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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes - Futures Committee - 02/11/2013 - City Manager’s Office 300 LaPorte Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com Minutes City of Fort Collins Futures Committee Meeting Regular Meeting 300 LaPorte Ave City Hall February 11, 2013 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent: Wade Troxell - Chair Gerry Horak Lisa Poppaw Darin Atteberry Bruce Hendee Guests: Jessica Ping Small, Mike Beckstead, Lawrence Pollack, Lori Frank Agenda Item 1: Approval of Minutes The minutes from December and January were approved. Agenda Item 2: Revenue Diversification 1. Revenue Policy Update Revenue comparison analysis presented to Council Finance and Futures Committee in September 2012 Staff received feedback to articulate a policy or “philosophy” to which revenue decisions could be made in the future Revenue principles and next steps presented to Council Finance in January 2013 o Task – Develop Principles of a Revenue Policy that Promote Revenue Sustainability 2. Revenue Policy Update – Approach Reviewed existing City of Fort Collins revenue policy Researched cities and organizations locally and nationally for revenue diversification and/or sustainable revenue policies Analyzed various policies to create 5 principles that staff recommend be incorporated into existing City revenue policy document and adopted by City Council o Staff is recommending 5 revenue principles based on their research 1. Maintain Diverse Revenue base 2 a. 51% coming from sales and use tax , fluctuates based on grant revenue each year b. Sales and use tax is the primary source of revenue 2. Maintain a stable revenue base a. The largest decline in combined sales and use tax was 6.2% from 2008 to 2009 3. Cultivate revenue sources that are equitable among all economic levels 4. Generate adequate revenue to maintain service levels a. The challenge is to find the right balance of service levels to meet the “needs vs. wants” of the community 5. Maintain healthy reserves a. The City meets and generally exceeds all reserve policies The principles will serve as the foundation for revenue decisions in the future to keep Fort Collins great. Next Steps: 1. Near Term Action: BOB and Pavement Management ¼ cent taxes expire on December 31, 2015 a. Timeline to replace ¼ cents for November election 2. Near Term Option: Transportation Utility Fee a. City had one in 1992… b. Pavement Management – easier to understand 3. Long Term Action a. Replace not increase, needs to be the key message. Promoting a stable, less volatile revenue stream, not an increase in total revenue 4. Sales Tax on Revenues a. Reasons to tax services: i. Assumes the sales tax rate would be reduced to accommodate the revenue generated from taxing services ii. Significant revenue potential with potential for less volatility National data establishes service levels. Vendor Information gives us some information Given the data for services, you have to be careful not to underestimate 5. Raise the property tax a. The current mill levy is average amongst our peers and hasn’t been increased since 1992 6. Make the ¼ cent taxes permanent a. Sales Tax is funded by everyone, not just property owners as a Transportation Utility Fee is Final Thoughts: Staff will be drafting Revenue Policy around 5 principles 3 Staff will be initiating TUF fee study Q2 2013 o Also included in fee study will be Park Maintenance Fee and Transit Fee Future initiatives to consider: Sales Tax on Services Increase Mill Levy Ask voters to make ¼ cent permanent Differential Sales Tax Rate (restaurants/liquor) Occupational Privilege Tax Feedback: Example is the PRPA organic model: goes 5 years and then gets renewed Need to have more BOB’s in place for improvements: ex Prospect: BOB should have no stadium impacts Revenue Diversification originally was here to reduce sales tax, but we have seen that that will not happen. Will require voter approval as well – Pavement Maintenance fee is in place of Revenue Diversification (and that is our street improvement?) Voters do not have to approve the fee, voters only approve taxes. Timing – Strategic thinking – confident the fee can be implemented. Agenda Item 3: Performance Metrics: Community Dashboard Review 1. Continuation of Quarter 1 2012 Futures Committee Meeting 2. Website Tour Website address shortened to www.fcgov.com/metrics 3. Process and Publication Timeline Published about 6 weeks after quarter end Notification with link will be sent to Council Quarterly reviews by management with dialogue and action cascading through the organization o Consistent Quarterly Process with Systematic Organizational Focus on Metrics 4. Current State Every metric has targets and results thresholds Systematic process with each metric has data owner & SIT owner 5. Next steps Add applicable benchmarks and goals Refinement of metrics, targets, and thresholds o Community Dashboard will evolve as part of Continuous Improvements Launch Phase II – BFO Performance Review Other communities are doing scorecards, but only a few midsize cities are doing any metric reporting to this extent.