Lorain County
Lorain County Auditor
In short
Lorain County Auditor issues 2 permits we publish for Lorain County, last verified 2026-10-20. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Vendor's License (form ST-1) | Lorain County Auditor | $50 one-time, for each fixed place of business in the county that is the situs of retail sales; ORC 5739.17(A) sends $25 of each fee to the state organized crime commission fund and credits the remaining $25 to the county general fund | no annual renewal, per the auditor's licensing page ('Application fee of $50.00 – No Annual Renewal'); a change in ownership requires a new license | 2026-10-20 |
| Retail Cigarette Dealer's Licenseonly if it applies to you | Lorain County Auditor | $125 a year, for each physical place where the retail business of trafficking in cigarettes is carried on; prorated when the application is filed after June 1, but not less than $25 in any one year; $5 to transfer to another place of business in the same county | one year commencing on June 1; the application is due annually on or before June 1 (ORC 5743.15(B)(1)-(2)) | 2026-10-20 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Regular Vendor's License (form ST-1)
Every business making taxable retail sales from a fixed place of business in Lorain County, whether a shop, restaurant, coffee shop, salon selling retail products, gym selling merchandise or repair shop selling parts, registers each location with the Lorain County Auditor. The auditor's licensing page states that the regular vendor's license is 'issued by the County Auditor to vendors with a fixed place of business in Ohio' and that 'vendors must have one regular vendor license for each sales location', with 'Application fee of $50.00 – No Annual Renewal'. The amount is set by statute: ORC 5739.17(A), as amended by House Bill 366 effective April 9, 2025, requires 'a license fee in the sum of fifty dollars for each fixed place of business in the county that will be the situs of retail sales', and directs the auditor to transmit twenty-five dollars of each fee to the state organized crime commission fund, with the remaining twenty-five dollars credited to the county general fund. The auditor's page also states that 'there is no fee for transferring a regular vendor's license from one location to another within the same county', that a move to another county needs a new license from that county's auditor, and that 'any change in ownership' requires a new license. The auditor's office is at 226 Middle Ave., Room 200, Elyria, phone 440-329-5207.
Retail Cigarette Dealer's License
A convenience store, grocery, gas station or restaurant selling cigarettes at retail in Lorain County needs this license from the Lorain County Auditor for each physical location. The auditor's licensing page states that the license 'may be obtained at the County Auditor's Office for a fee of $125.00 for a retail license' and that 'to obtain a retail cigarette dealer's license you must also have a Vendor's License.' The figure and the license year are statutory: ORC 5743.15(B)(1) requires the application 'annually, on or before the first day of June' with 'an application fee in the sum of one hundred twenty-five dollars for each physical place', and (B)(2) issues the license 'for one year commencing on the first day of June', prorating a later application but to not less than twenty-five dollars in any one year. Under ORC 5743.15(B)(3) the license may be transferred 'to a place of business within the same county' for five dollars, 'on condition that the licensee's ownership interest and business structure remain unchanged.' The auditor's page adds that a seller using a motor vehicle needs a license for each vehicle and in each county where it is used. Cigarette questions go to the auditor's office at 440-329-5243.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Lorain County
- Phone
- 440-329-5207
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Licensing - Lorain County AuditorLorain County Auditor · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-20
- ORC 5739.17, Vendor's License — $50 fee ($25 to the state Organized Crime Commission Fund, $25 to the county general fund), effective April 9, 2025Ohio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
- ORC 5743.15 — retail cigarette dealer's license, $125 application fee per physical place, license year commencing 1 June, $25 proration floor, $5 duplicate and transfer fees, and the 30/10/60 distribution of the feeOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Other offices serving Lorain County
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Ohio jurisdictions
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