The meeting began at 7 pm with new Mayor Bruce Hopkins at the helm and without Councilmember Huson. After the flag salute and agenda approval, Councilmember Hedrick moved to waive first reading on Ordinance 1273. The town attorney confirmed this ordinance has to be submitted by November 30th. Councilmember Alberston noted the issue had not been mentioned in a regular meeting and hoped that more notice could be given in the future, although the clerk said the meeting was advertised in the News Tribune. She noted the property values are set by the county so the town does not have any control over the numbers in the ordinance.
Councilmember Hunt had looked up the Point Ruston development on the assessor's web page before the meeting. The lower area in Ruston is appraised at $13,503,000 and nothing was listed yet for the Stack Hill lots. The total value listed in Ordinance 1273 will be higher once those areas are added in, although the new value will not bring much more income for Ruston.
Councilmember Stebner was concerned that Ruston taxes its property owners at the highest rate, but does not tax its businesses or gambling at the highest possible rate. Hunt agreed that businesses needed to taxed higher in Ruston. The town attorney informed the council that any revenue increase required a special meeting and the council should not be discussing the issue without scheduling such a meeting.
After more discussion, the motion to waive the first reading was approved 4-0. Ordinance 1273 was also approved 4-0.
The 2009 budget was presented to the council for their review. Stebner expressed concern that the budget included money to hire a town administrator. After lengthy discussion, the general consensus was to revisit the issue mid-year 2009. Mayor Hopkins proposed using planning and engineering services now to develop an overall design for the town.
There was lengthy discussion about the town's infrastructure needs, especially sewer. Hopkins felt the government economic stimulus plan would focus on giving dollars for infrastructure development. He wants Ruston first in line with a good plan for that money.
Albertson was concerned about wage increases for town employees. The proposed budget uses about $500,000 out of reserves. The council wants to explore ways to balance the budget without using reserve funds.
I had to leave the meeting early, so that's as far as I got. This was only a small part of the discussion tonight. The budget discussion will likely take several meetings, so please attend and listen for yourself! ~ Karen
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2 comments:
"Highest possible rate" makes sense if you have a captive tax base and are merely looking to maximize revenue. But to make the Town more attractive to potential businesses, wouldn't it make more sense to index to Tacoma's rate and then offer a slight discount?
This comment has been slightly modified to meet the "be nice" standard. ~ Karen
"Councilmember Stebner was concerned that Ruston taxes its property owners at the highest rate, but does not tax its businesses or gambling at the highest possible rate. Hunt agreed that businesses needed to taxed higher in Ruston"
ARE YOU KIDDING ME????
That's exactly the message we need to be sending to any business that would even think about re-locating into Ruston.
Obviously Ruston businesses can afford more taxes. Take a walk down Pearl, it's got to be one of the most thriving business districts in the state! (no offense Ruston businesses).
(deleted) How about cutting taxes and encouraging NEW businesses to come to Ruston instead of scaring them away?!?!?!
Maybe I'm an idiot for thinking more than 1-year down the road, but we're writing our own obituary with this kind of thinking.
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