Chamber submits funding alternatives to city
With the recent election behind them and a new year ahead, the Vancouver City Council will soon get another chance to pass a reluctant proposal to increase revenue from the city’s businesses.
Since spring, the city has made two attempts with a per-employee fee and a tiered business license surcharge, the former drawing ire from large businesses and the latter from the smaller kind.
On findings made by the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, city staff may present an ordinance to the Council that blends the best of both worlds – or the lesser of two evils.
On the city’s request, the chamber formed a group of about eight representatives of the business community, and options were delivered to the city late last month.
The first option proposes a $315 business-license surcharge for every business plus an annual $10-per-employee fee. A second option would include a $275 business license surcharge and an annual $15-per-employee fee. Under both alternatives, no business would pay more than $10,000 annually.
Based on estimates previously used by the city, both options would raise a little more than $3 million per year.
The chamber has supported the city’s efforts to grow funding from businesses for new-capacity transportation projects, but with few mechanisms to do so, Chamber President McKibbin said there is no fair way.
"It is not a good vehicle for funding transportation," said McKibbin, "it’s a poor vehicle; it’s probably not equitable in that respect."
The chamber also suggested that the city work with the county and other jurisdictions to identify more appropriate funding options, secure more funding from the legislature, not exempt any businesses and make clarifications regarding part-time and contract workers.
City staff and the finance department will evaluate the chamber’s input and draft an ordinance to present to City Council that would include one of the proposed alternatives or some variation of them.
"We need to look at the impacts to small and large businesses and what the revenues would be," said Betsy Williams, assistant city manager.
Williams said the issue is expected to be in front of the Council in the first quarter of the year.
The city first began considering additional taxes on businesses as a three-part initiative to shore-up funding shortfalls more than a year ago. Other elements of the package to increase revenue for public safety and transportation included an increase in the sales tax from 7.7 percent to 7.9 percent that will contribute an approximate $4.2 million in 2006 and a property tax increase to add an estimated $4.3 million in 2007, which would be subject to voter approval. The council passed the sales tax portion in August and voters could be asked to increase property taxes in fall 2006.
