HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 1/31/2013 (13)City of
Fort Collins
MEMORANDUM
Date: January 24, 2013
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Economic Health Office
300 LaPorte Avenue
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2170
970.224.6107 - fax
fcgov.com
From: Josh Birks, Economic Health Director
SeonAh Kendall, Business Retention & Expansion Strategist `5t/
Through: Darin Atteberry, City Manager t)hh f
Bruce Hendee, Chief Sustainability Officer
Re: January 22, 2013 City Council Work Session Summary— Incentives Benchmarking
Councilmembers present: Mayor Karen Weitkunat, Mayor Pro Tern Kelly Ohlson, Ben Manvel,
Gerry Horak, Aislinn Kottwitz, Lisa Poppaw, Wade Troxell
Staff present: Bruce Hendee, Josh Birks, SeonAh Kendall
Overview:
Overview of the business assistance package current practices, incentives benchmark study
and begin to build a systems approach to assistance to primary businesses in Fort Collins.
Staff proposed three key inputs to determine level of business assistance in the type and
amount of rebates. Staff sought guidance from City Council in regard to the following
questions:
1. Does the proposed framework meet the needs of the City, community, and
businesses?
2. Does Council see any "gaps" in service? What, if anything, is missing from the
classification/ranking criteria?
3. How would you prioritize the criteria? Should this be weighted?
4. What criteria items are essential, or the absence of them, would halt business
assistance for the company?
Discussion summary:
• Council urged staff to clarity definitions and be explicit about certain aspects of the
framework, such as: manufacturing use tax, primary employment, etc. Staff will also
clarify the term "benefit" vs. "health care benefits" vs. "health care plans."
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• Council has directed staff to re-evaluate and add additional items to the criteria,
including reviewing the companies' environmental stewardship (such as participation in
the Integrated Design Assistance Program and ClimateWise) and social impacts.
• Suggestions were made that staff rely on a few main criteria to determine company
eligibility and assistance and create sub factors that allow projects to move up or down
in terms of prioritization from the initial prioritization established by the main factors.
• Economic Impact Analysis improvements are moving in the right direction; however, the
analysis must include all costs not just direct (e.g., power and water consumption,
pollution, etc.). Staff will evaluate how best to integrate these costs into future analyses.
• Council recommended that all parties view the business assistance package policy as a
continuous cycle and partnership instead of the six -step process. In addition, emphasis
was placed on thinking of the business climate holistically in addition to specific business
assistance efforts.
• Council suggested improving the application during the work session. Staff will review
the Community Development Block Grant application and other applications for
potential enhancements to the draft application included in the work session materials.
• Council cautioned staff in regard to the potential detriment the proposed framework
may have on projects that are currently working through the process. City staff will
continue the public outreach to gather more input from the community and businesses.
Council recommended that outreach include businesses that have relocated outside of
Fort Collins to research process improvements.
• Council suggested evaluating past economic assistance packages to evaluate how they
would have ranked in relation to the proposed criteria.
• Council discussed the need to take the necessary time to gather public input prior to
bringing a formalized business assistance package policy statement forward for
consideration. Council urged staff to be thoughtful about the process and consider
taking a process of steps. In addition, it was suggested that the Council Finance
Committee should review the proposal before it is submitted to the entire body for
consideration. Staff will propose a timeline for adoption of the framework that moves
forward in steps.