2007-02-05 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF UNIVERSITY CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION JANUARY 22, 2007 The Council Study Session, held in the Chambers of the City Hall, on Monday, January 22, 2007, was called to order by Mayor Adams at 5:30 p.m. In addition to Mayor Adams, the following members of the Council were present: Mr. Robert Wagner Mr. Arthur Sharpe, Jr. Ms. Stefany Brot Ms. Lynn Ricci Mr. Michael Glickert Mr. Price was absent. Also present was the City Manager, Ms. Julie Feier and City Attorney, Mr. John Mulligan. The Study Session agenda was planned to review the City’s history on cell phone taxation. Mr. Mulligan said that University City passed an ordinance in 1960 concerning taxation on cell phone usage which was well before cell phone use reached its popularity in 1983. He said that the number of landlines peaked in 1999 and since has been slowly declining. According to Mr. Mulligan, Sunset Hills was the first City of University City Network Services to impose a business license tax on cell phone towers. He explained that presently there is a disagreement between municipalities and the telephone companies concerning the amount of taxation due each municipality. It was not until 2001 that the telephone companies started to pay attention to the municipalities’ request. Mr. Mulligan said that with his lead, a suit was filed in December 2001, against the cell phone companies, six major carriers plus limited partnerships. More cities joined in the suit and are now represented by a staff of attorneys. Some cell phone companies have started to add the tax on to their customers’ bills and are paying a limited percentage of the tax collected to the municipalities. The proposed Senate Bill 209 if passed would limit the rate paid to the cities to 5 percent; in addition to, the telephone companies would pay only 3 months of back taxes, although the municipalities’ suit has been ongoing during a period of ten years. Mr. Mulligan explained that tax on cell phone usage amounts to a large sum of money and its distribution is presently still in the court system. His purpose at this meeting was to explain to the Council the history of the municipalities’ request. University City is part of this group insisting on its fair share of the monies due them from taxation on cell phone usage. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.