Should transient vendors pay a fee to do business in Bellevue? As another season of farmers markets and other events kicks off, some borough officials and business owners think vendors should be charged.

Bellevue has an ordinance covering transient vendors such as those who set up shop at the weekly farmers markets and other events organized by Enjoy Bellevue, including a car cruise in May and the Summer Solstice in June. That ordinance requires vendors to obtain a permit when they sell items in Bellevue, with a fee charged for each permit.

The ordinance exempts a number of vendors and solicitors from paying the fee, among them anyone who sells food and home-grown products.

Bellevue safety committee chairman David Gillingham Jr. said that local business owners are upset because many of the outside vendors pay nothing, while those who have stores in the borough are subject to local taxes.

Solicitor Tom McDermott said that recent court rulings have clarified that municipalities cannot charge transient vendors the mercantile tax paid by store owners because the businesses are considered home-based and taxable at that location. They can, however, charge a permit fee.

Bellevue's ordinance is in keeping with that court decision, McDermott said.

"There's nothing broken about this ordinance," he said.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Mayor George Doscher read a letter from Mike Fodi, owner of Fodi's Jewelers, who opposed fee exemptions for transient vendors. The letter stated that the vendors avail themselves of the same borough services and amenities as stores, but without sharing the cost of providing them. The situation creates "an unfair competitive advantage," Fodi said in the letter.

Council president Kathy Coder asked that the ordinance be reviewed as to the fees, stating that the amounts seemed high when applied to vendors who may make very little.