Tacoma residents will have plenty of opportunities next week to learn more about what’s happening in city government.
Tacoma City Council’s Neighborhoods and Housing Committee will meet on Monday to interview candidates who have applied to serve on Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Tacoma City Council will hold its regular weekly study session and council meeting on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Tacoma City Council’s Committee of the Whole will meet to discuss council consideration requests, committee reports, and other items of interest. Finally, Tacoma City Council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss recommendations made by the city’s Fiscal Sustainability Task Force and a proposed $1.6 million contract with Accela, Inc. for the company to provide Web-based software to allow the city to process building, land use, and site development permits.
Here is a look ahead at some notable meetings, events, and issues planned for next week at City Hall.
MULTI-CITY B&O TAX PORTAL
Tacoma City Council will meet Tuesday at City Hall to discuss an online portal that aims to bring together five Puget Sound cities in an effort to make it easier for businesses to obtain business licenses and to pay their local business and occupation (B&O) taxes. According to City of Tacoma staff, the Multi-City Business License and Tax Portal will allow business owners in Tacoma, Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, and Bellingham to create an online account and enter their sales information, allowing software to calculate the tax due for each city and providing a way for business owners to pay online.
On Tuesday, City of Tacoma Finance Department staff will brief councilmembers on the proposed portal, branding, Web site, and interlocal agreement, which the full city council is tentatively scheduled to consider on Tues., Nov. 26.
Councilmembers will discuss this issue during a study session, which will be held on Tues., Nov. 19 at 12 p.m. in Room 16 of Tacoma Municipal Building North, 733 Market St. Audio from the meeting will be broadcast live on TV Tacoma and online at tvtacoma.com. On-demand audio archives are available on the Web within 24 hours of the meeting online at tvtacoma.com. A copy of the agenda is available online here.
LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION INTERVIEWS
Tacoma City Council’s Neighborhoods and Housing Committee will meet Monday to interview six Tacoma residents who have applied to serve on Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission is an 11-member volunteer commission which oversees the establishment and regulation of landmarks, local historic districts, proposed name changes for public facilities, and certain property tax incentives. Currently, six members need to be appointed to fill two professional positions, two architect positions, and two at-large positions.
The City of Tacoma announced a call for applications last month.
On Monday afternoon, the committee is scheduled to interview Christopher Granfield (Professional), Jonah Jensen (Architect — seeking reappointment), Lysa Schloesser (Architect), Kathy Ursich (At-Large), Jeff Williams (Professional), and Duke York (At-Large). The committee will then make recommendations to the full city council, which is expected to vote on the appointments during its meeting on Tues., Dec. 3.
The candidate interviews will be held on Mon., Nov. 18 at 4:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St., Conference Room 248. A copy of the agenda is available online here.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
Also of interest, the City of Tacoma is accepting bids on a project to install three electric vehicle charging stations as part of the second phase of improvements to a parking lot located on the Tacoma tide flats, at 303 East D Street, and across the street from the Center for Urban Waters. The project budget is estimated at $23,000. A pre-bid meeting will not be held. Bids will be received until 11 a.m. on Weds., Nov. 20. More information is available online here.
