The City Council met at a Legislative Breakfast on Monday, January 13, 2014, at 7:30 a.m. at the Public Safety Building, 475 South 300 East, Salt Lake City.
In Attendance: Council Members James Rogers, Kyle LaMalfa, Luke Garrott, Erin Mendenhall, Stan Penfold, and Lisa Adams.
Excused: Charlie Luke
Also In Attendance: Ralph Becker, Mayor; Jennifer Bruno, Council Deputy Director; Neil Lindberg, Council Legal Director; Russell Weeks, Council Senior Policy Analyst; Sean Murphy, Council Policy Analyst; Dan Weist, Council Communication Director; Allison Rowland, Council Policy Analyst; Karen Hale, Mayor’s Communication Director; Holly Hilton, Mayor’s Administrative Assistant; Lynn Pace, Mayor’s Senior Legal Advisor; Vicki Bennett, Sustainability Director; Robin Hutcheson, Transportation Director; and Cindi Mansell, City Recorder.
Utah State Representatives: Rebecca Edwards, District 20; Jennifer Seelig, District 23; Rebecca Chavez-Houck, District 24; Joel Briscoe, District 25; Angela Romero, District 26; Brian King, District 28; Mark Wheatley, District 35; Patrice Arent, District 36; and Lynn Hemingway, District 40.
Utah State Senators: Jim Debakis, District 2; Gene Davis, District 3, and Patricia Jones, District 4.
The meeting was called to order at 8:04 a.m. View Agendas
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Mayor Becker and Vice Chair Garrott welcomed those present and thanked them for their commitment of time and service. Introductions of everyone present were made, including their area of representation.
2014 SALT LAKE CITY STATE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Mayor Becker discussed the Legislative Bill tracking website at www.slcgov.com/legislature2014. He said Salt Lake County Caucus Meetings would be held on Thursdays at 7:00 a.m. starting January 30, 2014 in the Spruce Room (East Building). He said Lynn Pace would be the City’s point of contact.
Mayor Becker presented 2014 Legislative Priorities broken down into items discussed in the State of the City speech conducted January 8, 2014.
AIR QUALITY CHANGES
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Air quality has become a critical issue, not just in Salt Lake County, but across the State. The City supports legislation that would improve our air quality, including, but not limited to the five priorities recently identified in Mayor Becker’s State of the City address.
•AUTHORIZE MORE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT.
We ask that the Legislature increase the cap on the sales tax for public transit to a full 1%. The Legislature does not need to increase the tax, but only to allow the voters to choose whether or not to increase their own tax. We have to make it easier for people to use transit as an alternative to driving. We need more coverage that runs more frequently and costs less. Recent polling and many anecdotes reinforce how difficult it is for most people to use transit. It just takes too long and is too inconvenient. And the only way to improve transit service is to better fund it.
•MAKE LOWER SULPHUR GASOLINE AVAILABLE AND MANDATE ITS USE.
Tier 3 gasoline, as it is called, has lower levels of sulphur and therefore decreased emissions. It is mandated in other states and should be required for use along the Wasatch Front. This technology exists today to significantly reduce tailpipe emissions. Interestingly, one of our local refineries, Chevron, already produces Tier 3 gasoline, but it is shipped to Washington State because it is required there. The Salt Lake County Council of Governments has already endorsed the shift to Tier 3.
It was stated that Representative Arent, District 36, is running a resolution to direct or encourage the State Air Quality Board. Inquiry was raised regarding the addition to fuel cost, with Sustainability Director Bennett estimating between .02 and .08 per gallon.
•ALLOW FOR AIR QUALITY STANDARDS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO UTAH.
Current State law says that our air quality standards here in Utah cannot be stricter than Federal standards. Given our unique geographic and environmental conditions, we should have the flexibility to develop air quality standards that are adequate to meet our needs, regardless of the current Federal standards.
Representative Edwards, District 20, said she is working on this item.
•INCREASE FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC TRANSIT.
We ask that the Legislature increase funding for local transportation, either by raising the State gas tax, or by authorizing a local option gas tax. The existing gas tax is a flat fee per gallon and is not indexed to inflation. The tax has not been raised since 1997, and the buying power of that revenue source continues to decline over time. As a result, both the State and local governments have had to subsidize transportation costs with general fund revenue. The State is currently diverting over $370 million of sales tax revenue from other needs to pay for transportation costs. In SLC, 67% of our transportation costs are paid out of the general fund. We need to make the true cost of driving transparent at the pump.
