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11-29-11 Special MeetingCITY COMMISSION CITY OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA SPECIAL MEETING -TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011 6:00 P.M. SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL BOARD The City will furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in and enjoy the benefits of a service, program, or activity conducted by the City. Contact Doug Smith at 243-7010, 24 hours prior to the program or activity in order for the City to reasonably accommodate your request. Adaptive listening devices are available for meetings in the Commission Chambers. SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA Pursuant to Section 3.12 of the Charter of the City of Delray Beach, Mayor Nelson S. McDuffie has instructed me to announce a Special Meeting of the City Commission to be held for the following purposes: 1. NON-RESIDENTIAL FIRE ASSESSMENT FEES: Reconsideration of the fee structure for non-resident fire assessment fees. 2. Commission Comments Please be advised that if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Commission with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, such person will need to ensure that a verbatim record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. The City neither provides nor prepares such record. MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Commissioners FROM: David T. Harden, City Manager DATE: November 23, 2011 SUBJECT: AGENDA ITEM SP.1. -SPECIAL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 29, 2011 DISCUSSION OF NON-RESIDENT FIRE ASSESSMENT FEES ITEM BEFORE COMMISSION The item before Commission is whether the non-residential fire assessment fees for industrial/warehouse structures should be less than the fees for other non-residential uses. BACKGROUND At the meeting of November 15, 2011, Commission discussed and approved Resolution No. 49-11 which authorized the fire assessment fee for fiscal 2012 under Chapter 170 of the Florida Statutes. There was a comment from the public that our proposed fee structure, which treats all non-residential buildings the same, resulted in excessively high fees for industrial/warehouse buildings. During the item discussion, Commission asked staff to provide information on all commercial properties in the city. In addition, you decided to hold a special meeting to discuss the non-resident fire assessment rates. The attached table, Non-Residential Property Distribution, shows the number of buildings in the City in each size range. For example, there are 72 buildings which are over 50,000 square feet in area. There are 18 buildings with between 40,000 and 50,000 square feet, etc. The second attachment shows a comparison of non-residential fire assessment fees for Delray, Boca, Boynton and West Palm. I would consider our proposed assessments on industrial/warehouse properties to be roughly equivalent to those in Boca and Boynton. Some properties would pay more and others would pay less. I have also attached the e-mail from Christina Morrison-Pearce expressing her concern with our proposed rates. I have discussed this issue with our consultant. Mr. Burton advises that the non-residential assessment could be recalculated and allocated between two or more classes of non-residential structures based on their average per square foot appraisal. We would expect this to result in a lower assessment for industrial/warehouse structures, but a higher assessment for other non-residential structures. RECOMMENDATION I would recommend keeping the fee structure in the Burton and Associates report as it represents the simplest approach. However, if the Commission determines that this results in assessments for industrial/warehouse properties which are too high, then I recommend that we request Burton and Associates to provide a fee structure based on two categories of non-residential structures like Boca Raton has. MEMORANDUM TO:Mayor and City Commissioners FROM:David T. Harden, City Manager DATE:November 23, 2011 SUBJECT:AGENDA ITEM SP.1. - SPECIAL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 29, 2011 DISCUSSION OF NON -RESIDENT FIRE ASSESSMENT FEES ITEM BEFORE COMMISSION The item before Commission is whether the non-residential fire assessment fees for industrial/warehouse structures should be less than the fees for other non-residential uses. BACKGROUND At the meeting of November 15, 2011, Commission dis cussed and approved Resolution No. 49-11 which authorized the fire assessment fee for fiscal 2012 under Chapter 170 of the Florida Statutes. There was a comment from the public that our propos ed fee structure, which treats all non-residential buildings the same, resulted in excessively high fe es for industrial/warehouse buildings. During the item discussion, Commission asked staff to provide information on all commercial properties in the city. In addition, you decided to hold a special meeting to discuss the non-resident fire assessment rates. The attached table, Non-Residential Property Distribution, shows the number of buildings in the City in each size range. For example, there are 72 buildin gs which are over 50,000 square feet in area. Ther e are 18 buildings with between 40,000 and 50,000 squ are feet, etc. The second attachment shows a comparison of non-residential fire assessment fees for Delray, Boca, Boynton and West Palm. I would consider our propos ed assessments on industrial/warehouse properties to be roughly equivalent to those in Boc a and Boynton. Some properties would pay more and others would pay less. I have also attached the e-mail from Christina Morrison-Pearce expressing her concern with our proposed rates. I have discussed this issue with our consultant. M r. Burton advises that the non-residential assessment could be recalculated and allocated between two or more classes of non-residential structures based on their average per square foot appraisal. We would expect this to result in a lower assessment for industrial/warehouse structures, but a higher asses sment for other non-residential structures. RECOMMENDATION I would recommend keeping the fee structure in the Burton and Associates report as it represents the simplest approach. However, if the Commission dete rmines that this results in assessments for industrial/warehouse properties which are too high, then I recommend that we request Burton and Associates to provide a fee structure based on two categories of non-residential structures like Boca Raton has.