On the agenda

1. 1Call to Order - Roll Call▶ 0:00
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   Legislative Delegation Meeting Priorities

   discussed

   City Manager Manns presented the Florida League of Cities' 12-point legislative platform for council endorsement ahead of the December 17 Legislative Delegation Public Hearing. Council discussed priorities including CRA protection (League's #1), annexation, short-term rental regulation, medical marijuana home rule, communication services tax, local business tax, sales tax fairness, and state funding for school resource officers. Councilman Bill Phillips was tentatively designated to attend with Manns if available.

   • consensus:Council informally agreed to support the Florida League of Cities' 12-point legislative platform as the city's priorities for the legislative delegation meeting. (none)
   • direction:Councilman Bill Phillips will accompany City Manager Manns to the December 17 Legislative Delegation Public Hearing if available. (none)

   📍behind Sam's Club / by Wendy's on US 19📍old subway building on 19🏢Airbnb🏢Florida League of Cities🏢Sam's Club🏢Schwettman (school)🏢Tampa Bay Water🏢Trulieve🏢Wendy's👤Bill Phillips👤C.T. Bowen👤Chief Bogart👤Lisa👤Ms. Manns#Annexation reform / enclave definition#Communication Services Tax Protection#Community Redevelopment Agencies (Chapter 163, Part 3)#Home Rule#Legislative Delegation Public Hearing - December 17#Local Business Tax Protection#Marjory Stoneman Douglas (referenced re: school safety)#Medical Marijuana home rule#Sales Tax Fairness / e-commerce#School Resource Officer state funding#Short-term rental preemption

