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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-01-24 Minutes numberedMINUTES OF ~ JOINT MEETING OF ~ JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND ~ IOWA CITY COBNCIL: JANUARY 24, Subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors at a subsequent formal meeting. Chairperson Duffy called the joint meeting to order at 4:34 p.m. Supervisors present were: Joseph Bolkcom, Sally $tutsman, Charles DuL% Stephen Lacina, and Don Sehr. City Council members present were: Mayor Susan Horowitz, Naomi Novick, Jim Throgmorton, Larry Baker, and Karen Kubby. Council Member Ernie Lehman joined the meeting at 5:03 p.m. Absent was Council Member Bruno Pigott. PROPOSED INDUSTRIAL PARK Lacina presented a map of the site, located southeast of Iowa City and bounded by Ford Lane, Scott Boulevard, and the railroad. The County received a request to fezone 2.6 acres near the site. A.F. and Mary Io Streb own 80 acres in the area. At present, there are only two residences in the area. A great deal of infra.~tructure is available nearby, and the site would be appropriate for a long-term industrial development. Bolkcom asked where the existing sewer line is located compared to the site. Arkins said the lift station would not serve the area, but the site can be sewered. The infrastructure can be developed if the City and County choose to pursue the proposal. Lacina said if a joint public/private venture is started now, the governments would not have to buy the land. Eventually, the site would be appropriate for City annexation. The project would create jobs in the County, and the key is planning it correctly now. Bolkcom asked in which order the process should go, and if annexation should be the first step. Kubby said current City policy is that services will not be provided to an area unless it is a part of the City. Lacina said the Board of Supervisors sent the first zoning application back to the County Planning and Zoning Commission, so the entire 80 acres could be considered as an industrial area. He mid the stream and trees are a natural barrier, and the strip along Scott Boulevard may have some commercial viability. Kubby said the Council has discussed holding private firms, who work in partnership with the public sector, to a higher standard for such items as the type and quality of jobs, and the amount and type of water use. Lacina said if the City does not buy the land, public money would go to infrastructure development rather than interest payments on unsold land. Kubby said Iowa City Area Development (ICAD) has said people are looking for larger industrial areas. Lacina said if someone wanted a lot the size of Proctor and Gamble's, they would be turned away as a lot that size does not exist. o273 Joint Meeting of Board of Supervisors/Iowa City Council Minutes: January 24, 1995/ page 2 Novick said a public/private partnership is worth considering, if the $trebs are willing to work with it. Lacina said he believes the $trebs would be amenable, if they are allowed to farm the unused parcel in the interim. Sehr said he does not believe the Strebs would be interested in the types of restrictions Kubby had discussed. Horowitz asked if the Strebs own the land outright. Lacina said the Strebs are taking possession of the land on March 1, as a residential-zoned tract. The Business Development Inc. Board still exists, and it would be a natural body to take over this project. Items such as sewage pre-treatment could be built into the project. Bolkcom said he would like some controls over smoke-stack type industries, as the site will eventually be surrounded by neighborhood housing. Horowitz said the City and County should discuss setting up criteria for the project. Laeina said the County should talk with City staff before the County Planning and Zoning Commission makes a decision. Throgmorton said the City needs to be specific about the kinds of business that will be sought. Horowitz said the site could be a mix of industrial areas and an office park. Lacina said proposed construction of affordable housing is being watched carefully, and if the project is rejected, landowners would be wary of working with local government. He said one beauty of this project is the cleanness of the site, and a large input of public money will not be needed. Novick said only 6% of the City's assessed valuation is in Industrial, and only 50 to 55% of this is taxed because of the Machinery and Equipment partial exemption. Kubby said not many partnerships such as this have been done in the area. Details need to be discussed on the front end of the public process, and not at the end. Horowitz said too many details could scare off investors, and the goal should be to allow investors to be creative. Kubby said details do not equal regulation. Lehman arrived at the meeting at 5:03 p.m. Bolkcom said the Strebs will be back with a zoning application soon and will need an answer. The City Council needs to decide if and when to provide public improvements, and when these will be included in capital improvement projects. Kubby asked what the County's role would be, especially if the City annexes the site. Novick said some cooperation could be arranged on sewer and roads. Lacina said if the zoning application fails due to objections, the site would still be zoned residential. The Strebs will want an answer on zoning this spring. Noviek asked if the $trebs could ask to