3B Public Hearing 2009 0316 - Laserfiche WebLink

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West San Leandro Shuttle BID March 6, 2009 LINKS shuttle that connects West San Leandro to the San Leandro BART Station. Adoption of the ROI started the legally required notification and public hearing process for the proposed assessment. All affected businesses that pay the assessment within the existing boundaries of the BID were mailed a notice of the proposal to re-establish the BID on February 5, 2009, after the Council adopted the ROI. The mailing included an informational sheet that explained the following: the type of assessment, the affected parties, how the assessment would be collected, the purpose of the fee, amounts of the proposed BID assessment, as well as the time and place for the required public hearing. The informational sheet also explained how to register a protest vote. The notice included a copy of the ROI, as required by law, and a map showing the shuttle route and the boundaries of the proposed BID. A green protest postcard was provided as a convenience to those business owners that desired to register a protest. This information was inserted into a City of San Leandro envelope that was stamped "PUBLIC NOTICE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BID BALLOT" in red ink for emphasis. All notices were addressed directly to the affected businesses in the City's current Business License records. In addition, prior to adoption of the ROI, outreach was performed with an informational flyer included in Business License renewal packets mailed in December 2008 to let the affected businesses know that a BID public hearing notice and ballot would be forthcoming. The proposed ordinance assesses businesses located within one-quarter mile of the shuttle route, while exempting businesses located within one-half mile of the San Leandro BART Station on Davis Street and San Leandro Boulevard. (A map of the area is provided with the attached ordinance.) The proposed assessment excludes businesses with five or fewer employees, landlords, non-profit businesses [501(c)(3)] and home based businesses. The proposed assessment to be levied by the ordinance is calculated on a base fee of $25.00 per business per year plus $10.88 per employee per business per year; these are the current assessment rates. The City Council may increase the fee each year, but the amount of the increase cannot exceed the consumer price index for all urban consumers in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area. The assessment will sunset on June 30, 2014. Protest votes are weighted by the number of employees according to the City's Business License records. For example, a protest vote from the owner of the XYZ Company having 20 employees will count as 20 votes against the BID. (Note: The City's Business License fee and records are based on the actual number of employees a business has employed in San Leandro. Thus, a part time employee counts as one employee. There is no calculation of full time equivalent employees.) If, at the conclusion of the public hearing, there are written protests by business owners amounting to more than fifty percent (50%) of the total assessments, the BID will fail and cannot be formed. No other attempt may be made to form the BID in the stated area for a period of one year. In the event that re-establishment of the BID fails, the original BID area will sunset in June 2009. In the event that the protest votes tota150% or less, the council has the discretion to not form the BID. At the time this report was prepared, the City Clerk has received back 35 protest cards for the BID. These cards, along with any cards submitted during the public hearing, shall constitute all protest votes against the BID. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the City Clerk will provide to the City Council, a certified total of BID protest votes using the most current employee counts of BID paying businesses in the City's Business License records.