Tacoma City Council

Study Session

Noon, Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Tacoma Municipal Building North

Room 16

728 St. Helens Ave.

Convention Center Update

Is the Convention Center the right size? Members of the Convention Center project team will present an update on the competitive position of the Greater Tacoma Convention Center. The presentation will include a discussion of key factors in determining the size of the center and an overview of current market conditions, including the recent dip in the economy and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The presentation will also include an update on design work and ongoing site preparation.

Tacoma City Council

Regular Meeting

5 p.m., Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Tacoma Municipal Building

City Council Chambers

747 Market St.

Youth Tacoma Building funding

The City Council will vote on an agreement with the Tacoma/Pierce County Employment and Training Consortium (TPCETC) to implement the fifth year of the Youth Building Tacoma program. The $291,060 agreement will help to fund the job training and pre-apprenticeship program. In addition, the city plans to spend up to $11,760 on an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. The joint project of City of Tacoma General Government and Tacoma Public Utilities focuses on young adults 18-24 with employment barriers – particularly those from the state Empowerment and federal Enterprise zones. Youth Building Tacoma emphasizes education and employment. In the last year, the program garnered these results:

– 34 youth place in unsubsidized jobs;

– 29 of the 34 earned at, or above, the “living wage” of $10.43 per hour;

– 50 enrolled in pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeship training programs;

– 79 enrolled in leadership skills training; and

– 81 completed testing and assessment as part of an individualized training program.

Business Improvement Area levy

Downtown business owners are set to pay less and get more for their share of the proposed $620,145 Business Improvement Area (BIA) levy. If the City Council approves, the May 1, 2002 to April 30, 2003 BIA assessment will decrease by 6.1 percent to .09 per square foot for occupied space and 0.03 per square foot for occupied space. And the budget – which incudes approximately $43,000 from reserves – is an actual 11 percent increase from last year and will include funding fro street banners and Business District marketing services and a 100 percent increase for Tacoma Special Emphasis Team patrols. Established in 1988, the BIA levies annual assessments on buildings and other real estate. The City Council took comments on the proposed ordinance March 12.

Surplus generators sale

The City Council will take public testimony and vote on a Tacoma Power request to sell 12 unused surplus diesel generators for approximately $3.8 million to Fargo, N.D.-based Butler Machinery Company.

Housing property exemption

The council will take public testimony and vote on granting market rate housing exemptions to Armani, LLC; and Jeffery Davis, Burch M. Chambers and Stacey B. Chambers for four new units of rental housing respectively. If approved, the separate resolutions would give 10-year property tax breaks to the owners.