HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 23 2017 Council Legislative Work Meeting Minutes1
Mayor Jerry Merrill
Council Members:
Christopher Mann Jordan Busby
Donna Benfield Tisha Flora
Brad Wolfe Sally Smith
6:00 P.M. City Hall
Meet with the Legislators from SE Idaho to discuss the up-coming legislative agenda.
Senator Brent Hill Representative Dell Raybould Representative Ron Nate
Mayor Merrill welcomed everyone and then started the conversation by asking the legislators if there are any
big items coming up this legislative session that the City should be aware of.
Senator Hill indicated that there will probably be something on urban renewal; there usually is but they have
not passed anything in the past few years. Some would like to eliminate urban renewal. Tax reform is also a
big thing. If that passes it could affect Idahoans. They are talk ing about eliminating exemptions which would
hurt our community. That could affect sales tax exemption. Health care, who knows; Idaho will probably do
their own thing. It would be nice to know what the federal government is going to do.
Mayor Merrill mentioned that he is a little confused on the storm water deal. He referred to the Lewiston,
Idaho lawsuit.
The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled against the city of Lewiston in a lawsuit challenging the city's stormwater utility fee
as an unconstitutional tax because it wasn't authorized by the state Legislature. The lawsuit, brought by the Lewiston
School District, Lewis-Clark State College, Nez Perce County, the Port of Lewiston and the Lewiston Orchards
Irrigation District, was successful at the District Court level, but the city appealed; the high court now has upheld Distric t
Judge John Bradbury's ruling invalidating the fee. –Betsy Z. Russell, The Spokesman-Review
Council Member Mann commented that you can’t collect taxes for storm water. The attending legislators
hadn’t heard anything about it.
Finance Officer Nielson said some might need storm water and some might not so they can’t tax everyone
the same. It needs to be based on usage which is hard to calculate.
Council Member Flora stated that Utah uses a storm water user fee. Provo voted on it and it passed by a
large number. The road tax would have been much higher. Provo broke it up in to 8 or 10 categories based
35 North 1st East
Rexburg, ID 83440
Phone: 208.359.3020 x2313
Fax: 208.359.3022
blairk@rexburg.org
www.rexburg.org
City Council “WORK MEETING” Minutes
October 23, 2017
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on traffic. For most residents it came to $3.50 per household. In Idaho the city doesn’t own the streets the
citizens do. It’s hard to figure out usage for storm water.
Discussion about storm water usage and fees.
Council President Smith said she talked to AIC about the repeal of the grocery tax. She understands that
they are holding the cities harmless.
Representative Nate indicated that it’s probably even better than harmless because Amazon is going to start
collecting taxes.
Council President Smith brought up House Bill 269, revenue sharing according to population. Would this
hurt or help our city?
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Finance Officer Nielson said that is a tough one because if it helps your city, it could hurt your neighboring
city. The City of Ammon is the one pushing for this bill.
Senator Hill explained that there is no way to figure out how much revenue is coming from each area
because the Walmart’s and big box stores don’t break it down by area. He said over the past 10 years it has
come up 3 times to have the big box stores report that so they can see how much is coming from each area
but there are those who worry that this will lead to local option taxes.
Mayor Merrill pointed out that if you allocate it by population and other people from smaller towns come to
shop in your area, they don’t get any of that back. For Rexburg, this bill would be a plus because of our large
growth since the revenue sharing amounts were fixed back in 1967.
Council President Smith continued, saying there was some issues about how cities pay for Magistrate Court
costs but Rexburg was pretty good on that. We have figured out a formula that works.
Director Davidson brought up the gas tax. Senator Hill asked if Rexbu rg shares in the surplus eliminator at
the end of the year.
The surplus eliminator was born during the waning hours of the 2015 legislative session. The session wrapped up after
midnight with the passage of a transportation funding bill. House Bill 312 sought to address a long-term shortfall in
transportation funding by raising the tax on gas by 7 cents per gallon, raising vehicle registration fees, and instituting a fee
for use of electric and hybrid vehicles. - http://idahocfp.org/the-surplus-eliminator-aprils-wonky-wednesday-word/
Director Davidson replied that the money from the surplus eliminator goes to the Idaho Transportation
Department and then they offer grants through LHTAC (Local Highway Technical Assistance Council) that
cities can apply for. This is done once a year if there is a surplus and it is administered by LHTAC. Senator
Hill asked if the surplus eliminator goes for one more year. He believes it will end July 2018 so we would
have to take action if we want it to continue. Mayor Merrill said it would be a shame to end it too soon.
Senator Hill added that it is completely unpredictable; it’s not something you can plan on but it does help if it
becomes available.
Representative Raybould said he had someone ask him if he would carry a bill that would require the State
Department of Transportation to approve any street development in cities and he said, no. That same
gentleman pointed out the new Center Street project and said the people who designed that evidently do not
run snow plows.
Representative Nate asked about the eclipse and how it went. Mayor Merrill replied that a lot of people
would say we over-planned but the media hyped it up. We spent about $250,000. We have a lot of good will
from people across the country and it should have some long term effects on Rexburg.
