ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager with a Request to Provide Direction Regarding the Creation of a POLICY Governing the Establishment of SALES TAX SPECIAL SERVICE AREAS for SHOPPING CENTERS.
Body
BACKGROUND: On June 24, 2014, the City Council approved an amendment to the Westlake Shopping Center Special Service Area (SSA) that would impose an additional 0.75% sales tax on purchases made within that shopping center. The proceeds from this additional tax would be conveyed to the shopping center owner who would use them in chief to repay a loan acquired in order to make major physical and aesthetic improvements to the shopping center. At that meeting, the City Council asked staff to return with policy recommendations to guide the future creation of similar SSAs in other parts of the City.
Staff has assembled a set of parameters that should be considered by the City Council. These recommendations are based on the position that sales tax SSAs should be created only to incentivize major physical upgrades to a shopping center rather than be a revenue source for property owners that merely wish to pay for "routine" maintenance. The improvements should be noticeable and enjoyable by both customers and the general public. Many, but not all, of the elements listed below are present in the recent Westlake SSA.
Suggested Parameters
1. Property owner can request a sales tax levy between 0.25% and 0.75%.
2. Additional tax runs for 20 years maximum.
3. Property must be a shopping center, as defined in the Zoning Code:
a. "A unified group of commercial establishments sharing a common building or buildings, off-street plaza, site access, signage, and/or parking area to which such commercial establishments are oriented on a site of a minimum of three (3) acres."
4. Property owner must present written proof that at least 90% of tenants approve. Further, owner must disclose presence of SSA to any prospective tenant through the lif...
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