HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-07-18 Finance MinutesFINANCE COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
City Council Finance Committee
July 18, 2017- 5:30 p.m. - Hazelnut Conference Room, City Hall
Councilmembers: Verna Seal, Chair; Thomas McLeod
Staff: David Cline, Jay Wittwer, Peggy McCarthy, Vicky Carlsen, Cindy Wilkins, Laurel
Humphrey
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Seal called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
I. PRESENTATIONS
II. BUSINESSAGENDA
A. Ordinance: Amending Municipal Code Chapter 5.04
Staff is seeking Council approval of an ordinance that would amend Tukwila Municipal Code
Chapter 5.04, "Licenses Generally," to replace "FTE" with "employee" regarding the business
license fee structure. Recent Washington State legislation will require the City to use the State's
online business license system within the next few years, and staff recommends changing the
current fee schedule to be based upon flat rates per employee totals to streamline the process
in preparation for moving to the State system. The City's current method of using FTE hours to
calculate the business license fees is confusing and time consuming for applicants, resulting in
many errors requiring significant staff time to address. The proposed ordinance would instead
assess a flat rate of $70 per full -time employee (defined as 30 hours or more each week) and $50
per part -time employee. Staff distributed a chart comparing the proposed rate vs the 2016
actual fees paid as well as a comprehensive list of business licenses as of June 13, 2017.
Councilmember McLeod expressed concern about the proposed penalties for underreporting
as described in Section F of the draft ordinance. Staff offered building in a grace period for
underreporting and the Committee approved the amendment which will be reviewed by the
City Attorney and included in the Ordinance. After more robust discussion, the Committee
requested that the Committee of the Whole packet include the chart showing the comparison
of proposed rate vs 2016 actuals. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL AS AMENDED. FORWARD TO JULY
24, 2017 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.
Resolution: Adopting a Revised Business License Fee Schedule
Staff is seeking Council approval of a resolution that would adopt the revised business license
fee schedule pursuant to the draft ordinance discussed above. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL.
FORWARD TO JULY 24, 2017 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.
Finance Committee Minutes ......................................................................................................... ............................... July 18, 2017
B. May 2017 Department Budgets -to- Actuals Report
Staff provided a report on expenditures compared to allocated budget for each department for
the month of February 2017. DISCUSSION ONLY.
III. MISCELLANEOUS
Adjourned at 6:08 p.m.
I Committee ChairApproval
Minutes by LH