Representative Nate loved the Riverside Park activities and the painted “R” at the interchange. Director
Johnson indicated that from the beginning we planned on forty to eighty thousand people, not hundreds of
thousands of people, so we feel very good about the turn out. The media caused a lot of locals to not go out.
Mayor Merrill commented that the biggest complaint was from restaurants that didn’t get as much business
as expected.
Council Member Flora said on the way from Utah up, there were signs saying that Idaho is out of gas, milk
and bread so stop before you get there.
Director Johnson said retailers did well before and after that weekend. Council Member Wolfe commented
that the event was well planned for.
Representative Nate understands that the new designation of flood plain could affect the city. Mayor
Merrill indicated that it would affect the city because it would put areas that have never been flooded like the
new Walmart area into that flood plain.
Representative Raybould said years ago the Teton River used to flow through the bridge north of Sugar
City and one year in February or March an ice jam formed and then a rain storm came and the snow melted
and the water couldn’t get under that bridge so the highway department diverted the water to the south of
Sugar City and flooded that farm ground where the new Walmart sits now. The river is straightened out now
and they haven’t had any problems.
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Representative Nate asked if there is something the city can do to protect that property and development.
Mayor Merrill indicated that they were thinking about going to the Federal Legislators.
Representative Raybould commented that he read somewhere that Senator Risch was going to complain to
the Federal Government about it. Director Davidson said the county asked for FEMA to do this study
because they were doing flood plain adjustments. Then FEMA came back with the new maps blown out.
Bradley Peterson from the county has been talking with Boise to see if the flood plain can be adjusted to be a
little less impactful but still be accurate.
Representative Raybould is wondering if FEMA is looking at the Teton Dam Flood which cost them a lot
of money but will most likely never happen again.
Senator Hill said he understands that FEMA is losing money so they either have to spread the risk over a
greater area which is what they are trying to do here, or they charge more to those who really are in danger, or
they have the Federal Government subsidies. None of those options are very appealing but they don’t have
much choice.
Director Johnson said they are okay with that as long as it is really accurate. Right now, they don’t feel like it
is. He also indicated that they are willing to have an additional study done depending on what the new map
looks like. They should have a new map in two weeks and they will go from there. FEMA is willing to work
with the City.
Representative Nate brought up the Air BnB (short term rental) policy. He is getting the feeling that the
legislators need to tighten down that statute. He would like to see the city work it out so that property
owners feel like they have their property rights and others feel protected from intrusions. Right now,
property owners feel that the intent of the law is not being honored.
Council Member Wolfe indicated that they interpret the state statute to mean that if the city does nothing, it
would be a free for all. The task force is trying to allow short term rentals in LDR zones but requiring that
the home be owner occupied during the rental. They would also require a license fee and inspection along
with some other regulations until the state comes up with something more definite.
Council President Smith would like better clarification of the state statute because it can be interpreted two
ways; that it can be prohibited throughout the city or it cannot be prohibited throughout the city. She would
like to see the language cleaned up so that it can’t be misinterpreted.
Mayor Merrill said people are worried about their neighborhoods being disrupted, that’s why the task force
is trying to come up with some regulations l ike having adequate parking and having the owner there in order
to provide some control. Council President Smith said they are reasonable regulations. Council Member
Wolfe added that if complaints are received and verified by the police and the owner gets three complaints,
they will lose their permit.
Senator Hill doesn’t understand what direction the City wants. The first Bill didn’t give any leeway; the state
says you have to allow it everywhere. To add in the health and safety issue is not uncommon but if the City
wants the state to go in and start saying what does that mean, you better be rea dy for what you get.
Council President Smith expressed her concern about preemption.
In law, the term “preemption” refers to situations in which a law passed by a higher authority takes precedence over a law
passed by a lower one. The term “state preemption,” is when a law passed by a state legislature takes precedence over an
ordinance passed by a local government, like a city council or zoning board.
Council President Smith commented that Idaho is such a conservative and diverse state and a ccording to
the chart, Idaho would be the 4th state out of 50 to control home sharing. We are conservative and we do
believe in property rights and in local control. The state doesn’t want the Federal Government in all that they
do and the cities don’t want the state in all that they do.
Mayor Merrill responded that they wouldn’t be having this discussion if the cities weren’t in the citizen’s
business. If we weren’t regulating what people can do in their homes, the state wouldn’t even have to do this
law.
Director Johnson said the only reason we got involved is because we were getting complaints. Mayor
Merrill said we had one complaint. Director Johnson said that’s why we had to look at it.
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Council President Smith said if the states intent was to not allow the city to prohibit it, don’t put
throughout. Senator Hill asked where it says throughout. Representative Nate thinks that the intent was to
not allow it to be prohibited but the word throughout could mean you can’t prohibit it everywhere but you
can prohibit it somewhere so there are different meanings of the word throughout.
Council President Smith brought up the booting issue. The city has passed a law that is against state law
because there is no state law regarding booting.
