The Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce aims to make the county seat more business friendly.
President Otis Rawl said the chamber has recommended reform of the business license and other taxes. 
Rawl said the town’s position is “if a sale is made outside to an entity that doesn’t impose a business fee, the town requires those sales to be included in the town’s calculation of a business license fee even though the sale didn’t occur to someone or business in the town.” 
Lexington Mayor Steve MacDougall responded that “It saddens me to hear the Greater Lexington Chamber’s perspective on our business license as we work closely with MASC (the Municipal Association of SC) to make modifications that are in line with the state chamber recommendations.”
Rawl said the chamber asked for a hospitality tax discount for restaurants.
“The town says they don’t have the authority to allow such a discount,” he said.
Yet 14 other towns offer a discount, according to the SC Municipal Association. 
“In every instance we are stonewalled,” Rawl said. 
“Several developers have said they will think things over many times before recommending a development inside the town,” he said. 
The chamber asked for:
• Streamlined registration and payment of taxes.
• Minimum thresholds before a business is required to obtain a business license. 
• A maximum amount any business must pay. 
“The simple answer,” Rawl said, “would be to eliminate business license fees like other states have done.” 
Town Administrator Brit Poole said that would be difficult as half the town revenue comes from businesses.