City Council Minutes 2020 06 16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes June 16, 2020 Page 10 of 13 Members agreed that the funds the City receives from this should be restricted to paying for administration of the program and for sustainability programs. Members agreed the start date for the tax should be 2022. Tobacco/Nicotine/Vaping Tax Deputy City Manager Davis stated there are a great deal of local tax options the City could consider however yesterday the General Assembly passed a bill that will refer a statewide tobacco tax to the voters in November. That bill includes an increase in the tobacco tax, an increase in the tax on other tobacco products, and a new tax on nicotine products including vaping products. Council could wait and see what happens in November or could move forward with a local tax if it wants to. Or, Council could consider a local ballot question that would only go into effect if the statewide measure fails. Councilmember Brown stated he supports a local tax that would be in addition to any statewide measure. Councilmember Dickinson would like a local tax on vaping considered in addition to the statewide measure in case the statewide measure fails. Councilmember Leh and Councilmember Fahey were concerned that putting too many tax items on the ballot might mean none of them pass. Mayor Pro Tern Maloney moved to hold off on this for 2020 locally and see if the statewide measure passes and if it does not to put this on the local ballot in 2021. Councilmember Lipton seconded the motion. Public Comments — None. Roll Call Vote: Motion passed 4-3 (Stolzmann, Dickinson, and Brown voting no). Community Renewable Energy Hogan stated Council directed staff to bring back options for a community -wide renewable energy tax. In 2019, City Council adopted renewable energy and carbon emission reduction goals for municipal operations and the larger community. Xcel has provided a proposal for the City that would retire Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) on behalf of the community in the amount needed to get to 100% carbon free electricity. Each year Xcel would calculate the amount of energy that the City would need to purchase. For example, in 2021, Xcel has estimated that the City would need to purchase an anticipated volume of 157,400 MWh, or a total estimated cost of $629,600 per year, to bring the city's total electric consumption to 100% renewable.