Adoption of budget, fee suspension on Council agenda
Public hearings on the City budget and a fee reduction proposal are on Monday night's City Council agenda.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the second floor of the Merced Civic Center, (City Hall) 678 W. 18th St.
After three town hall meetings and a budget priority session, the Council will hold its final public hearing on the budget. It has a $38,839,738 core budget and $3,483,613 in one-time expenditures.
Council priorities were public safety, economic development and youth services.
Also on the agenda is a request for Council to consider suspending collection of the Regional Transportation Impact Fee (RTIF) on new developments for two years.
Other cities in the county have stopped collecting the fees on major commercial projects, which puts the City of Merced at a competitive disadvantage. The fees can be used to pay for large transportation projects such as Mission Avenue improvements or the Los Banos Bypass.
A study planned for 2017 will look at the feasibility of the City continuing to be in the RTIF program.
City Council meetings are streamed live on the Internet. A link to the live meeting is on the City's web site at https://cityofmerced.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Videos of previous meetings can be found at that link, and are tied to each agenda item. Those services are in addition to the live broadcast of the regular meeting on Comcast's Government Channel 96.
The Council agenda is posted online at www.cityofmerced.org and is available outside the chambers prior to the meeting. Request to Speak forms are available at the meeting or can be downloaded from the City's website. Cards must be turned in to the City Clerk in order for a person to be recognized by the Council.