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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 5/6/2008 *PLEASE NOTE: Since the Glendale City Council does not take formal action at the Workshops, Workshop minutes are not approved by the City Council. MINUTES CITY OF GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MAY 6, 2008 1:30 P.M. PRESENT: Vice Mayor Manuel D. Martinez, and Councilmembers Joyce V. Clark, David M. Goulet, Yvonne J. Knaack, and H. Phillip Lieberman ABSENT: Mayor Elaine M. Scruggs and Councilmember Steven E. Frate ALSO PRESENT: Ed Beasley, City Manager; Pam Kavanaugh, Assistant City Manager; Craig Tindall, City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk 1 . 2008 STATE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE CITY STAFF PRESENTING THIS ITEM: Ms. Jessica Blazina, Intergovernmental Programs Director and Mr. Ryan Peters, Legislative Coordinator. This is a request for the City Council to provide guidance on proposed state legislation, consistent with the approved 2008 state legislative agenda. The purpose of the state legislative agenda is to affect state legislation and regulations as they relate to the interests of the city and its residents. The 2008 state legislative agenda provides the policy framework by which Intergovernmental Programs staff engages on state legislative issues. Throughout the 2008 legislative sessions, policy direction will be sought on proposed statutory changes which fall under the adopted Council policy statements relating to the financial stability of the city, public safety issues, promoting economic development, managing growth and preserving neighborhoods. The Intergovernmental Programs staff recommends prioritizing the state legislative agenda to a few key issues to allow the city to have a stronger, more consistent message on the items of greatest priority. The proposed key priority issues for consideration are described in the report that was submitted to the Council prior to this Workshop. 1 The legislative agenda defines the city's priorities for the upcoming session and will guide the city's lobbying activities at the Arizona State Legislature. The Intergovernmental Programs staff will update the Council on a regular basis throughout the session for guidance on bills and amendments that may be introduced. The city's legislative agenda is a flexible document and may change, based on activities at the Legislature and Council direction. On April 15, 2008, the Intergovernmental Programs department presented the 2008 State Legislative Update to the Council. On February 19, 2008, the Intergovernmental Programs department presented the 2008 State Legislative Update and 2008 Federal Legislative Agenda Development. On December 4, 2007, the Council approved the 2008 State Legislative Agenda, which included policy statements on municipal legislative priorities and principles. The priorities and principles of Glendale's 2008 state legislative agenda provide the venue for the city to identify and engage on state legislative issues. The key principles of the state legislative agenda are: to preserve and enhance the city's ability to deliver quality and cost-effective services to citizens and visitors; to address quality-of-life issues for Glendale residents, and to enhance the City Council's ability to serve the community by retaining local decision-making authority and maintaining state legislative and voter commitments for revenue sources. Staff is requesting the Council to provide policy guidance on the proposed state legislative issues. Ms. Jessica Blazina and Mr. Ryan Peters provided an Intergovernmental Power Point presentation on state legislative issues currently being reviewed by the Legislature. Ms. Blazina reported on the TIME Coalition Plan. She stated the Coalition is to formulate a comprehensive statewide transportation package to potentially take to the voters in the November general election. She explained TIME stands for Transportation & Infrastructure Moving Arizona's Economy. The Coalition is comprised of businesses and community leaders from around the state and is privately funded. The Coalition was comprised to determine the most critical transportation needs facing the state. She explained that from the needs gathered, the Coalition developed a $42 billion transportation package. The Coalition proposes to ask voters to approve a one cent statewide sales tax to be collected over a period of thirty years to fund transportation improvements. She noted the proposal had a delayed implementation date of January 1, 2010. The funding distribution is proposed to be broken down with 55% to be deposited into a newly created fund called the Highway TIME Fund. The majority of this fund will be dedicated to Maricopa County and distributed through the MAG process. She added that 18% of the funds collected will be deposited into another newly created fund called the Rail TIME Fund. 8% of this fund will be distributed to the RPTA Fund with 5% distributed to the Pima Regional Transit 2 Authority. The balance of the fund will remain in the Rail TIME fund for commuter and high speed rapid rail. It will be controlled by the Arizona Department of Transportation. She stated that 20% of the monies collected will be distributed to local communities. She added the majority, or 60% of the 20%, will be distributed to Maricopa County communities. Glendale is estimated to receive approximately $334 million over a period of thirty years. She noted this was only an estimate and the actual numbers will be based upon the decennial census numbers. Ms. Blazina continued and stated that 4% of the total dollars collected from the proposed initiative will be deposited into a fund called Enhancement Distributions. She said these funds will be distributed for transportation related enhancements based upon population. Glendale is estimated to receive approximately $67 million over the thirty year period and the actual numbers will be based upon the decennial census numbers. She stressed this was strictly a proposed initiative and all figures were only estimates. At this time, it was unknown what projects will qualify for funding from this revenue source. The remaining 3% of the dollars collected will be deposited into the Open Space Conservation and Wildlife Habitat Fund. She stated the requirement to get this proposed initiative on the ballot was approximately 153,000 valid signatures due to the Secretary of State's office by 5:00pm July 3, 2008. She said this was still a very fluid process as the initiative has not yet been filed; however, this item is presented today for Council's information. Councilmember Clark inquired as to why there was a sense of urgency to put this on the ballot this fall, considering the current economic conditions. Ms. Blazina stated the Coalition was a private endeavor of community business leaders; therefore, she was not privy to the reasons why. However, she believes the delay in the implementation date could be because of the current economic climate. Vice Mayor Martinez commented that he had read an article mentioning this funding was needed and should not be delayed much longer. Councilmember Lieberman commented that a one cent tax increase did not sound like much; however, if you add it to the 8.2 sales tax increase, it becomes a 16% increase in sales tax. He stated that considering the economic uncertainly, he does not believe this is a good time to bring this venture forward. Councilmember Clark asked when the legislative sessions were estimated to end. Ms. Blazina stated it was unclear at the moment. She explained she is hopeful that when the session is over, they will receive a budget that is agreeable and does not harm cities or towns. Vice Mayor Martinez asked if the state or any cities will see any adverse impact because of the 15 bills still not signed by the Governor. Mr. Peters stated they will be monitoring the delayed bills and report back with any items of interest. 3 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m. 4