Businesses in Pike County have until the end of the month to make their license purchases.

Probate Judge Bill Stone said most local businesses will be required to purchase a business license from the Pike County Courthouse, which are different from the other city or state licenses they may have to obtain.

Some exceptions, he said, will be some lawn care services or maid services.

Stone said business licenses have to be renewed every year, and those who fail to renew them are subject to receive citations.

“The Pike County Commission does employ a license inspector, and we would much rather people buy their licenses by the end of October rather than run the risk of being cited,” Stone said.

Business owners who wish to renew their license will only have to bring in a blank check when they come to the Probate Office, but new businesses will have to provide more information.

“New businesses will need to be able to tell us names of owners, addresses and what all they do in the business,” Stone said.

Licenses range in price, but the lowest one is $2, and they go up from there, Stone said.

On a license, owners are required to say all that the business does.

Stone said it’s often easy for a business to forget about something they have that is not their main focus, such as a soda machine, but failing to account for even those things can lead to citations.

By the end of the month, Stone said he expects the Probate Office will sell more than 1,000 business licenses.

“Fortunately, we do have growth, and we can’t tell at this time what percentage that will be,” Stone said. “The number has slowly, but steadily increased every year.”