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   [00:00:18] The first and only item on the agenda is the Legislative Delegation Meeting Priorities. [00:00:19] Ms. Manns. [00:00:20] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [00:00:22] To begin, I'd like to report to you that the Legislative Delegation Public Hearing will [00:00:27] be conducted on Monday, December 17th, roughly between the hours of 1 o'clock p.m. and 5 [00:00:35] o'clock p.m. in years past. [00:00:37] I was accompanied to the meeting by Councilman Bill Phillips, and we jointly would represent [00:00:49] to the legislative body the priorities and platform legislation that the city wanted [00:01:00] to assert as a priority. [00:01:05] I don't know at this point, or at some point, if you want to appoint a legislative person [00:01:11] to attend with me. [00:01:12] Either way, though, I'll plan to be in attendance and represent your priorities. [00:01:18] Who's all at this meeting, legislative-wise? [00:01:23] All of our state legislators will be in attendance at the meeting. [00:01:30] There's a large crowd, typically, in attendance at the meeting because it's their opportunity. [00:01:36] Is that like four? [00:01:37] I mean, is that two or four? [00:01:38] Legislators. [00:01:39] I mean, how far out do they pick? [00:01:42] There's usually a... [00:01:43] Do we pick Pasco County, or do we pick just us three? [00:01:45] No. [00:01:46] We pick all of Pasco County. [00:01:47] So there probably might be two senators and two representatives. [00:01:48] Probably more than that. [00:01:49] Five or six, I think, typically, because some have pieces. [00:01:50] That's why I'm asking. [00:01:51] Yeah. [00:01:52] I have Tampa Bay water all morning, so if somebody else can do that in the afternoon, [00:01:53] that would be really helpful. [00:01:54] It's amazing when C.T. [00:01:55] Bowen wrote that article last year, it kind of bashed in the fact that they were all on [00:01:56] their cell phones the entire meeting. [00:01:57] It didn't seem like they were sincerely listening to all the public information on that article. [00:01:58] Yeah. [00:01:59] And there is a lot of general public. [00:02:00] I was wondering if it was just West Pasco, if it was all of Pasco, and then, you know, [00:02:21] like you said, we're in pieces, so I was wondering how many were going to be there. [00:02:28] Yeah. [00:02:29] Typically, they allow municipalities to speak first, and then organizations, and then members [00:02:34] of the public. [00:02:35] So we don't typically have to stay for the whole meeting, unless we're interested and [00:02:41] would like to do so. [00:02:42] It's okay if I interrupt every once in a while? [00:02:43] Is that the plan? [00:02:44] Yeah. [00:02:45] If anybody... [00:02:46] I cannot attend with you, so does anyone want to go with Ms. Mance? [00:02:47] Thank you. [00:02:48] Well, I don't know yet. [00:02:49] Let me say that I don't know yet. [00:02:50] Depends on what you guys decide. [00:02:51] Either way, if he doesn't know at the time, I'll go. [00:02:59] All right. [00:03:00] So we got somebody... [00:03:01] All right. [00:03:02] So we have a legislative person. [00:03:03] Great. [00:03:04] All right. [00:03:05] All right. [00:03:06] As I indicated... [00:03:07] If Bill's watching, he can volunteer. [00:03:08] Yes. [00:03:09] He's probably smiling at the other end if he is watching. [00:03:20] As I indicated to you in the communication that I advanced earlier this week in respect [00:03:25] to this item, this past year's legislative platform contained a good number of bills [00:03:32] that were either attempting to minimize local government's power or reduce traditional sources [00:03:40] of revenue that we depend on. [00:03:43] It's likely that many of the issues that were introduced last session, if they didn't [00:03:50] pass, will be reintroduced this session, which is going to call for us to watch on a good [00:03:57] number of fronts. [00:03:59] The Florida League of Cities in respect to legislative priorities met last month, and [00:04:13] they have volunteers from all of the communities in the state that work on establishing a legislative [00:04:21] platform, and they set forward a 12-point program. [00:04:27] And my recommendation to you is that you advance their platform as a priority. [00:04:34] They've done a very nice job of covering issues. [00:04:38] In addition to that, I will talk to you at the conclusion of introducing those 12 items [00:04:46] about matters that we need to watch and take a position on, as well as some funding priorities [00:04:56] that we should establish for projects that are of interest to us. [00:05:01] The first item in the platform relates to the communication services tax protection, [00:05:10] and what we're asking you to do is to support us in advocating for the determination of [00:05:18] an equitable system of collecting the tax from communication service providers and providing [00:05:25] for enhanced reliability of revenue for local governments. [00:05:30] This legislation relates to telecommunications, video, and direct-to-home satellite, and in [00:05:38] 2000, the legislature restructured taxes and fees, which, in essence, actually provided [00:05:47] a market advantage to certain providers that caused a good number of consumers to make [00:05:59] non-competitively neutral decisions as to who their provider was. [00:06:06] It caused a pretty significant reduction in that revenue source for the city. [00:06:12] In the past four years, the revenue source has been reduced by $50,000. [00:06:19] The request, then, is that this reform should promote a competitively neutral tax policy [00:06:28] that will free consumers to choose a service provider based on tax-neutral considerations. [00:06:39] The second, pardon me, the second component of the platform relates to the local business [00:06:49] tax protection, which is a general revenue that the city relies on heavily to provide [00:06:58] essential municipal services. [00:07:02] The municipal perspective is that it's important to maintain a diverse source of revenues because [00:07:10] it strengthens the fiscal stability of the city, first of all, and secondly, it enables [00:07:15] us the opportunity to provide services to residents and businesses. [00:07:24] The third point... [00:07:25] What's the title of that one? [00:07:27] That's local business tax protection. [00:07:32] The next is sales tax fairness, and the league is recommending that laws be changed to ensure [00:07:40] that all retailers are treated the same relating to e-commerce sales. [00:07:45] That relates specifically from out-of-state retailers that are not required to collect [00:07:53] taxes on retail sales. [00:07:56] They're asking for changes in the law that ensure that retailers are treated equitably [00:08:02] and that all sales tax is collected on retail sales. [00:08:08] I can respond to any questions that you have on any of the platform agenda items if you [00:08:15] have a question. [00:08:17] The next relates to community redevelopment agencies, Chapter 16, Part 3 of the Florida [00:08:27] Statute. [00:08:29] It's something that has been in question for some time within the legislature. [00:08:37] From the first perspective, it is to ensure that it is an effective tool. [00:08:46] From a second perspective, it's been about accountability. [00:08:50] The tax increments that are enabled through community redevelopment agencies are very [00:09:03] much an integral tool for municipalities to use to provide improvements. [00:09:10] It would not be in the city's best interest to restrict a municipality's ability to revitalize [00:09:17] areas that are the most challenged. [00:09:21] We are asking that we protect and improve the municipality's use of redevelopment agencies [00:09:28] to carry out community revitalization in accordance with Home Rule principles. [00:09:35] Just a little comment, I sat in on this legislative branch decisions and they were prioritizing [00:09:41] these 12 things and this came out number one. [00:09:45] I think I mentioned in communication a couple of weeks ago that there's 422 communities [00:09:51] and over 200 of them are using CRAs. [00:09:55] This ended up being the number one priority. [00:09:58] This came out of League of Cities. [00:10:00] They only chose one. [00:10:01] They didn't prioritize. [00:10:02] They said, this is the one we're going to push for, number one. [00:10:07] I think that we should, too. [00:10:11] Next platform item relates to annexation, specifically what's being considered by the [00:10:17] legislature is revising the process to annex and they are talking about simplifying the [00:10:24] process as well as expanding the definition of an enclave. [00:10:30] Both of those things would be to the advantage of the city, therefore the policy position [00:10:37] recommended is to facilitate municipal annexation of unincorporated areas while protecting, [00:10:45] of course, municipal boundaries. [00:10:48] This was number two. [00:10:49] They only chose one as their lead. [00:10:50] All of them will be addressed, but this was number two. [00:10:51] The next item relates to short-term rentals and specifically the league is asking that [00:11:11] zoning authority be respected in terms of short-term rentals. [00:11:18] Currently municipalities are preempted from regulation and it prohibits, and currently [00:11:28] cities are prohibited from effectuating ordinances which regulate short-term rentals like Airbnb [00:11:37] as an example. [00:11:39] Lastly, and most importantly to the state revenue is that it's been difficult to enforce [00:11:46] sales tax provisions of rentals of property. [00:11:52] Here in this one, Pasco County has a grandfathered in law which says that there should be no [00:12:00] zero short-term rentals. [00:12:03] Of course there is and right now the county is saying, well, we don't have the resources [00:12:13] to enforce the law. [00:12:14] It was, I guess, a few years back there was about a hundred that they'd re-qualify every [00:12:21] year and so of course properties have changed and there's down to about 50 that are legal. [00:12:26] There are a whole bunch, hundreds in the county, but I think the county's in a kind of a rock [00:12:33] and hard place. [00:12:34] Wait and see. [00:12:35] This was when I went to the League of Cities over the summer, this was the most highly [00:12:41] attended discussion and it was very organized at the legislative thing, but it was pretty [00:12:51] much the only thing that they have right now is code enforcement, which means parking, [00:12:58] noise, and the neighbors speaking up and filing complaints. [00:13:05] This has not been, to my knowledge, much of a problem here inside our city, but in [00:13:11] particularly some of the beach communities, spring break to where the college kids go [00:13:17] in and make a mess. [00:13:18] Some have turned into event centers. [00:13:19] I mean, they rent them for weddings and parties. [00:13:24] It's a big house on the water or whatever. [00:13:28] It can be a problem, but the issue right now is the state has preempted us and I think [00:13:35] what the League of Cities is suggesting is they ought to un-preempt us and let us deal [00:13:40] with it locally. [00:13:44] We have this old ordinance, you know, grandfathered in, so we're, I think, you know, because it [00:13:49] could be on our tourist development board, I think we're in a wait and see situation. [00:13:52] That would be nice to wait and see and have the power to approve it or not approve it [00:13:57] in our city, right? [00:13:58] That's the whole point, right? [00:13:59] Yeah, but the thing here, too, is that, I'll use Airbnb, but not the only one, they're [00:14:07] sending the money to the state, you know, some of them are sending the tax money to [00:14:13] the state, some of them aren't sending the tax money to the state, and then we get it [00:14:18] in a lump sum, but we're not even sure if we're getting everything that we should get [00:14:23] because they're not registered. [00:14:25] There's that 4% that we're supposed to be getting for tourist development. [00:14:34] The next program on the platform, if you'll allow me, relates to