be zoned industrial, without annexation. Horowitz said involuntary annexation was possible but unlikely. Kubby said involuntary annexation would be against the Comprehensive Plan. FRINGE AREA AGREEMENT * Revised 3/6/95 $oint Meeting of Board of Supervisors/Iowa City Council Minutes: $anuary 24, 19951 page 3 The City Council and Board of Supervisors agreed to defer discussion of the Fringe Area Agreement, as neither body had obtained copies far enough in advance for adequate review. LOCAL OFFION SALES TAX Horowitz said many people have talked to the City about the issue. Novick said it would not make sense to pass the tax unless it was county-wide. Kubby said she has no idea if a majority of the Council is interested. Novick said the Council needs to make it known that a local-option tax is being considered. Duffy asked if some or all of the revenue would be earmarked for property tax relief. Noviek said that would be up to the entity; the County could use revenue for tax relief and the City could use it for other purposes. Baker and Sehr said they believed part of the revenue had to be used for tax relief. City Manager Steve Atldns said revenue does not have to be used for tax relief. The ballot issue must declare what the revenue will be used for by each community. This may differ from community to community. The vote will be held in all contiguous cities as if they were one city. (This would include Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, University Heights, and Hills.) If approved, the tax will be binding on all cities in the multi-city unit, but cities that do not pass the tax will not share in the revenue. In practice, this has meant that cities which reject the local option tax often go back and pass it the second time. Novick said that under State law, local option sales tax revenues are divided on a formula based 75% on population .and 25% on property valuation. Sehr said the law had changed significantly since Johnson County voted down a tax several years ago. Novick said rural areas can share in revenues even if they do not have a single business. Throgmorton asked how an issue would be placed on the ballot. Arkins said a petition could be presented to the Board of Supervisors. In addition, the Council of a city with over 50% of the County population could vote to place the issue on the ballot. Iowa City meets this population standard. Some communities place a sunset on the tax. Novick said Black Hawk County had passed a tax for road repair five years ago, with a five year sunset. Novick said Black Hawk County still needs to fix its roads, and is voting on renewal of the tax today. Kubby asked how much money would be raised. Atidns said $4.5 million a year. Throgmorton said a critical issue to him is the relationship between the sales tax and the relative regressivity of water rates. Horowitz said she would be interested in the perception of whether the sales tax could help people in terms of water rates. ~ * Revised 3/6/95 Ioint Meeting Minutes (subject to approval): January 24, 1995/page 4 Bolkcom said the sales lax is a very regressive burden, especially when coupled with water rates. Horowitz said one would cancel out the other. Novick said the idea is to use revenue from the sales tax a~ a way to lower water ram. Water rates will slill rise, but the increase will be less. Bolkcom said in either case, r.~ople of lower income will pay a greater percontsge of their income, as people of high and low incomes use about the same amount of water. Sebr said many people spend little on taxable items and would benefit. Baker asked how much revenue will come in from higher water rates. Atldns said if both pending wa~r projects are done, the annual debt service would be about $9 million. The sales tax would offset about half of that amount. Kubby said it would be interesting to see ff people of lower incomes paid a larger percentage of income in sales tax. Novick said Iowa's sales tax does not include items like food gud medication. Bolkcom said the City has a huge capital expenditure coming up, but he would like to see the County get along on what it has. Sehr said he would like to see any County sales tax revenue earmarked 100% for property tax relief. He added that many counties have approved a sales tax since Johnson County tried to pass one. Kubby said there have been complaints about a five-cent raise in parking ramp rates hurting business, yet there have not been comments about the impact of a proposed sales tax on business. Lacina said he did not think a sales tax would hurt business, and a tax had not hurt sales at outlet malls in Williamsburg. The hax could bring new revenues into the County. Bolkcom said most of the people who would pay a sales ~ax live here. Horowiiz said a sales tax would not focus only on downtown. Kubby asked if the tax could only be applied to certain items. Atidns said taxable items would be the same as what the State collects sales tax on. Novick said the only exception was in communities that have passed a hotel and motel tax, in that case the sales tax would not apply to rooms. $ehr asked if University of Iowa athletic tickels would be taxed. Arkins said he believes University tickets are exempt. Throgmol~on asked what pertion of tax revenue would be from visitors and tourists. The City Council and Board of Supervisors agreed to hold their next joint m~eting, to be hosted by the City, on Tuesday, April 4, 1995. Adjourned at 5:33 p.m.