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Bert Felix, 2860 Garden Creek Circle, indicated he is not a business owner. He asked <br />how many times Council has increased fees or assessments on businesses? <br /> <br /> Mayor Tarver stated the fees were increased several times. <br /> <br /> Ms. Acosta clarified that the only fees that have been raised are sewer and water fees. <br />These fees are for operational use, the capital construction costs fees have been raised by <br />DSRSD and Zone 7. The City has also raised the residential park fee for home builders. <br /> <br /> Mr. Felix stated that as the City Council considers a $100 assessment on out-of-town <br />employees for the purposes of building a park, the School Board is also considering doing a <br />split-roll tax for lowering the student to teacher ratio and pass the burden onto businesses. He <br />felt these fees will be passed onto the consumer or businesses will move to other cities. He also <br />mentioned comments made by the Mayor at the United Soccer Club a year ago regarding the <br />lighted sports park. At that time, Mr. Felix stated Mayor Tarver had talked about profits that <br />would be coming from the municipally-run golf course with projected profits of $1 million a <br />year. Where are those monies? <br /> <br /> Jan Bateheller, 64~ St. Mary Street, stated she has a small business on Main Street. She <br />felt the City needed to keep the sports park within budget. She supported the staff <br />recommendation for settling the obligations with the business park people but felt levying all <br />businesses in town was unfair. She felt that building a park in the Hacienda Business Park <br />wasn't a necessity since that area is close to the Sports Park. If a park is to be developed for <br />softball and swimming, it can be developed on less expensive land using the money that will <br />come from the obligations that are already developed. If Council feels that non-resident <br />employees are over using the park facilities, she suggested increasing the user fees for the non- <br />residents. <br /> <br /> Kevin Wright, 4505 Tahoe Court, stated that he is the Manager of Raley's. He felt <br />Raley's success is based not only on its performance, but the performance of the small <br />businesses around it. He supported staff's recommendations. <br /> <br /> Bob Jones, 4868 Mohr Avenue, stated he has a small business in Pleasanton with three <br />employees who don't use the parks. He felt there should be other alternatives to levying a lax <br />per employee. Council might consider a greater charge for business uses of parks. He was <br />opposed to every business paying a park fee. He felt charging all businesses will damage the <br />business community in attracting more businesses, cause existing businesses to leave, and cause <br />a backlash in the business community. He was concerned that not all businesses were aware of <br />this situation. He encouraged Council to follow staffs recommendations. <br /> <br /> Ken Arthur, 6656 Owens Drive, owner of Arthur Engineering, Inc., has six employees. <br />If those employees chose to use any of the sports facilities in this town, they would be happy <br />to pay their fair share. He felt it is not in the City's best interested to force this type of taxation <br />on businesses. <br /> <br />12/05/95 -15- <br /> <br /> <br />