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Home My WebLink About13039 RESOLUTION NO. 13039 A RESOLUTION SUBMITTING TO THE ELIGIBLE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF PUEBLO, COLORADO AT THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 4, 2014, A BALLOT QUESTION TO INCREASE TAXES BY IMPOSING AN ADDITIONAL SALES TAX OF ONE-HALF PERCENT AS A PUBLIC SAFETY TAX FOR A FIVE YEAR PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1, 2015 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2019 AND THE ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 8741 TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW TAX BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: SECTION 1. The question of adopting Ordinance No. 8741 and thereby imposing an additional sales of one half percent as a Public Safety tax shall be submitted to a vote of the eligible electors of the City at the City's special municipal election to be held on November 4, 2014. The ballot question (submission clause and title) therefore shall be as follows: Question No. 200 (Public Safety Tax) SHALL THE CITY OF PUEBLO'S TAXES BE INCREASED BY $6.7 MILLION ANNUALLY (FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR INCREASE) AND BY WHATEVER AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, BY IMPOSING AN ADDITIONAL SALES TAX OF ONE-HALF PERCENT AS A PUBLIC SAFETY TAX FOR A FIVE YEAR PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1, 2015 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2019 AND SHALL TITLE XIV OF THE CITY MUNICIPAL CODE BE AMENDED BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW CHAPTER 12 BY THE ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 8741? YES _____ NO _____ The text of Ordinance No. 8741 is as follows: BE IT ORDAINED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF PUEBLO, that (brackets indicate matter being deleted; underscoring indicates new matter being added): SECTION 1. Title XIV of the Pueblo Municipal Code, as amended, is amended by the addition of a new Chapter 12 thereto, to read as follows: CHAPTER 12 Sec. 14-12-1 Intent. The People of Pueblo hereby declare that on the effective date of this ordinance there shall be an additional one-half percent (.5%) sales tax added to the rate in Section 14-4-85 for the purpose of increasing funding for public safety. One-half of the tax collected shall be added to the budget of the fire department and one-half shall be added to the budget of the police department. Sec. 14-12-2 Impact on Fire and Police Department Budgets. (a) It is the specific intent of the People of Pueblo that the money raised from this public safety tax be an addition to the budgets of the fire and police departments and that the amount raised by this tax shall not be offset by reductions in these budgets. Money raised from this public safety tax shall not be used for wage or benefit increases of existing personnel. (b) Furthermore, the budgets for the fire and police departments shall increase annually by a minimum of the percentage increase in the City’s sales tax revenue or decrease annually by a maximum of the percentage decrease in the City’s sales tax revenue. Sec. 14-12-3 Oversight Committee There is hereby created an oversight committee consisting of three firefighters below the rank of assistant chief, three police officers below the rank of captain and three citizens. The firefighters shall be appointed by the bargaining agent for the firefighters, the police officers shall be appointed by the bargaining agent for the police officers and the citizens shall be appointed by the City Council. Appointments will be for staggered 3 year terms. The purpose of the oversight committee is to ensure that the intent of this Chapter is met each year in the fire and police department budgets and that the money raised by this tax is used for public safety. The oversight committee shall have access to all data and information it needs to fulfill this purpose. If the oversight committee believes that the intent of this Chapter is not being met, it shall present its concerns at a public meeting of the City Council as soon as practical. Sec. 14-12-4 This tax shall expire in five years, December 31, 2019. SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall become effective upon the majority vote in favor thereof by the registered electors of the City voting thereon at the Special Municipal Election to be held Tuesday, November 4, 2014. The tax levies of this Chapter shall take effect beginning January 1, 2015. SECTION 3. The City Council does hereby find, determine and declare that the ballot title set forth in Section 2 hereof fairly expresses the true meaning and intent of the proposed Ordinance. SECTION 4. The City Clerk shall (a) at least ten (10) days prior to the November 4, 2014 Special Municipal Election publish notice of an election upon the proposed Ordinance, which notice shall contain the full text of the proposed Ordinance, and (b) certify the Ballot Title to the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder by no later than sixty days before the November 4, 2014 election as provided in Section 1-5-203(3), C.R.S. To minimize publication expenses, the notice required to be published by this section may be combined with any other notice published concerning such Special Municipal Election. SECTION 5. The officers of the City are directed and authorized to perform any and all acts consistent with the intent of this Ordinance to effectuate the policies and procedures described herein. SECTION 6. This Resolution shall become effective upon final passage and approval. INTRODUCED: August 25, 2014 BY: Ami Nawrocki COUNCILPERSON City Clerk’s Office Item # M-10 Background Paper for Proposed Resolution COUNCIL MEETING DATE: August 25, 2014 TO: President Sandra K. Daff and Members of City Council CC: Sam Azad, City Manager VIA: Gina Dutcher, City Clerk FROM: Daniel C. Kogovsek, City Attorney, Law Department SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION SUBMITTING TO THE ELIGIBLE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF PUEBLO, COLORADO AT THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 4, 2014, A BALLOT QUESTION TO INCREASE TAXES BY IMPOSING AN ADDITIONAL SALES TAX OF ONE-HALF PERCENT AS A PUBLIC SAFETY TAX FOR A FIVE YEAR PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1, 2015 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2019 AND THE ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 8741 TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW TAX SUMMARY: Attached is a proposed Reslution referring the public safety tax question to the voters of the City of Pueblo at the November 4, 2014 Special Election. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: None. BACKGROUND Petition representatives Josh Martin and Doug Martin, on behalf of Puebloans United for Public Safety, have collected sufficient signatures under Section 18-1 and 18-2 of the City Charter to qualify this ballot question as an Initiative to be submitted to the voters of the City of Pueblo. Due to the requirements of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights ("TABOR"), Article X, §20 of the Colorado Constitution, any new tax must be approved by the voters. This Resolution would present that question to the voters. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The amount of tax revenue that the measure will generate is subject to speculation; however, for the purpose of ballot submission under TABOR, it has been assumed that the taxes in the first year will not exceed $6.7 million. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Not applicable to this Ordinance. STAKEHOLDER PROCESS: Not applicable. Puebloans for Public Safety submitted this ballot question as an Initiative under the City Charter. ALTERNATIVES: The City Clerk issued a Certification on July 23, 2014 which validated the Initiated Petition for Ordinance 8741 by finding the number of signatures on said petition to be sufficient under the City Charter. Pursuant to the City Charter, Council is required to either adopt Ordinance 8741 or submit the citizen Initiative to a vote at a regular or special City election to be held not less than sixty (60) days nor more than one hundred fifty (150) days after the final determination of petition sufficiency by the City Clerk. RECOMMENDATION: This Ordinance must be adopted in order to refer the ballot measure to the voters. Attachments: Proposed Resolution