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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-07-19 City Council Special MinutesCITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING JULY 19,1999 The special meeting of the City Council of the City of Apache Junction, Arizona,was held on July 19,1999 at the Apache Junction City Council Chambers pursuant to the notice required by law. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Coleman called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Councilmembers Present:Mayor Coleman Vice Mayor Surra Councilmember Dietz Councilmember Durbala Councilmember Eck Councilmember Insalaco Councilmember Urich Staff Present: Others Present: City Manager Curtis Shook City Clerk Kathleen Connelly City Attorney Joel Stern Finance Director Keith Lewis Public Works Director Doug Dobson Development Services Director Glen Van Nimwegen Long Range Planner Kate Morris Assistant to the City Manager Michael Munroe Associate Planner Rudy Esquivias DISCUSSION ON TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999-2000 )Councilmember Urich stated she would not like to see a city property tax created,but she would like to see staff research the possibility of a use tax. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 1 OF 9 Councilmember Durbala and Vice Mayor Surra asked what would be taxed. Mayor Coleman stated that if someone lives in Apache Junction and they buy an item like an automobile,or some other item that is registered,in Mesa and that city has a lower sales tax than Apache Junction does,than they would be charged the same sales tax as in Apache Junction.Mesa would take their normal sales tax portion and the remainder would come to Apache Junction. Councilmember Eck asked if they would actually do that. Mayor Coleman stated they would.They could also collect on building materials. most of the East Valley cities use it. an equalizer. something like that is tracked. City Manager Curtis Shook stated Mayor Coleman commented it acts as Councilmember Durbala asked how City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated those things with a license or registration go through the motor vehicle department.They send a letter to the buyer stating they owe the motor vehicle department a certain amount of money,the motor vehicle department collects the money and forwards it to the city. Councilmember Durbala asked what would happen with other items. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated smaller items would be difficult,except for things like when a hotel goes in and all the rooms are outfitted with small refrigerators.As this would be part of their inventory,the city would develop an audit trail. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 2 OF 9 Councilmember Durbala asked how much this would cost to set up. City Manager Curtis Shook commented he is not sure of Councilmember Urich's request. Councilmember Urich stated she would want staff to check into the possibility of the use tax. City Manager Curtis Shook commented those questions would be part of the research. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she could not guess at this time the difference between the cost and the collection. Councilmember Urich commented that would be answered by the research. Councilmember Insalaco asked if this would affect someone selling his couch to his next door neighbor. City Manager Curtis Shook stated this would involve retail only. Mayor Coleman stated this would apply if they bought the item in a city other than Apache Junction.They would charge the same amount of sales tax as is charged in Apache Junction. Councilmember Urich commented it is just revenue that the city is currently losing. Councilmember Insalaco agreed with her. Mayor Coleman stated that if they bought the item in a city that only charged 1% sales tax and the buyer was taking it to Apache Junction,the seller would charge 2% sales tax and the city where the sale originated would take 1% and the remaining 1% would come to Apache Junction. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 3 OF 9 Vice Mayor Surra asked if a way to make sure that the article could be purchased in the other Sometimes people go outside to purchase because it is not available live.She asked why the city should collect a sales tax on an item not available in the city. City Manager Curtis Shook that is one argument against it,and that it is almost like an after can annoy people. does it currently. there was city. where they that was commented tax.It Vice Mayor Surra asked if the city City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the city does not.It has not been adopted. talked about in the past. Mesa was sending Apache Junction money. Mayor Coleman commented it has been Vice Mayor Surra wanted to know if City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they are not since this has not been adopted. Vice Mayor Surra commented that Mesa is doing it with other cities,just not with Apache Junction since there is no agreement. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that was correct. Vice Mayor Surra asked if it had to be a reciprocal agreement. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated i t is not one to one.If Mesa adopts a use tax,it is applicable to any city that has a sales tax. