INDIANAPOLIS -- The cost of doing business in Indianapolis could be going up dramatically for some, and the business community isn't happy about it.

Mayor Greg Ballard wants to increase licensing fees, many by several hundred percent, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Ballard hired a company to determine how much forms, paperwork and inspectors cost the city, resulting in a study that showed Indianapolis businesses come up far short of paying for the cost of their own regulation.

Yellow Cab management said proposed license fee increases for 145 cabs will cost the city's largest cab company an additional $54,000 a year.

"It's going to impact us majorly," said Scott Beauchamp, president of Yellow Cab. "For the guys that make a living at the airport and the hotels downtown, I think this could be a crushing blow to them."

The license for more than 400 of Indianapolis' cab drivers would increase from $20 to $283 annually.

Ballard said the increased fees would better align businesses with the cost of governance and enforcement.

"This will mean that these companies that the council and we, and previous administrations, think should be regulated will actually be inspected," said Chris Cotterill, City Corp. Counsel.

Increased licensing fees would cost more than $1,000 more a year for Yellow Rose Carriage, a company that manager Peggy Best said has been restricted to eight licenses a year for the past 26 years.

"It hurts at a time when this is a discretionary income business," Best said. "People are already hurting, and carriage rides are the first thing to go."

The city began meetings with the business community about the proposed increases and the city's desire that businesses shoulder the true cost of regulation.

"We understand the budget pressures the city is going under. This is simply not the time, at least from most people we've heard, that they should go into effect," said Joel Reuter, of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.

Indianapolis licenses 27 different businesses, including massage parlors, escort services and adult entertainment -- such as Lenny's Gentlemen's Club, where fees will increase 600 percent annually, from $75 to $575.

"Just nickel and dime us to death, and just it seems like they should find the money somewhere else," Lenny said.

"We've tried to shift business licensing costs off the property taxpayer onto the businesses that the council decided long ago to regulate," Cotterill said.

Ballard's administration said the increased fees would make up for decades of inaction in licensing. The city hopes to make users fund the new Department of Code Enforcement.

Debate beings when the proposal goes to the City-County Council next month. Ballard would like to implement the new fee schedule by April 1.