Senator Hill asked for feedback on what the city would like the statute to say. Mayor Merrill said that since
there was a towing law written perhaps a booting law just needs to be included. Senator Hill said he could
support adding booting to the same towing statutes.
Council Member Busby said the new city ordinance has been working well.
Council Member Wolfe explained that by using booting it brings the two parties together instead of just
ceasing property. It can end up going to court but either way the boot is removed.
Council Member Busby said there are two bills that conflict with each other.
Discussion about booting
Senator Hill will check with legislative services and come up with a couple options.
Council Member Busby brought up the vaping problem that has come to communities that they never saw
coming and asked Senator Hill if he sees any other problems like vaping coming to our communities. Senator
Hill said they have departments that will come to them with problems that show up in other states and could
be coming to our state. They can usually keep ahead of it, like the inhaling alcohol problem that they were
able to pass a law against.
Council Member Busby was wondering about making vaping an infraction instead of a misdemeanor since
a misdemeanor can have more teeth towards stopping the problem.
Council Member Mann is concerned about the legalization of marijuana coming to Idaho. He asked about
local control verses state wide standards. Air BnB and booting are good examples of trying to understand
what the legislature expects.
Mayor Merrill said he wants the city to be less involved in people’s lives and the state less involved in the
city. Council Member Mann would just like to have more local control.
Senator Hill said one thing that is frustrating is that every time a citizen doesn’t like what the city does they
come to him. He believes in local control but if someone doesn’t like it they have a bill that goes through the
process. It’s the way government works. He sympathizes with the city because there is always someone
somewhere that doesn’t like what the city is doing.
Representative Nate said there are a lot of rules put on the state by the federal government. He doesn’t
want to do anything to the cities that he doesn’t want being done to the state by the feds. He is very
sympathetic. He doesn’t want to tell the cities everything they could and should do. The s tates created the
federal government and the cities but they shouldn’t control both. He believes in local control.
Mayor Merrill asked what the big objection to the local option tax is. Why are tourist towns allowed to
apply a local option tax?
Representative Raybould explained if a city puts a local sales tax on goods, that will drive people to go to
the next city to buy their goods. For example, if you add more tax to a car, people will go somewhere else to
buy a car. It will hurt business way more than anything else you could do. He is against local option taxes.
Council Member Busby asked if legalizing marijuana will come up in legislative session. Senator Hill said
there is a clinical trial going on in Idaho for medical marijuana. The clinical trials will help determine what will
be allowed for the future. Recreational use will most likely not come before the legislature.
Discussion about marijuana.
Council President Smith said you can order marijuana and have it delivered here. Senator Hill said it is
against the law but no one is going to be arrested for trying to help their child who suffers from seizures.
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Council President Smith also worries about the fact that Idaho is among the lowest in the country in
money spent per pupil and among the lowest in other various areas like healthcare. We don’t look good at
the state level and that affects our ability to attract businesses.
Representative Raybould explained that the rankings are often skewed. He has talked to the association
that puts out the numbers of students who go on to college because they don’t account for those who go on
missions.
Discussion about unemployment rates.
Director Johnson said we could do better in early childhood education. Our wages are low. We get stuck in
some interesting dynamics like call centers wanting to come. Infrastructure is good , not great. He looks at
ways we can be better. We rank poorly in health care and broadband.
Senator Hill said that is good to know where the city needs help. He hears about broadband a lot. There is
better broadband available but people are too frugal.
Discussion about broadband companies.
Mayor Merrill asked about the City of Ammon’s model for broadband. Senator Hill said he attended the
conference that Ammon had he learned that they are going full bore ahead and they are trying to do it right.
Many other cities were there to learn how to do it. They are trying to treat it as a utility.
Senator Hill asked about the natural gas problem the City was having for several years. Director Johnson
explained that it’s getting better. When they did that additional move south of Idaho Falls, it freed up some
additional space. Basic American Foods is taking advantage of it. If a business is a major user, there is still a
problem.
Senator Hill wished he had all the answers to their questions but it is helpful to hear what the City needs
help with.
Representative Raybould said to let them know if there is an issue they can help with before the Legislative
Session starts.
Council President Smith expressed her gratitude for their time. Senator Hill said this is helpful before the
session starts. He appreciates a heads up on issues before they meet next time so they can be better prepared.
Representative Raybould said he likes to see any issues brought up by the City to be followed up with
possible solutions that the City has already thought of.
Senator Hill would like to make this an annual thing to meet before the session or any time of year.
Council Member Flora asked for clarification on changing the Revenue Sharing Bill 269. Would it help our
city? Yes, it would as long as our city is growing faster than the state average but if the city doesn’t have
growth it could hurt, too. This wouldn’t increase funding; it simply takes away from one city and gives to
another. The cities who are struggling the most would lose the most.
Senator Hill appreciates the City of Rexburg’s reasonable down to earth attitude.
Discussion about the location of the Legislative Forum coming up.
Adjournment 7:37 pm
APPROVED:
____________________________
Jerry Merrill, Mayor
Attest:
____________________________________
Mary Flanary, Deputy City Clerk