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 4 OF 9 City Attorney Joel Stern commented it would also have to be incorporated into the city tax code. Councilmember Urich repeated she just wanted staff to look into it. City Manager Curtis Shook commented staff could do that. Councilmember Eck commented it would benefit the city if one of our residents went to Mesa to shop,but it would not benefit a citizen of Mesa to come to Apache Junction to shop. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that was correct. Councilmember Eck asked if they would be charged more here. Mayor Coleman commented they would still be charged 2% sales tax,but nothing would be returned to Mesa since that is our sales tax. Councilmember Durbala asked if Mesa's 1% sales tax would be charged on top of Apache Junction's sales tax. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it would not.Only the difference is added if one is more than the other. Mayor Coleman asked if it applied here in Apache Junction at this time if another community with a higher sales tax has residents that come and shop here. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it does not. Mayor Coleman asked if it could only be applied in communities that have adopted the use tax. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 5 OF 9 City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct. Councilmember Eck asked if they could have a synopsis of how it works when it does go through so that they can have a full understanding of the process. Vice Mayor Surra asked what the time frame would be. City Manager Curtis Shook stated he was unsure.He did not believe it would be as early as next month. Councilmember Urich commented she had just realized that it was something the city was losing money on. Vice Mayor Surra commented she did not think the city was losing money.She does not want to charge people money for something they could not buy here. Councilmember Dietz stated if he sells jobs outside the city of Apache Junction,those customers are charged the full tax they would pay if they purchased it here in this city. Vice Mayor Surra stated that is because he has a service here in the city.She does not agree that the city should get additional taxes on items that are purchased outside the city limits if those items are not available for purchase inside the city limits. She would rather encourage the business to come here. Councilmember Dietz commented he was addressing the fact of lost revenue.There are businesses inside the city that are selling outside the city and bringing revenue into it. Councilmember Durbala asked if they had this tax up in Page. City Manager Curtis Shook stated they did. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 6 OF 9 Councilmember Durbala asked approximately how much revenue was brought in. City Manager Curtis Shook stated he believed it was around $20,000 to $30,000,as most of it was on vehicles purchased in Utah or Flagstaff. Mayor Coleman commented this could probably be thought of as a budget item. City Attorney Joel Stern commented he thought they were talking in terms of the budget,so he did not say anything. Mayor Coleman asked if there were any parts of the tentative budget that they needed to discuss.He asked Curtis Shook if it reflects the changes that were requested. City Manager Curtis Shook stated he believed it did. Mayor Coleman commented the tentative budget can be reduced at final budget adoption,but it cannot be increased.At this time the council is setting top limits. Councilmember Eck asked if there would be monies available out of the reserve in case of engineering fees for projects. City Manager Curtis Shook stated there is $500,000 in non -departmental for that purpose. Finance Director Keith Lewis stated all of the changes mentioned at both meetings have been incorporated. Mayor Coleman closed the discussion. PUBLIC HEARINGS CONSIDERATION OF TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 7 OF 9 FISCAL YEAR 1999-2000 )Mayor Coleman opened the public hearing on the item.There being no one wishing to speak,he closed the public hearing and called for a motion. Vice Mayor Surra MOVED THAT RESOLUTION 99-44,A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA,FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA,FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999-2000,HEREWITH SETTING FORTH THE TENTATIVE ESTIMATES FOR THE MONIES NECESSARY FOR THE PUBLIC EXPENSES OF THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA,FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1999-2000 AND GIVING NOTICE OF THE TIME AND PLACE FOR HEARING TAXPAYERS FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE FINAL BUDGET,BE APPROVED. Councilmember Dietz SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. ADJOURNMENT )Mayor Coleman adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p.m. ACCEPTED THIS 17TH DAY OF AUGUST ,1999,BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA. SIGNED AND ATTESTED TO THIS 17TH DAY OF AUGUST DOUGLAS COVEMAN Mayor SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 8 OF 9 ,1999. 0 ATTEST: KATHLEEN CONNELLY City Clerk CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the special meeting of the City Council of the City of Apache Junction,Arizona,held on the 19th day of July,1999.I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 30th day of July,1999. KATHLEEN CONNELLY City Clerk SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 19,1999 PAGE 9 OF 9