•In addition, raising the fuel tax would help with air quality, because gas prices directly affect whether people drive their cars more or less. According to a recent statewide survey, about half of Utahans would reduce vehicle use if gas cost an additional 25 to 75 cents per gallon. And, at an additional $1 per gallon, nearly two thirds would reduce their vehicle use and find other ways to run errands, get to work, and live their lives. We should work to make gas taxes pay for road construction and maintenance, and encourage less driving so that our air quality improves.
Mayor Becker said local governments have been working together to take this to the state level so that all building codes are uniform statewide. He emphasized the need to focus on improved energy efficiency and seismic standards.
•REQUIRE BUILDINGS TO USE POWER EFFICIENTLY
Utah’s energy code standards date back to 2006. Since then, national and international building codes have been upgraded and have been proven to achieve a 30% improvement in energy efficiency. Utah should adopt the most current building codes for energy efficiency so we can reduce energy use overall and improve our air quality as soon as possible. Many other jurisdictions across America have done this already.
Mayor Becker said the Federal Marketplace Fairness Act finally may have a chance to gain momentum.
•IMPROVE THE COLLECTION OF SALES TAX ON INTERNET PURCHASES.
State law already requires the payment of sales tax on purchases made via the internet, but that sales tax is rarely collected. We remain committed to the passage of the Federal Marketplace Fairness Act, which will restore a level playing field to our local brick and mortar businesses and will result in the collection of an estimated $181 million in tax revenues in Utah that are already owed, but currently go uncollected. We also support State legislation that would assist in the collection of this unpaid sales tax.
Discussion followed regarding a recent court ruling that may be applicable. Mr. Pace said due to federal inaction, states have tried to find more creative ways to assert authority to collect that tax. He said this was not a new tax, and state and local government were united in their attempts to address it.
Further discussion followed regarding what would be done if this tax were to be collected, with Senator Debakis stating the plan was to keep it at state level and the local level would not see the money. Mayor Becker expressed concern to distribution and said this needs to happen at the national level and not a state by state level.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Vice Chair Garrott continued to review additional priorities.
•ENSURE THAT TAXING ENTITIES RECEIVE PROPERTY TAX FOR NEW GROWTH IN REDEVELOPMENT AREAS.
The City supports a bill being prepared by the state RDA Association to clarify an existing State law to indicate that the amount of property tax diverted during the existence of an RDA project area is the same amount of property tax that flows back to all of the taxing entities once the RDA project area expires.
Mr. Pace provided background and clarification that this was not a change in the law.
•CHANGES TO THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT AREA STATUTE.
The City opposes any change that would limit the use of special assessment areas as an economic development tool.
Mr. Pace said this was a valuable tool for local level improvements and the desire is to lower that threshold. He said the Utah League had been working with the representative to recognize modifications, yet not reduce the opt-out threshold too much.
•LIMITATION OF APARTMENT INSPECTIONS.
The City also opposes any bill that would limit the City’s ability to fulfill its obligation to conduct apartment inspections to ensure that those buildings are safe for occupancy.
Mr. Pace explained a bill was previously passed wherein the intention was to remove the authority to conduct inspections of residential properties. He said the result was the removal of “random” inspections and scheduled inspections were allowed to continue. He said the intention this year was to fix the error. Discussion followed regarding life safety reasons and time frames for inspection. Mr. Pace said there are various solutions and the hope was to reach an agreement. Discussion followed regarding the number of absentee landlords or the potential to schedule the person who is responsible.
OPEN FORUM
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Discussion followed regarding Section 8 housing and the drastically increased waiting list; and the transit pass that would be available the first part of March. Ms. Hutcheson explained this was a new process and it takes time to do it correctly while ensuring the residents have a good experience. Discussion followed regarding the pass details.
Mayor Becker said Salt Lake City is in the process of implementing a new legislative parking plan during the 45 days of the session. He said it would be limited to official business and would offer free parking in a regular parking stall anywhere in the City during the session. He said staff was reviewing the amount of available parking surrounding the capital and are hoping to increase it by 40 spaces.
Mayor Becker thanked everyone for attending.
The meeting adjourned at 9:12 a.m.
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript as additional discussion may have been held; please refer to the audio for the entire content.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the official minutes of the City Council Legislative Breakfast meeting held January 13, 2014.
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