“City Council Study SessionTuesday, October 19, noonTacoma Municipal Bldg. N.,Room 16, 728 St. Helens Ave.Juvenile CurfewCity staff will update the Council on Tacoma’s juvenile curfew ordinance and recommend the extension of the curfew for an additional four years.Tacoma implemented the curfew in 1995. It requires children under 18 to be off the streets between midnight and 6 a.m. The program keeps potential troublemakers off the streets, protects kids from becoming victims, promotes parental responsibility and accountability, and provides late-night recreation and enrichment activities, according to the City.The Council reviewed and extended the curfew in 1995 and 1997. Violent crime dropped 25 percent during the curfew’s first three years, compared to the prior three years. Crime dropped even more during curfew hours for that same period – 25 percent.City staff will recommend extending the curfew ordinance until 2003. City Council MeetingTuesday, October 19, 5 p.m.City Council ChambersFirst floor, Municipal Bldg.747 Market StreetEconomic Development PartnerThe Council will take testimony and vote on contracting with a national economic development marketing firm. If hired, the firm will help the City market Tacoma for business attraction, retention and expansion.City staff selected a New York firm, Development Counselors International following a national Request For Proposal process. If the Council approves the contract, DCI plans to partner with Augustus Barnett Advertising/Design, a Tacoma creative firm, to do the work.The one-year contract is for $129,150, with a one-year renewal option.AnnexationsA portion of unincorporated Pierce County may soon become part of Tacoma. At a public hearing, the Council will hear citizen comments on a proposal to annex approximately 23 acres into Northeast Tacoma.The area currently lies just outside city limits on Northeast 58th Avenue and Northeast 12th Street. One individual owns the property and annexing into the City will allow him to take advantage of City services for possible future development.The Pierce County Boundary Board must also approve the annexation.2000 Property TaxesThe Council will conduct a hearing on where to set the City’s property tax levy for 2000. The 1999 rate is $4.16 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.Preliminary assessed valuation figures from the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Office indicate Tacoma’s rate may drop by a penny per $1,000 of assessed valuation.The emergency medical services levy, which funds the City’s paramedic program would remain at the amount approved by voters. Property taxes for the City’s General Fund would remain at $3.60 per $1,000 of value.The difference in the tax rate comes from a drop in the excess or voted levy for capital projects in the past.”