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cost versus taxes. It is one more way of raising taxes. I am sure we will have a little debate on that. We have discussed taxes versus fees before at this Council. They are all the same. It is money from the citizens to the City.... It is a huge tax increase. There is no other way to look at that. We don't line item other departments that way.... I don't think that makes any sense. We provide services to the citizens of Redwood City. We are raising taxes here. We have a utilities users tax that should be eliminated in my mind. We have plenty of money here in Redwood City to spend on our services. It is a matter of how we spend that money. But to raise taxes $1.25 million to make up a projected deficit in the next few years.... I think is foolish.... I think it is a mistake...." Councilman Claire said "before Councilman Leipzig was old enough to vote in 1978, the people of the state of California decided to pass Proposition 13. One of the tenets and foundations of Prop 13 is that you will pay for what you use. Period. Exclamation point." Councilman Claire said that the citizens of this state were tired of paying for services they did not use. He said building fees were left out of Prop 13. "It is a service that is provided to developers. There will be those who will argue that permits shouldn't be, building inspections shouldn't be, but for the normal consumer of those services that do not have expertise in construction, without the assurance of the building department and building permit, certain unscrupulous contractors can take you to the cleaners. I don't look at this as a tax, because I am not going to pay it unless I use it. And that is the basis of Prop 13. It is not a tax. It is a fee for service. The citizens of this state in 1978 said that is the way it is going to be. I would love to be able to charge a fee for service for the police department and for the fire department. But the framers of Prop 13 knew that would never pass, so they did not put that into Prop 13. So I disagree with my colleague .... I view this as a fee for service, a business proposition, pure and simple, and not a tax on the general public. I will not pay one cent of this fee unless I decide to add onto my house, and that is a decision that I may or may not make." Mayor Hartnett said that "I agree with Councilman Craire's analysis, except I don't wish we could charge for police and fire services. We clearly do under appropriate circumstances charge fees - our recreation programs charge fees, library charges fees, and those are not taxes. People access our programs and they pay a fee for those programs. As Councilman Claire indicated the Building Department plays an important regulatory role with respect to building. The issuance of permits is part of that regulatory role, the inspection of construction is part of that regulatory role. It does in fact provide an important service to the entire community in that it ensures to the extent reasonably possible that there is a certain level of quality that is adhered to, that the law is adhered to in terms of the construction, that it is built within the area allowed, and it be of the building code quality that is mandated.... If it were to be reported that this was a tax increase I would say that that is a mistake in terms of reporting. This clearly is not a tax increase. It is a fee increase for services that have been provided through a subsidy of the general fund for years, and it is likely that that subsidy from the general fund will continue over a long period of time. I doubt that REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 AUGUST26,1996 MINUTES Page No. 449 PAGE 12