medical marijuana and [00:14:41] the League is requesting that the legislature restore municipal authority to regulate medical [00:14:49] marijuana facilities within municipal boundaries. [00:14:52] The current standard is that you can be no more restrictive than you can with that of [00:14:58] a pharmacy. [00:15:00] and one of the things that you specifically cannot regulate is [00:15:06] distancing requirements between facilities, color, signage, some of those [00:15:15] items and it would be to the advantage of the city to be able to regulate some [00:15:21] of those items. I thought when we passed our ordinance allowing the dispensers or [00:15:25] the wellness centers that we were able to do that. We were able to regulate [00:15:30] proximity to each other, what they look like. I remember Lisa doing that huge [00:15:33] presentation of what would look okay and what would not look okay. So this is kind [00:15:38] of, I'm a little confused now. Yeah, the state legislature after we enacted our [00:15:43] ordinance. Yes, we did before then. Yes. So right now, so let's say someone wanted to [00:15:48] open up a dispensary right now in our city limits, a court, let's say a hundred [00:15:55] yards from Trulief, would we not have the authority to stop them from doing that? [00:15:59] That's correct. The only authority that we have would preclude them from [00:16:04] establishing themselves in the downtown area. [00:16:08] So we used their authority when we had it, they took it away and now we're trying to get it back? [00:16:11] Yes. Okay. Why wouldn't we be grandfathered in it if we already had an ordinance on [00:16:17] the book? Because their power supersede ours in this case. [00:16:25] But it's not in the Airbnb thing. May I jump in? I think the question of power is really what it's all about, that [00:16:33] whole home rule rally that was held and you know who has the power and what [00:16:37] happened 50 years ago when we were given that power and how, you know, unfunded [00:16:42] mandates and home rule have been like the two buzzwords for as long as I've [00:16:47] been involved and that's a long time. [00:16:50] They had a hall as big as this, maybe twice the size, where you could go get stuff for the rally. [00:16:58] It was interesting but, you know, to the point of holding up signs and standing out in the street and waving, in fact, I've [00:17:05] still got those signs if we gets down to that one day. I got some for us. [00:17:12] I guess I'm a little surprised we haven't seen more dispensaries popping up then since you're not allowed in the [00:17:15] county. Once the two that are open, one a second one just opened right in the [00:17:20] city limits, the old subway building on 19. I was thinking that it can't be the [00:17:26] county. The last word I had was that they Dixon-ed the whole thing. [00:17:40] I was going to bring that up. I didn't think that was city limits out the Sam's [00:17:46] Club there. This rule would not be applying just to cities, though. I'm [00:17:51] assuming it would apply to the county as well, correct? It would. Whatever's [00:17:55] happening now is this whole rule superseding. That might be it then. The [00:18:00] county may not have the authority. That's what I'm saying. Well, what happened at the [00:18:05] state legislature after we had discussion, after the county had [00:18:10] discussion, was they advanced a standing where you can either have them or you [00:18:21] don't. You can't limit the number you have if you allow them. [00:18:27] The county, as far as I knew, said that they were not going to allow them. [00:18:39] I'm going to look into that and report back to you. That's on 19. [00:18:48] That's at Wendy's behind Sam's Club. Okay. I'll note that one for sure. [00:19:00] Yeah, but it's south of it. You have that, you have Wendy's, and then you have the old subway, which is no distinction. [00:19:05] The next point in the platform advanced by the Florida League of Cities asks for [00:19:12] a dedicated and recurring form of state revenue to support school resource [00:19:17] officers. Currently, the city has three school resource officers in place. The [00:19:26] city pays approximately $35,000 apiece for those school resource officers. I'm [00:19:34] sorry? No, the school district pays half. It does include benefits. [00:19:44] For that cost of that officer, it doesn't include their benefits, and you know that's probably close to $1,000. [00:19:51] It's really $70,000, and we pay half at $35,000. [00:19:56] Yes, that's what she's saying. Thank you, Councilman. Now certainly, the school [00:20:04] resource officers provide great intelligence to the police department, but [00:20:09] they're also enhancing school safety, which is why we think that it is [00:20:15] important that we continue to have school resource officers, first of all, [00:20:19] but would be very interested in a source of revenue from the state to help us [00:20:24] support the expenditure of it. There's no doubt that it has to be stated that this [00:20:30] is a bigger concern, considering that the school resource officer distribution is [00:20:38] being considered to be more widely to every school, to include elementary [00:20:42] schools and middle schools. We've got more than three schools in the city. I remember at a time we were [00:20:47] splitting, were we not, Schwetman as well? We're at Schwetman, the high [00:20:53] school and the middle school. After Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Well, there is a school [00:21:05] resource staff person at the elementary school. That is facilitated, though, [00:21:11] through a program that the county is administering, and they are in large part [00:21:18] retired police officers that are working there. It doesn't. On the most recent talk, [00:21:31] and the chief and I had a very interesting discussion about it today, is [00:21:38] there some recent talks about allowing teachers to carry weapons, and that was [00:21:47] very much something that Chief Bogart was not in favor of, in large part due

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3. 3Adjournment▶ 21:51