09/21/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ Further, he believed that the public had the expectation that it would have the opportunity to vote on all major decisions, particularly those related to taxes. Mr. MacDonald said that referring a revenue measure would maintain the council's credibility with the public. Mr. Boles reminded the council that it had been clear with the public about the council's responsibility in making a final decision. Mr. Miller said that the council would negate its leadership role by referring its decision to the voters. He suggested that the referral was a final public "check-off." Mr. Nicholson said he agreed with Mr. Boles' basic premise that referring any revenue to the voters was sending the wrong message after undertaking such an extensive information-gathering promise. The council had not promised that its decision would command 51 percent of voter support. Mr. Nicholson said he also had difficulty referring issues to the voters when only one result is acceptable. The council would be spending public money to persuade the public to vote for the prudent choice. Mr. Green said that the council needed to be prepared to direct the manager to re-evaluate Strategy C. Councilors reviewed their funding selections and briefly discussed the rationale behind their preferences for funding. e Mr. MacDonald said his support for a combination of business income and personal income taxes was based on equitability, progressivity, and the broad- based nature of the taxes, while he acknowledged the public antipathy toward the personal income tax. He said he was also disturbed to learn about the volatility of the business income tax. Regarding his support for a property tax, Mr. MacDonald pointed out that the City's Capital Improvement Program could be supported with a voter-approved serial levy outside the $10 cap. Mr. Boles noted the strong support shown for the restaurant tax by the City Council and the public. He said that a five percent tax would cover both the core shortfall and provide sufficient revenue to pay for the library in four to five years. Mr. Boles said a disadvantage to consider was the narrowness of a tax that would be supporting core services. Mr. Rutan said the community has not yet felt the impact of the council's proposed cuts, and it was hard to make a case for a tax increase at the present time. He said that the council's funding selection for supporting the core should be broad-based, as he agreed with Mr. Boles about the narrowness of the restaurant tax. Mr. Rutan said that the only tax on the list in which he had any interest was the utility tax as he considered it to be broad-based. Mr. Green indicated his agreement with Mr. Rutan regarding the utility tax. e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 21, 1992 Page 7 5:30 p.m.