Proposed Arts/Cigarette tax?

[Joan Roberts]

Mr. K.

The council is free to propose any tax it likes. But a recent proposal to raise the city income tax was shouted down, and that would have paid for cops.

The second phase of the school building program is far from a given.

In that climate, a tax (even a tax on those smokers and drinkers) for the Lakewood Project or the Arts Festival seems like something few at city hall are going to champion, Beck or no Beck,

But I could be wrong.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

The council is free to propose any tax it likes. But a recent proposal to raise the city income tax was shouted down, and that would have paid for cops.

Oh.


in that case scrap my idea.


You're right any tax increase for any program wouldn't probably pass here anyway.

[Bill Call]

The council is free to propose any tax it likes. But a recent proposal to raise the city income tax was shouted down, and that would have paid for cops.

In his last budget letter to council Vic Nogalo stated that the City was anticipating a series of 3 to 5% raises for City employees. The expected increases in health insurance premiums (no copays, no deductables) and those raises would have consumed the entire income tax increase in only 18 months.

At that point another 33% increase in the income tax rate will be needed to finance another round of raises.

The income tax increase was not about more cops it was about a series of 3 to 5% raises promised to City employees.

[Joan Roberts]

The income tax increase was not about more cops it was about a series of 3 to 5% raises promised to City employees.

I'm sorry you misunderstood. I didn't mean to infer it was for more police. But safety workers make up a big contigent of those city employees who were going to get the 3-5% raises.

A chunk of the tax increase would have gone to pay cops. That's what I meant.

[Jim O'Bryan]

You're right any tax increase for any program wouldn't probably pass here anyway.

Ivor

The problem is we can probably pass one or two tax rate hikes over the next couple years. So each one has to be needed, the case has to be made, and it can not be bait and switch, which is what Bill was saying.

On the Observation Deck we floated the idea of higher taxes and not one person said no. Almost everyone said for everything but wages.

City Hall has a couple tough ones on the horizon. Raise taxes, talk with union reps, stop overtime, make do with many things as they are, and move a little slower on fix ups.

A little study I have been wondering about was "did the roads really need to be done?" Everyone talks about how bad they were but when you give them a menu, roads fall off the want list. If you take the time and explain even deeper abstract options, you find out roads were bad, but "good enough for now." The example I was using was what is more important, "Roads or Bond Rating?"

FWIW




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