City Council Work Session

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - On Monday, March 1, 2010, at 7 P.M. City Council has called a special session to receive public comments concerning the next Local Option Sales Tax referendum.

The first sales tax referendum was approved by the voters in 2000. In 2004 the One Cent Sales Tax was renewed by the voters for the next seven years. The City started receiving these funds in 2006 and anticipates the last payment in 2012. Therefore, the City is beginning the process for the next seven year period. Assuming the voters approve the referendum later this year the City should begin to receive the new funds in 2012.

The first Local Option Sales Tax funding lasted for four years due to more funds being received than anticipated due to the growth within our county and other inflationary factors. In 2004 we anticipated a greater inflation factor in our calculation again due to continued growth within the county; however, it appears that instead of seven years the sales tax will be received in six years.

This process is controlled by the County of Aiken. By agreement each entity participating receives an agreed-on percentage of all funds raised. Aiken’s portion of the funds is 28.6%. Aiken County expects to receive $135 million in LOST funds. Accordingly, the City of Aiken will receive approximately $38,600,000 in this next referendum.

At the Aiken Horizons, we heard about the city projects from Public Safety, Planning, Public Works and Recreation. We also discussed that 30% of the total amount of the funds would be allocated for major transportation projects consisting of the widening of Hitchcock Parkway, the first phase of a new road from East Gate Drive to Powderhouse Road, and the widening of University Parkway. NOTE: The City of Aiken, the County of Aiken, and North Augusta agreed that 30% of all monies raised from the Local Option Sales Tax would be allocated to major transportation projects.

At the February 15, 2010, meeting, Council heard from five outside groups that would like to receive funding from the City through this process. Based on the information received from these two meetings, on Monday night Council will be holding a public hearing concerning these projects and to begin the process of determining what projects should be placed on the referendum later this year.

The five projects which have made funding request presentations to City Council are the SPCA, YMCA, Galaxy Youth Center, the Center for African American Center for History, Arts, and Culture, and a USCA Pedestrian Bridge.

We anticipate placing the proposed project list on the agenda at the March 22, 2010, meeting for a vote on the final listing of projects for submittal to the County.

DOWNTOWN PARKING – On Wednesday evening, the City Manager led a meeting of downtown business members and others to discuss parking concerns. Many feel that the current 2 hour limitation is not working and want it eliminated or changed. There was agreement that more disabled parking spots are needed and that there should be some parking reserved for short periods of time such as fifteen or thirty minutes. Beyond these agreements, however no final conclusions were reached. City Council will consider at least two alternatives options at a future meeting. One would change the existing restrictions from two hours to four hours. Another would eliminate all parking restrictions. Public input on this issue has been small so if you feel strongly about the downtown parking issue, please try to come to the Council meeting or alternatively notify members of the City Council about your feelings.

Please feel free to make comments on these issues on the Aiken Journal web site (www.aikenjournal.org).