2002-03-13 - Laserfiche WebLink

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285 Mr. Cox said he would like to see data on tourism. Increasing the E911 fee was discussed, and Mr. Caravati and Mr. Cox said they would favor incremental increases in the fee. Mr. Toscano said he feels it would be logical to put increased revenue from the E911 fee into the capital budget to cover such things as the cost of 800 MZH, emergency preparedness, and fire engines, but Ms. Peacock said the E911 fee may have to be used to support operations. Mr. O'Cormell said the amount currently budgeted for operations could be shifted to the capital budget and replaced by the fee increase. Ms. Richards said that Mr. Toscano assumes that the State cuts are going to be with us for a long time and ffthe City takes up the slack it will do so forever, but she is reluctant to believe that is true. Ms. Richards said she assumes the State budget is going to recover. Mr. Toscano said the question is how much can the City fund, and suggested that one-time funding, such as CDBG funds, be explored so the funding could be sunsetted. Regarding trash stickers, Mr. Cox said increases should have been built in bom the beginning and he is not interested in enormous increases. Ms. Richards said she thinks it would be logical to increase the fee so that 50% of the cost is covered by the stickers, and Council could adopt a policy building in an annual increase. Mr. Toscano said the trash stickers probably should be increased because of the increased costs of recycling and the landfill, and suggested a 25% increase be considered at the upcoming public hearing. Ms. Richard said that the annual trash sticker should also be increased. Regarding the fare t~ee trolley, Ms. Richards said that when the Lewis and Clark Committee made a presentation to the National Parks Service, the existence of the fare free trolley caught the Parks Service's attention. Mr. Cox said he is a fi'equent rider of the trolley and feels it has become a staple in a lot ofpeople's routine. Mr. Cox asked about the University's funding for the trolley. Mr. O'Connell said the City increased their funding request to the University to $50,000, but he would be surprised if they agreed to fund this amount. He said he feels they-will continue to provide $20,000. Mr. Toscano asked how this route compares with others when the University is not in session, and said that if the University does not increase their funding, the route could be changed which could result in decreased headways and an increase in other non- University riders. Mr. Toscano noted that the City of Charleston charges $1 a ride for their downtown trolley. Ms. Richards said she would like to see the concept of the tour shuttle explored.