CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
City of Campbell, 70 N. First St., Campbell, California
STUDY SESSION OF THE CAMPBELL CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 – 5:45 PM
City Hall Council Chamber
70 N. First St., Campbell, California
This City Council meeting was duly noticed pursuant to open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (G.C. Section 54956).
CALL TO ORDER
The City Council of the City of Campbell convened this day in the regular meeting place, the City Hall Council Chamber, 70 N. First St., Campbell, California.
ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Susan M. Landry Mayor Present
Sergio Lopez Vice Mayor Present
Elliot Scozzola Councilmember Present
Dan Furtado Councilmember Present
Anne Bybee Councilmember Present
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Study Session to Discuss Revenue Measures
Recommended Action: That the City Council receive the report and provide feedback on potential revenue measures for the November 5, 2024 General Election or future elections.
C ity Manager Loventh al and Finance D irector Fuentes pres ented a staff report dated March 19, 2024. City M anager Loventhal provided a backgr ound on the City ’s financial health and stability. He highlighted potent ial areas of fo cus as ongoing costs and reserve levels, a ging infrastructure and housing. He provided an overview of various revenue measure options and what ar ea they would fund .
He discussed revenue options , their ballot success rates and associated election timeline milestones.
Minutes of March 19, 2024 City Council Meeting Page 2 The City Council requested a summary re view o f the various revenue measure types.
The following rev enue measures were reviewed: Utility Users T ax (UUT), Sales T ax Add On , Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), Parcel Tax, Vac ant Parcel Tax, Infrastructure Bond (GO) , and Housing Bo nd . (GO)
The City Council asked questions related to the different measure types.
Councilmember Scozzola spoke in support of a Va cant Parce l T ax for residential and/or c ommercial . He stated concerns with priv ate equity firms buying available properties and holding on to them as assets . He noted the Vacant Parcel T ax would not only be an income source but also protect residents.
Counci lmember Furtado stated concerns with the Vacant Parcel Tax in that e nforcement and knowledge of vacancies would be difficul t to achieve.
Councilmember Bybee , Vice Mayor Lopez , and Ma yor Landry ec hoed Councilmember Furtado ’s concerns and noted these taxes generally don ’t creat e a revenue stream or the creation of additional housing.
Vice Mayor Lopez noted his areas of fo cus for revenue measures as police services and housing , w hich will poll high . He noted this may not be the best time for a Utility Tax. He stated concer ns with a S ale s T ax as it would be a multi-year process . He spoke in support of a Housing Bond and a Parce l Ta x. Vice Mayor Lopez stated he was open to a G eneral B ond if polling showed support for that.
Councilmember Bybee commented on the need for both short term and long term solutions. She noted cur re n t concerns such as infrastructure needs on aging facilities, housing and p ublic saf ety. S h e was supportive of polling for a Utility Tax , Parcel Tax, and Transient Occupancy T ax. Councilmember Bybee was supportive of a Housing Bond or other type of G eneral O bligation bond .
Councilmember Bybee also suggested increasing the B u siness L ic ense T ax.
In terms of bonds, Councilmember Furtado was more supportive of a general bond versus a specific bond. He did h owever state concerns with GO bonds as they increase property taxes and those costs are then passed down from p roperty owners to ren tal tenants . He st ated support for the Tra nsient Occupancy Tax.
Councilmember Scozzola was supportive of a Housing Bond. He suggested polling resident s to see if there would be an interest in residents ban ning pr ivate e quity firms.
Mayor Landry was not supportive of a U tility Tax , Vacan cy Tax or a Parcel Tax to residential p roperty . She suggested looking at commercial and industri al properties for a Parcel Tax. She stated support for a Sales Tax, a Transient Minutes of March 19, 2024 City Council Meeting Page 3 Occupancy Tax, a General O bligation b ond for public safety and housing, a nd raising the Business License Tax .
ADJOURN .
Mayor Landry adjourned the meeting at 6:48 PM
APPROVED :
ATTEST:
Susan M. Landry, Mayor
Andrea Sanders, City Clerk