Laserfiche WebLink
MINUTES <br />CITY COUNCIL <br />APRIL 26, 2023 <br />made following the pandemic which have changed the business plans and direction of those <br />businesses. <br />Gutierrez noted that the three percent increase would equate to $159. She commented that it feels that <br />has been a lot of work for Mr. Duray to reach out to all the other businesses to save $159. She <br />commented that the City spends quite a bit for public safety and other elements that support the <br />businesses that have liquor licenses and asked how the three percent increase would create a hardship. <br />Mr. Duray commented that the increases have been occurring for almost 17 years and he believed that <br />there was supposed to be a sunset to the increase at some time. He stated that the business owners <br />believed that this would be a good time to discuss the sunset of tying the increase to the levy increase. <br />Mr. Duray commented that the business owners do appreciate that as most of the businesses were <br />closed for around one year or more during that time. <br />There were no further comments from the public. Upon motion by T. Miller, seconded by D. Miller, <br />the public hearing was closed. Ayes (5). Nays (0). Motion adopted. <br />Mayor Fischer suggested that a workshop be held to discuss whether that policy should be sunset. He <br />noted that even though,the policy had been in place, the Council did not increase the fee since 2019. <br />He recognized the comments on the challenges the businesses are facing and noted that is not unique to <br />the restaurant industry as the City is experiencing those increased costs as well. <br />Kwapick asked how the revenue from these licenses is used. The City Clerk replied that those fiends <br />are contributed to the general fund. Kwapick asked if the City conducts any inspections of these <br />businesses. The City Clerk replied that the County completes the compliance checks. <br />Kwapick asked if the information provided by the business owner on the fees of a neighboring <br />community was accurate. The City Clerk confirmed that was an accurate number, explaining that <br />Vadnais Heights bases its fees on the square footage of the bar/restaurant.. She stated that cities <br />typically do not annually raise liquor license fees, and noted that perhaps the City had fallen behind <br />and the decision was made in 2006 to begin a slow annual fee increase to catch up with other cities. <br />Kwapick stated that it would seem that this is a broken formula, to tie the fee to the levy increase, and <br />therefore liked the idea of considering that policy further in a workshop. He stated that he would be <br />open to suggestions as to what to do this year and could support continuing the freeze for another year <br />or increasing at a rate of three percent. <br />D. Miller also agreed that this should be more thoroughly discussed in workshop. He commented that <br />three percent is not a large increase and there are only eight establishments with this type of license, so <br />that increase does not equate to a large amount of funds for the City either. He believed that the <br />business owners should be involved in the workshop in order to provide input going forward. <br />T. Miller commented that she also believes that this should be discussed in workshop as it does not <br />seem appropriate to tie this increase to the levy increase. She commented that things have changed a <br />11 <br />