Minutes 1992 1221 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - December 21, 1992 Page - 10 - NEW BUSINESS (continued) • E. Resolution of Findings of Exemption from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Regarding City Council Adoption of Amendments to the Business License Ordinance (finds that amendments to Business License Ordinance are exempt from requirements of CEQA) . John Jermanis explained that the Business License increase represents a 3% CPI increase. He said San Leandro has the lowest Business License Fees in Alameda County. He said the City utilizes a flat rate and a unit charge. He said he met with the Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, which had some concerns about timing of the increases because of the recession. He said the new process proposes the use of DE3 forms for verification of number of employees, as well as proof of Workers' Compensation, which is a State requirement. He said he will come back to the City Council in the future with a report on Licenses for single-family home rentals. He said the Ordinance includes a new classification for disposal sites, changing the method of calculation from a per-employee rate to a per- ton rate. He said this is a more fair way of measuring business activity, which does not single out just the transfer station but also applies to recycling businesses. He said a letter will be received from the County Joint Rate Review Committee requesting that the City let them know of these types of increases around July. He said the City did not know in July what the State would do and did not plan on this increase at that time. He said these fees have been discussed with the Task Force on City Finances. He said the classification for private utilities and for towing companies has also been changed from per employee to gross receipts. • Rex Wisnan, Rental Housing Owners Association, said they feel the 3% increase is reasonable but questioned the single-family-home license. He said the City should perhaps look at charging a fee only if a property owner owns and rents three or four or more units. He said San Leandro's Business License rate for rental housing is higher than that of many other cities. He said this will hurt lower-income people. He said some of his Association's members are on the Task Force, and they don't feel this should be considered yet because the Task Force is discussing it. Mary Lou Eckersley, Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber has had three meetings with the City. She said their concerns were based on the need for businesses to be more aware of these changes. She said they were not opposed to the 3% increase, and they suggested the City Council go ahead with it and discuss the other changes further. She said the Chamber was concerned about the definition of part-time employees and about gross income. She said her staff had checked some of the larger employers regarding number of part-time employees. •