City Council Study Session Agenda and Packet 2009 01 27

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CML STATEI::IOlJSE JANUARY 16, 2009 repor"t COLORADO MUNICIPAL lEAGUE The Voice of Colorado's Cities and Towns BUILDING A STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH COLORADO'S CITIES AND TOWNS 2009 SESSION BEGINS, BILLS WITH MUNICIPAL IMPACT DETAILED By Kevin Bommer, Erin Goff, Mark Radtke and Geoff Wilson Affordable housing -Rent control HB 09-1138, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, and Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass, was introduced during the second week of the session. The bill provides some clarification to the rent control statute in Title 38, Section 38-12-301, C.R.S., that prohibits municipalities from enacting rent control on private residential property. In Town of Telluride v. Lot Thirty-Four Venture LLC, 3 P.3d 30 (Colo. 2000), the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Telluride's affordable housing mitigation ordinance constituted "rent control" within the meaning of the statute. 'vVhiie it seems clear that the Telluride decision does not prohibit local governments from negotiating contractual agreements relating to affordable housing, or prohibit private property owners from placing deed restrictions on their own property, it has become commonplace for people who purchase such deed-restricted property to refuse to comply with the deed restrictions, claiming that they are unlawful under the Telluride decision. With cases pending at the district court level, many munidpalities, particularly in mountain communities where providing affordablel workforce housing is critical, would like to see the rent control statute amended to clarify that these deed restrictions and contractual arrangements are not prohibited under the statute. The League supports this effort. Bill: HB 09-1138, Clarification of rent control statute Sponsors: Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison; Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Status: H Local Government Position: Support Lobbyist: Erin Goff Business personal property tax - Tax elimination SB 09-85 phases out business personal property tax over a 20 year period. It begins with a one percent exemption this year, three percent in 2012, four percent in 2014, and so on to reach 100 percent. This would be a major revenue loss for municipalities with no flexibility to recover those dollars. Bill: SB 09-85, Eliminate business personal property tax Sponsors: Sen. Mark Scheffel, R- Parker; Rep. Kent Lambert, R- Colorado Springs Status: S Business Position: Oppose Lobbyist: Mark Radtke Business personal property tax - Tax exemption HB 09.1068 creates a complicated formula to provide periodic business personal property relief if state backfill money is available in any given year. The state dollars would come from "surplus" funds that are currently diverted to transportation. CML is monitoring this bill until the full ramifications are understood. Bill: HB 09-1068, Business personal property tax exemption Sponsors: Rep. Kent Lambert, R.Colorado Springs; Sen. Mark Scheffel, R.Parker Status: H Finance Position: Monitor Lobbyist: Mark Radtke Collective bargaining - A state mandate? The Colorado Professional Firefighters and Colorado Fraternal Order of Police are back- ing legislation that would attempt to create a state mandate on local governments for collective bargaining with fire departments, fire protection districts and police depart- ments. The state would be exempt. The details of the legislation are still be finalized, as are the sponsors, but the League is aware the bill would start in the Senate. This is both a significant unfunded mandate on local governments as well as a major preemption into home rule and local control. It is an obvious intrusion of the state into the employment practices of local governments. Given the state of the economy that is crippling the state government and local governments, as well as the political turmoil caused by HB 07.1072 that was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Bill Ritter, it is disappointing and surprising that the police and firefighter unions would push the issue. CML will reserve comment on legislation until it IS introduced, should that be the case. However, in a legislative session in which a bipartisan spirit is going to be necessary to address the serious problems of the economy and its impact on the state and local governments, it is CML's hope that legislators will strongly discourage the introduction of this highly divisive issue. The voters in two cities over the past several months have reviewed collective bargaining in their own communities. In Longmont last November, voters narrowly approved a collective bargaining measure for public safety employees. Voters in Fort Collins overwhelmingly opposed a similar measure. Local decisions should be made at the local level, not at the Statehouse. INSIDE STATEHOUSE REPORT Page 1: Affordable housing; Business personal property tax; Collective bargaining; Page 2: Federal mineral lease; Fire & police pensions; Get to know Rep. Josh Penry; Page 3: Good Samaritan law; Gun control; Pending ordinance doctrine; Your CML advocacy team; Page 4: Sewer bill; Sales tax collections; Transportation; Page 5: Transportation; Urban renewal; Water and wastewater projects Attachments: CMLAnnual Legislative Workshop registration; General Assembly by municipalities; Senate and House Committees; Box score