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3. Hear public comment; - Pete Hughes, 18 Admiralty Court, said that someone said, "democracy fails when good men sit back and do nothing." He said, "All I'm really interested in is that we really look at it and we say, that's a tax increase. That's more money that we are spending for government services. And why that should be when this country is in the midst of probably its most prosperous period ever. Why we should be increasing taxes on the people of Redwood City, and why we have a roomful of people and I'm the only one who seems to object to paying this little bit extra in taxes, is beyond me." Mayor Howard asked if anyone else wished to speak to this issue. No one came forward. 4. Close public hearing; MIS: LEIPZIGIIRA TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING. CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE AND HEARING CLOSED AT 8:51 P.M. MINUTE ORDER NO. 98-163 5. Council action; INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE MIS: HARTNETIIIRA. TITLE READ. - ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTIONS 38.5 AND 38.10 OF, AND ADDING ARTICLE V TO CHAPTER 38 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF REDWOOD CITY RELATING TO WATER SERVICE CHARGES AND FEES AND PROVIDING FOR REFUNDS THEREOF, RESPECTIVELY Council Member Hartnett thanked the Utilities Committee for its hard work on this issue, and said he had every confidence that the Committee had been diligent in attempting to minimize any increase for the people of Redwood City while maintaining an efficient system. He said, "While I think it is reasonable, philosophically, to take the position that every time the City charges for something that it is a tax, that's based upon an assumption that other sources of revenues, other taxes, will take care of the costs of the service being provided. That is simply not the case here. In fact, there aren't other taxes that are devoted to paying costs of the water that we must purchase... Not only do I disagree with the characterization of the charges as a tax, I disagree with what appears to me to be the assumption on which that argument is based. I think it is a very good argument for other kinds of charges." Council Member Claire said that the cost presented to the City by other agencies is going up, and the alternative is to stop doing maintenance and stop capital improvements. He said the City had pipes in the ground that were 100 years old, and - they needed to be replaced. He said this was a business situation where costs were REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 56 JUNE22,1998 MINUTES Page No. 575 PAGE 13