Dear Neighbors,
This Monday, the City Council will convene its third of three meetings for the month of April. We will begin our evening from 6 to 7pm with an expected Executive Session regarding a litigation update. Following this update, the Council meeting will resume in open session.
We have 9 items on our deliberative agenda. The first two are outdoor entertainment permits for Honey Road on Church Street and Monarch and the Milkweed on St Paul Street.
We will have a communication from the Mayor on the appointment of a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). Beth Anderson has been serving as Interim CAO for the past eight months. The Mayor is seeking her appointment to the role of CAO.
Our next two items are reports that are due back to the Council on two resolutions we passed a few months ago. The first is a report on the business personal property tax. This is a tax on capital assets that a business owns. Currently some businesses over a certain equipment value threshold are required to pay this tax. Many, including many City Councilors, have seen this tax as unfair since it focuses primarily on capital intensive businesses and also because the City of Burlington is one of the few remaining municipalities that even assess this tax and as such is a deterrent to business expansion in Burlington. The report details various scenarios to reduce or eliminate the tax and what the budgetary ramifications would be.
The second report is regarding a resolution that would provide low- to moderate-income senior citizens with a reduction in property taxes, a review of other fees changes to residents as well as whether there should be an overall reduction the municipal tax rate. For a variety of reasons stated in the report, a reduction to low- and moderate-income seniors is not recommended; instead, assisting seniors in others ways is suggested. An overall reduction in the tax rate is not recommended given tight budgetary constraints; however, the report discusses the use of one time monies that would result in longer-term cost efficiencies or the creation of new revenue sources that, in my opinion, do make sense to explore so we can build off our financial strength working to ensure that trajectory for years to come. The report concludes with the fees charged to residents including Parks and Recreation, the Library and Burlington City Arts.
We will then have a presentation on the 2019 update to planBTV and a communication on the Annual Report on the City's Livable Wage Ordinance. With regard to the Livable Wage ordinance, the Report details a list of all covered employees by department, a list of all covered employees whose service contract did not contain language required by the ordinance, a detail of all complaints filed and investigated be the City Attorney and the investigation results. Each year, as a result of Council initiative to see that there are audits of contractors doing business with the City, 3 compliance checks were done. Of the three contractors checked, there were issues with two of them for underpayment. Restitution was made and one company was suspended for a period of time.
The Department of Public Works will give us an overview of the 2018 construction season. Many of you have noticed the road work already underway on Pine Street. There is more to come during the spring and summer months.
Our last item is a resolution regarding obtaining the Public Utility Commission rulings and approving continued development of the District Energy System which was the subject of a work session at our last Council meeting. The District Energy project is being undertaken in collaboration with Burlington Electric, Burlington District Energy Service and Corix Utilities. The goal of realizing this project is to assist the City in fighting climate change, achieving greater overall sustainability by becoming a Net Zero Energy City and by giving BED customers the benefit of greater fuel diversity.
You are always welcome to come to a Council meeting and speak on any topic you wish during public forum. This begins at a time certain of 7:30 at every Council meeting. You may access the Council agenda at http://www.boarddocs.com/vt/burlingtonvt/Board.nsf/Public Please note that all Council meetings are televised live on BT Channel 317 and streamed live to your computer or phone. Please go to youtube and type in "Burlington City Council meetings" and the live stream will come up.
As always, I welcome your questions and concerns. I hope you have a good weekend.
My best,
Karen
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