There was discussion of IRV for mayor. The city has setup a web site which will act to help educate the voters on how IRV works. The web site is www.burlingtonvotes.org.
Also, there will be free tax preparation and filing at city hall again this year for those who are of low income. You can view more info and see if you qualify at: www.cedoburlington.org.
During the public forums Nancy Wood from the Burlington Business Association (BBA) spoke about the local option sales tax stating that the BBA doesn’t have an official stance on it yet. They are still in the fact finding stage. Members are concerned on what the impact will be on police services, roads and sidewalks. What impact on businesses operating in Burlington that will be collecting the taxes. Facts mentioned were that taxable sales are going down in Burlington and that taxable items will include furniture, cable and fuel.
Bill Keogh expressed his concern to raise the liquor license fees as they haven’t been increased since the 70s.
Kurt Wright suggested that the city council should put a revenue generation option on the Moran Plant question survey as the city has a $1.3 million shortfall and utilizing the Moran Plant property to generate revenue could help a lot toward closing the gap. One thing the city should consider is what would the salvage value of the plant be and what are the costs to reuse? Kurt’s suggestion was shot down by the council as they didn’t believe that the people cared about generating revenue from the land. However, its been suggested that many people Kurt have talked to in the New North End care about generating revenue very much, but didn’t have time to attend the Moran Plant forums or didn’t believe the city would care about their opinions. I believe this to be true and I do believe the revenue generation question should have been at least an option on the survey. Why not allow the people that option?
