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l\lINUTES City of San Leandro City Council and San Leandro Redevelopment Agency Joint Meeting-July 6, 2004 Page 4 Tom Silva, Rental Housing Owners (RHO), addressed the City Council, requesting that invesllnent properties be treated equitably as commercial rather than residential properties. He asked that the Council consider adopting a rate of $23.00 per unit rather than $46.80 as is proposed for Code 5 properties. John Sullivan, RHO, addressed the City Council, stating that RHO members believe that the proposal is unfair to rental homeowners. He agreed with the previous speaker that it is inequitable to treat rental units the same as residential properties. Mr. Sullivan stated that the RHO wants to be part of the solution but asked to be treated fairly. Chuck Pershing, President of the Chamber of Commerce, addressed the City Council, asking the Council to include a nloratorium on future increases to the business license tax while the parcel tax mns its course. He expressed concern that businesses will be unfairly asked to bridge the shortfall in the City's budget. Mr. Pershing stated the Chamber realizes the parcel tax is critical to public safety and expressed its support for the parcel tax with the inclusion of the moratorium on an increase to the business license tax. Lou Filipovich, 15376 Laverne Drive, addressed the City Council, asking that a committee be formed of the unemployed non-subsidized citizen taxpayers to author an argument against the measure. Mr. Filipovich stated that Measure G was supposed to address this problem and that the parcel tax measure will create debt. He C0111mented that residential and cOll1ll1ercial properties should pay the same rate. There being no further comments from the public, and without objection, the Public Hearing was closed. Mayor Young thanked the ad hoc committee of Vice Mayor Badger and Councilmembers Nardine and Glaze for their work on this issue. Mayor Young asked what the anlount of the business license tax would be for a 20-unit apartment building. Mr. Jermanis stated the fee would be about $150 per year. Mayor Young asked how much business license tax a business such as WalMart currently pays. Mr. Jermanis responded that WalMart's business license tax is about $4,200 per year. Mayor Young asked how much WalMart would pay if the parcel tax measure passed. Mr. J eml ani s estimated that WalMart would pay about $1,600 per year for the parcel tax. Mayor Young noted that at $46.80 per unit, the portion of the tax paid by rental homeowners is about $4.00 per month per unit, which does not seem like a huge burden considering the residents are receiving the same police and fire protection as single- family homeowners who will be paying more. Councilmember Grant asked for clarification about the tax rate for mobile honles. Mr. J ermanis clarified that in the case of a mobile home park, the owner of the property would pay based on the number of units on the property. Mr. Baloca pointed out that individual nlobile homes are exempt from the parcel tax and instead pay a license fee.