01-11-95 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1995 analysis of the cost of the Investigator's time given the rates charqed the City under the Sheriff's contract, and recommended that the City use a figure of 16 hours per month to base the fee on. 16 hours would equal $6,827.52 for the Investigator's time. The Administrator also recommended an additional $1,000 be added to the fee for incidental costs related to support staff at the Sheriff's Department as well as City staff time. The Administrator reported that the fee increase could not be effective until July 1st, and pointed out that the City's ordinance allows for review of the fee every six months. The rational for the fee increase is to recover the City~s costs associated with the pawn shop. The Administrator reported that when the fee was first established, the $1,500 appeared to be adequate. As time has passed, the Sheriff's Department has refined their system for monitoring goods at the pawn shop, and there has been the need for more time on the part of the Investigator. Morelan asked if it were necessary to expend the amount of time the Sheriff's Department spends on pawn shop- related matters. The Administrator replied that at this point it is, but as the system is refined further, it may be possible for the time to decrease. Scalze recommended that the pawn shop license fee be increased to $8,000 in order to recoup the City's costs. LaValle pointed out the current $300 investigation fee and asked the rational behind the $1,000 addition to the fee for administrative time. The Administrator pointed out that the Investigator's time analysis only includes his time, and not the time of Sheriff's Department support staff nor City time in processing the renewal. Pedersen questioned the rational for the pawn shop to absorb all of the cost of investigations for stolen property. Scalze pointed out that pawn shops are a magnet for 6