Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of November 25, 2014

It's a short Council meeting agenda for this short work week, but there are still a couple of important items here.

Budgets & Public Hearings

With work continuing on a final 2015-2016 biennial budget, the Council will hear another set of presentations at this week's study session/budget work session. This week the presentations will be on the budgets of the Tacoma Municipal Court, Information Technology Department, and the Non-Departmental Fund. 

At this week's regular Council meeting, a public hearing will be held on the proposed 2015-2016 Biennial Budget. An ordinance adopting the final budget is expected to get a first reading at next week's Council meeting, with a final reading and adoption expected on December 9.

This week's Council meeing is also the date set for the second public hearing by the Transportation Benefit District Governing Board (Tacoma City Council) on the proposed 2015-2016  Transportation Benefit District Budget and Spending Plan. The plan got a first public hearing last week, with no public comment. It is also scheduled for first and second readings on December 2 and 9.

Development at S. 19th & Proctor?

A resolution on this week's Council meeting consent agenda would set Thursday, January 8, 2015, at 9:00 a.m., as the date for a hearing by the Hearing Examiner on the request to vacate a portion of South Proctor Street lying south of South 19th Street to Jemstone, LLC for future development. 

In and of itself the vacation of the small portion of the right of way associated with an arterial wouldn't be that interesting. But the vacation of this small vestigial section of Proctor that extends into the undeveloped property south of South 19th is being requested by a developer with plans to construct a medical plaza development on the site.

It's not the first time around for these plans, according to the memorandum associated with the resolution.

The Petitioner previously sought this same vacation under File 124.1283, for which a Public Hearing was held on November 8, 2007, and Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendations were provided on January 4, 2008; however, the applicant was unable to continue with the project as intended due to a severe economic decline.

Could this be another sign of a recovering economy for Tacoma? It would definitely change the feel of that intersection...

Property Taxes

Two pairs of ordinance setting the 2015 property tax levies are on this week's agenda for their final readings. The ordinances set the levies for both the general and emergency medical services property tax, both in terms of total amount collected, and in terms of dollar and percent increase over the previous levies.

Other Items

December 1, 2014 will be proclaimed as World AIDS Day in Tacoma.

Two individuals are scheduled to be appointed to the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority Board via a resolution on this week's agenda.

A resolution on this week's Council meeting agenda would authorize a $65,000 contribution from the City Council Contingency Fund to the final phase of Associated Ministries' new direct service center at 13th and I. Associated Ministries serves as the centralized intake center for homelessness services in Tacoma, and provides services including protective payee services, homeless mail services, assessments for people experiencing homelessness, and access to other community resources and services to 2,000 households in Tacoma each month. Associated Ministries has raised $474,463 of the $ $577,000 cost of the new center. The City contribution is contingent on the nonprofit raising the rest of the cost, and would come with an agreement from to provide certain services to the City.