2003-03-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON Wednesday, March 26, 2003 AT 5:00 p.m. IN THE Basement Conference Room. THE PROPOSED AGENDA IS AS FOLLOWS: Budget Work Session Closed session as provided b y Section 2.2 - 3712 of the Virginia Code BY ORDER OF THE MAYOR BY Jeanne Cox BASEMENT CONFERENCE ROOM - March 26, 2003 Council met in special session on this date with the following members present: Mr. Caravati, Mr. Cox, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Richards. Absent: Mr. Schilling. Mr. Lynch said that he would like to increase the amount paid by McGuffey Art Center artists based on the value of the building, and would like to look at the equity issue for all arts and culture groups. He said other arts agenc ies have requests as worthy as McGuffey's, and he thinks the McGuffey community can absorb the cost of utilities for the building. Ms. Richards said she understands that the lease agreement between the City and McGuffey balances the rent with the cost of utilities. Ms. Richards said she does not see the contributions made to the Paramount Theater in Mr. Lynch's calculations. Mr. Cox said how to determine the tax exemption fairly for arts organizations is an issue. He said he feels there is a distincti on between those who own their own buildings and those who occupy buildings owned by the City. Mr. Cox said he favors looking at this issue later outside of the budget process. Mr. Lynch said he would support taking money provided to McGuffey for their utilities and using it for tax exemptions for other arts agencies. Mr. Cox said he would like to know the impact this would have on McGuffey artists before making this decision. Mr. Caravati said he feels taking this action at this time would be grievo us to McGuffey. Mr. Cox agreed and said he would prefer to develop a policy outside of the budget process. Mr. Cox asked Mr. Lynch to meet with staff to help develop such a policy. Ms. Richards said there needs to be a general policy change rather tha n only talking about one group. Ms. Katie Bullard, Budget Manager, reviewed the unfunded budget requests. She explained that the Governor has restored one half of PAPAS funding. The question was raised about whether PAPAS would be eligible for CDBG fu nding, and Mr. Tolbert said he does not believe it qualifies, but will confirm this. There was tentative support for providing half of the budget request for PAPAS if it is not eligible for CDBG funds. Ms. Bullard said that the Shelter for Help in Emer gency's (SHE) request represents a 10% increase over last year's funding. She said the agency review team recommended reducing SHE's education program funds by 20%.