2021-11-24 EMC draft minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Robinson suggested waiting to hear back from the Finance Department or Corporation Counsel about the legality of a TAT carve-out before we make a request. Lets look at all our information first, she said. It may be a question of timing, Chair Adams said. Director Mansour said the Commission could also invite someone from the Finance Department and get a rundown of what you can do and not do when it comes to taxes, because they the experts. They represent accounting. So rather than us trying to kind of go around in circles, trying to speculate what we could do and not do, the Commission could invite subject-matter experts to give some heads up on whats going on. Chair Adams said that sounded like a really good idea, but unfortunately our next meeting is not until January. So we need to check on the schedule for the Council relative to the TAT bill, which has its own limitations on what the County can do versus the State, and all this other stuff that she doesnt really know enough about. Commissioner Cardwell said it would be a good idea to voice something in regard to the County TAT surcharge. The worst-case scenario is that they just say no, we are not going to do that. It makes sense to her that visitors do contribute to our solid waste. Its close to a million people a year who visit Island, which is pretty considerable. So if were collecting that money, why not allocate some of that to deal with the solid waste thats generated by people coming and visiting? It just makes sense. And if theres a time frame that were working in here, thats the thing to pay attention to. If theres going to be another reading, she would like to know when thats happening. Commissioner McIntosh did not think we would get anywhere with the TAT. Essentially, all the Legislature did was they repealed the statute giving TAT to the counties, and they said, if you want it, go pass it yourself. So if the County passes the TAT bill, all its going to do is restore money that they lost when the state rescinded their portion. So theres nothing to go around or fight over. And thats probably why everything was pretty much shut down during the Council meetings. Chair Adams noted that basically, it is replacing money that was already money that was in peoples budget to begin with. Commissioner Cardwell clarified that the money might have been in the budget, but the money wasnt in the budget to go toward solid waste. We wont know unless we ask if there can be money that can be taken from the TAT and diverted to deal with the solid waste. Chair Adams said that from her viewing of the Council meeting, Council Member Tim Richards had moved to dedicate some funds to our parks, which the tourists go to in hordes and that was shot down. No can do. So let me find out and I will get back to people on what the timing is and when its ripe for us to put the plug in, but she is not overly optimistic. 8