03.01 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Minutes Apri17, 2020 Page 9 of 12 ----------------------------- 2018 $1,693,065 $1,637,785 $2,866,273 57.140% 2017 $1,597,230 $1,597,230 $2,823,123 56.577% 2016 $1,666,772 $1,553,352 $2,719,522 57.119% (Fina/Levy= Net Tax Capacity= Tax Rate) Council Member Pederson asked what the City can do to help our business community since almost all have shut their doors for this pandemic for an undetermined amount of time. He is afraid with the lost revenues that some businesses are not going to make it. He stated that we need to ask how we can help as a local government to provide help to our businesses. Council Member Pederson recommends the City talk about how to financially help our businesses and then reach out to some professionals, maybe gathering information and ideas. He suggested that the City immediately do a three months freeze on not imperative spending and purchasing. He stated that we don't know what the future is and every project item that's on there is important, but it's a horrible situation therefore we need to take some proactive leadership here and then review monthly. He also recommended the City look at the 2020/2021 budget and cut most every expenditure and eliminate or/and put on hold purchases of any new equipment to 2021. Council Member Pederson stated that we can't just assume the federal or state government is going to take care of our businesses. He believes one of the ways we can help is lower their property taxes and the City can do that by lowering the expenses of the City. Council Member Seils stated that there are all kinds of SBA loans and disaster loans and things like that that people can apply for right now. She stated that employees can go on unemployment even though it's not a lot of money, but it doesn't go against the employer right now either. Ms. Malecha asked for some direction from the Council on the 2021 preliminary budget. Council Member Seils recommended that they should just put the directive on hold for another month. The Council agreed to table it until the next month. 11.2. Close Converse Commercial Listinq Contract Nancy Malecha stated that included in the packet is the Close Converse Commercial Listing Contract to sell the City property known as the Heart of the Good Life Development. She stated at the March EDC meeting it was recommended that the City Council enter into this contract for a minimum of one year with the stipulation that any current property acquisition discussions with the company not be subject to this contract and broker services. She said the EDC felt that having a broker or real estate company help the City market this development would reach a broader audience.