ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: September 29, 1999
Author/Local: P. Teichroeb/7545
RTS No. 01041
CC File No.1755

CS&B: October 21, 1999

TO:	Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM:	Chief License Inspector, in consultation with the Director of Finance
SUBJECT:	Year 2000 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, 1.0% increase in business licence fees (rounded to the nearest dollar) for year 2000, (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 year 2000 by 3.4%, reflecting the increase in residential property taxes in 1999.

C. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary By-law to implement the revised fee schedule for January 1, 2000.

GENERAL MANAGER’S 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 2000 business license fees and year 2000 live-aboard license fees, and to update Council on upcoming License initiatives.

DISCUSSION

1. Year 2000 Business License Fees

This report recommends that business licenses fees for year 2000 be increased by 1.0% 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 B). 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

The Vancouver Charter has required that all licenses expire on December 31st creating a huge workload for the early part of the next year. The Province has now amended the Charter to allow licenses to be issued for periods of up to two years and renewals to be staggered throughout the year. Staff have been looking forward to this change, but there are a number of implementation issues related to by-law amendments, system changes, staffing needs and notification to the public.

In the Spring of 2000, Community Services will forward to Council a proposal to implement ‘cycle billing’ for Licenses. Cycle billing involves the issuance of licenses that are valid for one year from the date of issue, rather than being valid for a specific calendar year. This

approach will stagger renewal dates, spreading out our workload through the year and allowing better, faster service to customers by avoiding the January 1, renewal rush and lineups.

3. Liquor License Fee Review

The Provincial Government will likely be implementing sweeping changes to the liquor regulations next year. These changes will mean increased costs for Municipal Governments in the processing and enforcement areas related to liquor licensed establishments. Staff have been attempting to anticipate what some of these costs will be and are providing this information to the Liquor Advisory Panel.

At this point we cannot project what the actual cost to the City might be as the Provincial process is still in the early stages and changes may or may not be implemented in the year 2000. Staff will further review the Business License fees and report back to Council when sufficient information on the new liquor licensing regulations is available.

The Liquor License Application Fees for submissions to the Vancouver Liquor Licensing Commission will also be reviewed by staff. This review will include the Provincial changes as well as any changes implemented as a result of our neighborhood consultation and referendum review to ensure cost recovery.

4. Live-aboard Licence Fees

Since 1974, the City has levied a license fee on marina owners for each live-aboard boat moored 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 2000 live-aboard fees is to apply a 3.4% increase based on the 1999 increase in residential property taxes .

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

Table 1
Current and Recommended
Live-aboard License Fees

Current Recommended

Length of Boat at Waterline Fee Fee

<=21’ $663 $686
>21’ and <26’ $802 $829
>26’ and <31’ $901 $932
>31’ and <37’ $1,030 $1,065
>= 37’ $1,136 $1,175

CONCLUSION

Business License fees are adjusted annually to ensure full cost recovery of City administration and enforcement costs. This report recommends an increase of 1.0% for year 2000 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 3.4% in year 2000, reflecting a similar property tax increase in 1999.

ATTACHMENTS THAT DO NOT HAVE ELECTRONIC COPY ARE AVAILABLE ON FILE IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver