Local home-based businesses are no longer getting what the mayor calls a 'discounted rate.'

For Okotokians operating their business out of their home, their fee went up $60 this year, previously being $140 and now at $200.

Mayor Tanya Thorn says they made the change when they were evaluating things during the budget process back in December, bringing a standardized level to the business licence fee.

"So that resulted in some bigger changes to our home-based businesses cause we've had a significantly lower rate for home-based businesses for a large number of years, to bring that in line to what every other business in our community is paying for a business licence fee."

She explains that since they can access the same services as the storefront businesses, their fees should be the same.

"It's still a business in our community, so they have access to the same bucket of services as every other business in the community, but they were getting it at a discounted rate. So from a pure equity position of a business is a business is a business, that philosophy was something that council wanted to see us move more to."

She says they haven't significantly changed their pool of services for businesses, so there's no added value to those now paying more.

"We are now distributing that cost across a broader group... So we've decreased what is being tax-supported for our economic development department."