I recently started my own web design business. I found that i would need the assistance of a programmer to achieve the consistency and style desired for my business web site. I contact a friend of mine who i knew was experienced with programing. I inquired about progamming and the pay rate. He told me he didnt know exactly and would have to do a little bit of research of his own. So i did the same.Prorgamming for the internet is one of the biggest jobs right now on the web. I found nothing! I was astonished.
If there is anyone who could help me with this issue that would be swell. Comment away! :)

I dont think you are aware of the distinction between programming and web design.

Html layout is not 'programming'. Javascript, php, et al would be considered scripting, which in many circles is equated to programming.

However.. that being said.. there are probably a lot more webdesigners than programmers. Since that is the case, they are probably cheaper... but then again, a great designer will be a lot more expensive than an intermediate programmer.

Go to elance or devlance or any of those 'coder-for-hire' sites to get a starting point.

Like any other job, it depends on skills, experience, quality and quantity of work, professionalism, etc. and how much demand there is for those skills, etc.

If you just want numbers, then you need to specify where your business is located, and then you can easily find out the average pay rate for the kind of position you are looking to fill.

For example, in San Diego a Web Software Developer makes anywhere from $63,000 - $85,000; the average pay is $73,427.

For example, in San Diego a Web Software Developer makes anywhere from $63,000 - $85,000; the average pay is $73,427.
Another example: Russian skilled web-developer (PHP, JavaScript, etc) will cost you from $10,000 to $15,000

Like any other job, it depends on skills, experience, quality and quantity of work, professionalism, etc. and how much demand there is for those skills, etc.
Like Mitchlrm wrote, it depends greatly on skills and experience.

The more experience and skills in various programming languages the more valuable the person will be to you.

If an average programmer that knows a few languages may be able to do a specific job in a matter of days. Someone with high rated experience and skills may be able to whip the work out in a matter of hours, this kind of programmer would be more beneficial.

Experience is everything. Only previous work can prove what someone can do.

All depends, do you want a coder, a programmer or a developer? A code would be someone who can just put a bit of code together for you, without any real structure, but it'll most likely work. A programmer would know some theory about programming and would put something maintainable together with structure to it. A developer on the otherhand would know plenty about application design etc. and put together a system that should be easily maintainable, extensible and have a proper solid structure to it.