City of Fort Bragg Page 1 Printed on 11/3/2023
City of Fort Bragg
Meeting Minutes
Finance and Administration Committee
416 N Franklin Street
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Phone: (707) 961-2823
Fax: (707) 961-2802
Thursday, August 24, 2023 4:00 PM Town Hall, 363 N. Main Street and Via Video Conference Special Meeting
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
Chair Rafanan called the meeting to order at 4:02 PM
Present: 2 - Marcia Rafanan and Tess Albin-Smith
1. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
Jenny Shattuck, and Jay Rosenquist.
2. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
2A. 23-284 Receive Report from the City's Sales Tax Consultant- Thomas Adams of Avenue Insights & Analytics on Quarter 3 2023 Sales Tax and Business Activity
Thomas Adams of Avenu Insights & Analytics presented on Quarter 3 2023 Sales Tax and Business activities. The Top 25 Sales Tax Producers are about 66% of total local businesses.
Primary sales tax generators are food, transportation, retail, construction and business to business. Projections are conservative going forward due to the uncertainty in the economy.
Public Comment: Paul Clark
Discussion: Councilmember Albin-Smith requested sales tax be listed in order by performance.
Adams clarified that the ranking is confidential. There were questions about Amazon sales tax.
Adams explained the details of process for collecting those sales taxes. 2B. 23-275 Receive Draft Impact Fee Nexus Study Presentation and Make Recommendations to City Council for Fee Schedule Updates Public Works Assistant Director of Engineering Chantell O’Neal gave a summary on the Draft Impact Fee Nexus Study. Alison Lechowicz presented the Impact Fee Nexus Study. She noted that Assembly Bill 602 requires impact fees be updated every eight years. Three potential fee options were given with the intention of informing the committee members of all of the different options. It was decided to recommend to Council that the over-all fees do not go up, but rather that they be allocated differently to include different departments.
Public Comment: Paul Clark, Jacob Patterson, John, and Jay Rosenquist Discussion: There was discussion about the projected growth of Fort Bragg. However, there was concerns about increasing fees, which could potentially impede projected growth even further.
The estimated cost of obtaining a permit for a single family home was also discussed.
City of Fort Bragg Page 2 Printed on 11/3/2023
Finance and Administration
Committee
Meeting Minutes August 24, 2023
Similarly, it was mentioned that there is potential for growth on the headlands and that this area has not been zoned yet. This makes it difficult for committee members to consider a decision about increasing fees.
2C. 23-285 Receive Report on Credit Card Fees/Processing Fee Set-up for Non-Utility Payments Finance Director Isaac Whippy presented the staff report on credit card fees and processing fees set up for non-utility payments. A 3% convenience fee is proposed in order to pass the cost of using the terminal to the customer. There are other options for customers to pay that do not incur fees including paying by check or cash.
Public Comment: Jay Rosenquist
Discussion: The $5 fee for paying over the phone was discussed. It was clarified that this fee is only for phone transactions and not in person transactions. 2D. 23-286 Receive Oral Update from Staff on Departmental Activities Government Accountant III Laura Bianchi-Limbird gave an update on departmental activities.
The internal control audit is underway. Single family home meters have been back-ordered since April; they have only received 500 of about 2000 that need to be installed. Staff is currently being cross-trained. There are still 55 unpaid business licenses that are currently being followed up on. Finance Director Whippy informed us that they are looking for an online portal that would allow businesses to renew their business licenses online. They are also currently working with the CV Starr Ad-hoc Committee for the transition of the CV Starr to the city. Processes and personnel needs are being evaluated.
Public Comment: None.
Discussion: There was discussion about the door hangers that Coleman is putting up about the water meter replacements being only in one language. A request is going to be made to Coleman to print them in double-sided in both English and Spanish. It was explained that the old water meters are by radio and require an employee to go to every home every month and read them and the new ones will automatically be sending updates every hour. There was also discussion about fee changes for CV Starr and how a workshop about proposed increased fees may be helpful to give a clear picture of the financial needs of CV Starr.
3. MATTERS FROM COMMITTEE / STAFF
City Manager Peggy Ducey thanked the Human Resources Manager for expanding her recruitment efforts. There were 28 applicants for the Administrative Assistant position of which three will be hired in different departments. Other staff is continuing to train in City Clerk duties.
ADJOURNMENT
Councilmember Rafanan adjourned the meeting at 5:54 PM.