and John Boylan, interim president and CEO of the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, said he would be submitting a letter of support to the council. On Tuesday night, the duo will be presenting their case during the public comment section of the Herndon Town Council. According to their website, they will ask for the following: "We ask the Town to immediately bring the business fees currently being targeted at massage therapists back to the rates that other businesses pay, since they are not massage parlors. Further, we support changing code for 2023 and beyond. Additionally, we ask the Town for an immediate change for 2022, to keep these businesses in our town." Tang has met with Donnelly and spoken to other business owners who contacted him about the $1,000 assessment. He confirmed that the council had the ability to change its ordinance if that's what it decided to do. "I'm drafting a new ordinance change and proposed rate, which will probably go in front of the town council prior in March and April." While that would likely be too late for the 2022 assessment, Donnelly and White are hoping the council to stop the assessment for this year. "The current Town Council was not aware of this old code, as it hadn't been implemented for a long time," Donnelly said. "The current Town Council, I know, really wants to support us as small businesses, and does see us as professional licensed professionals. We want to work with the town and not against the town on this."