09/22/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e 6. Presentation to the voters of a charter amendment instituting a restau- rant tax with a five percent cap, with the amount collected to be linked to the costs of the core shortfall and implementation of community ~ policing and fire redeployment. (Miller) 7. Support the City's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) with a 2.5 percent restaurant tax with a ten-year sunset and referral to the voters. (Rutan) Responding to a request for clarification from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Rutan explained that his proposal assumed core funding and a totally unfunded capital program. 8. Fund the core with a four percent utility tax with a ten-year sunset to be referred to the voters. (Rutan) 9. Fund the core and library with a five percent restaurant tax with a ten- year sunset to be referred to the voters. (Boles) 10. Fund the CIP with a restaurant tax not to exceed 2.5 percent by stipu- lating that the cap would be included in charter by amendment. That revenue would be referred to the voters. (Miller) 11. Fund the core shortfall and the proposed enhancements with a five percent restaurant tax with no sunset to be referred to the voters. The tax would be capped at five percent by a charter amendment. (Green) e Mr. Rutan spoke in favor of focusing on the core proposal and delaying consideration of the enhancements at the present time. He said that seeking voter approval of the enhancements was a serious mistake and would be inter- preted as "government as usual." Mr. Rutan said the council would have the opportunity to pursue the enhancements in the future. Ms. Bascom said her concern was to secure a positive vote for the public's selected revenue source, the restaurant tax. She said the more services that the council added to the final strategy, the more difficult approval would be to obtain. Ms. Bascom said the council's goal should be a package that is easy to defend before the voters. Ms. Ehrman said she agreed with Mr. Rutan's comments about delaying the enhancements, and pointed out that several of the proposals gave the council the ability to seek voter approval when it was ready to move projects forward. She indicated interest in Mr. Green's proposal, and asked if the council could start multiple construction projects simultaneously. Mr. Wong said that the City had a variety of tools that would allow it to support simultaneous projects. Mr. Boles called the council's attention to the process goal of stability and the need to solve multiple problems simultaneously. He pointed out that the current library is at capacity and could not support the community through the coming decade. Mr. Boles said that he was willing to discuss the issue of e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 22, 1992 Page 2 5:30 p.m.