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ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: October 31, 2000
Author/Local: P. Teichroeb/7545

RTS No.

CC File No.

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Chief License Inspector in consultation with the Director of Finance
SUBJECT:	Year 2001 Business License Fees and Live-aboard Fees

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT, with the exception of those charitable or non-profit categories detailed in Appendix A, Council approve an across- the- board increase in business licence fees of approximately 2% (when rounded) for year 2001, (as shown in Appendix B) as an inflationary adjustment based on the growth in City costs.

B. THAT the fees for live-aboard boat owners be increased in 2001 by 2.75%, reflecting the increase in residential property taxes in 2000; and

C. THAT the Director of Legal Services be requested to prepare the necessary By-law amendments to the License By-Law to implement the revised fees, to be effective January 1, 2001.

GENERAL MANAGER COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A, B and C.

POLICY

It is Council policy that fees and charges be established on the basis of the cost of providing the associated services or at market level where the service is provided in a market environment.

It is Council policy that new or expanded service costs be fully offset by expenditure reductions or new revenues.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval for year 2001 business license fees and year 2001 live-aboard license fees, and to update Council on upcoming License initiatives.

DISCUSSION

1. Year 2001 Business License Fees

This report recommends that business licenses fees for year 2001 be increased by approximately 2.0% as detailed in Appendix B. This increase would apply to all fee categories with the exception of the limited number of categories related to charitable or non-profit work (Appendix A). The primary reason for the increase is to keep fees consistent with City administration and enforcement costs.

In the past, a number of charitable and non-profit, license categories have been assessed fees that are well below an amount required to recovered costs. These fees are detailed in Appendix A. No fee increase is recommended for these licenses.

2. Implementation of Cycle Billing

Staff have been working on an implementation plan for cycle billing which includes by-law and fee changes. Dog licenses will be the first priority with business licenses phased in by license type. These changes will be reported to Council separately.
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3. Live-aboard Licence Fees

Since 1974, the City has levied a license fee on marina owners for each live-aboard boatmoored at a marina. The purpose of this fee is to ensure that those residents who live aboard their boats contribute to the provision of public services in a manner similar to those who occupy assessable real property. The comparison with property tax is made, as it is the mechanism through which other residents pay for public services.

In 1996, Council established that the most appropriate way of adjusting live-aboard fees would be to base the increase on the change in property taxes paid by residential taxpayers. Using this methodology, the proposal for year 2001 live-aboard fees is to apply a 2.75% increase based on the 2000 increase in residential property taxes .

The current and recommended live-aboard fees are listed in Table 1 below:

Table 1
Current and Recommended
Live-aboard License Fees

Current Recommended

Length of Boat at Waterline Fee Fee

<=21' $686 $705
>21' and <26' $829 $852
>26' and <31' $932 $958
>31' and <37' $1,065 $1,094
>= 37' $1,175 $1,207

CONCLUSION

Business License fees are adjusted annually to ensure full cost recovery of City administration and enforcement costs. This report recommends an increase of 2.0% for year 2001 to recover inflationary cost increases.

Fees for live-aboard boat owners are adjusted annually based on changes to the property tax rate in the previous year. This report recommends that these fees be increased 2.75% in year 2001, reflecting a similar property tax increase for 2000.

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