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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/18/2000, 6 - FEE WAIVER REQUEST BY CAL POLY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS council j 1i - 18 vo acEnba Repout N.�, - CITY O F SAN LUIS O B I S P O !7 FROM: Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director Prepared By: Ronald Whisenand, Development Revi w Manager SUBJECT: FEE WAIVER REQUEST BY CAL POLY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS CAO RECOMMENDATION Deny the request for waiver of fees request by Cal Poly College of Business for refund of planning fees DISCUSSION The Cal Pof College of Business has developed the Cal Poly VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program, which utilizes accounting students to prepare tax returns for low-income individuals in the Community. This year, they established a temporary tax preparation location in vacant space at the Marigold Center. The City's Zoning Regulations require an Administrative Use Permit for the establishment of temporary uses. Janice Carr, Associate Professor of Accounting, applied for the use permit on January 11, 2000 and received Hearing Officer approval of the temporary use on January 25'b. A processing fee of$452.00 was paid at the time of application. The applicant has requested that the application fee be refunded. The basis for their request is the nature of their program,which helps low-income taxpayers of the community. Based on the City's Cost of Service Study of 1995 (currently being updated), the total cost to the City for processing this request was approximately $1000.00. It is the Council's policy to recover 45% of the City's processing costs with planning fees, or$425.00 in this case. The remaining 55% can in effect be considered a City subsidy that would apply to this and other similar use permit requests. Past Council Actions Regarding Fee Waivers Staff is unaware of any fee waiver for other Cal Poly programs. Even if the City Council were to equate this program to that of a non-profit agency, it has been past practice of the Council to limit waiver of fees for these groups as well. The City Clerk's office does not maintain separate records of past fee waivers. However, in the past 5-10 years,planning staff is aware of only three instances where a non-profit group was granted a planning fee waiver. The first was the waiver of architectural review fees for the Housing Authority pursuant to Council policy for affordable housing incentives (Resolution 8415). The second was for the waiver of the administrative use permit fee for use of a City adobe for meeting purposes. The adobe use permit fee was waived because the non-profit group involved has a formally recognized City partnership to restore three City-owned adobes, and the meetings are for that purpose. The final example was a recent request by the Child Development Center for their new facility adjacent to General Hospital. 6-1 Council Agenda Report—Cal Poly College of Business Fee Refund Page 2 The City policy is to recover costs involved in the City permit process. Historically, this has applied to applications made by private, public, and non-profit groups. The VITA program can be considered an important resource for a specific group of residents of the entire County including many who reside outside the City. There are however,numerous education sponsored programs and non-profit agencies and groups performing equally worthwhile activities in the City. Waiving the processing fees for one could set a precedent for other requests. In addition, if the waiver of such fees is justified based on the worthy nature of the services provided, then waivers could logically extend to also include development fees for any non-profit engaging in construction activities. Such practices would cumulatively have very large financial impacts on City resources. Finally, in addition to the City subsidy which has already occurred, it seems appropriate that other financially capable organizations, such as Cal Poly, share financially in the underwriting of these types of programs. Cal Poly Vita may also wish to consider pursuing an HRC grant in future years to assist in other costs. FISCAL EMPACT As stated above, the total cost to the City for processing the use permit was approximately $1000 (not including the costs for preparation and processing of this report) of which $452 was colleted in application processing fees. Therefore approval of the waiver will have a direct fiscal impact of $452 on the City's General Fund. The larger fiscal impact question is one of the cumulative drain on City financial resources should similar requests by other groups be supported. ALTERNATIVES Approve the waiver of the fee as requested and refund$452 to the Cal Poly VITA Program. ATTACHMENTS 1. Fee Waiver Request 2. Program Information 1ACa1 Poly Tax Program Fee Waiver.doc 6-2 CAL POLY CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY SAN Luis ORism,CA 93407 COLLEGE of BUSINESS March 17,2000 (805)7562704 • Fax(805) 7561473 Arnold Jonas RECEIVE Community Development Director 990 Paha Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249 MAR 2 2 2000 ii i Y Jr SAN LUIS 081SP6 SUBJECT: Retroactive Fee Waiver Request Ota MUNITY^E do OPMEN'- Temporary Use Permit A-6-00 3830 Broad Street,#s 4 and 5 Dear Mr. Jonas: I am asking you to reconsider an administration decision by requesting a retroactive fee waiver and reimbursement for the Temporary Use Permit noted above.The permit was approved for the use of a vacant store site in the Marigold Center. It was used for a Cal Poly service learning and senior project course for which I am the supervisor. The course is referred to as VITA(Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)and utilizes senior accounting students to prepare basic federal and California income tax returns for low income individuals(this includes elderly and non-English speaking individuals)living in the community. Cal Poly has offered this program for the past nine years. It is a valuable community service for community members who could not otherwise complete their tax returns because of the complexity of our tax laws. There are several reasons why I am requesting the retroactive fee waiver and reimbursement. The primary one is that,not only is the program part of a nonprofit organization,but more importantly, it is a non-revemie-generating program We do not charge any fee for this community service;in fact,the IRS does not allow us to charge a fee. As a result,there is no budget for this program The cost of everything is donated or volunteered by members of the community. The location itself at the Marigold Center was donated for our use. I was informed that other nonprofit organizations have to pay the permit fee. However,most nonprofit organizations do bring in some revenue and do have budgets. During the past four years,the Central Coast Plaza provided us free space. Because it was being torn down and renovated,we were forced to find another location- I was pleased that the owners of Marigold Center offered us their location. The.space was well suited because it had adequate parking and was preferable to being closer to downtown where it would have added to parking and congestion problems. I was told that had I found a location downtown,a use permit fee probably would not have been necessary because of the zoning. Every year the program has helped over 1,000 low-income community,members prepare their tax returns. This year was no exception—we helped over 1,100 taxpayers. It is a wonderful service for these individuals and provides the City of San Luis Obispo an opportunity to support these community members. It also allows Cal Poly students to work together with community members in a positive and beneficial manner. In conclusion,because the program is totally"non-revenue-generating"and has no budget,a use permit fee of 5452 is prohibitive for the program to pay. I paid the fee because we were so far along in our commitment to providing the service again this year,that it would have been impossible to stop when we realized a fee was required. I appreciate your consideration of this appeal and request and encourage you to approve the retroactive fee waiver and reimbursement. Sincerely, Jamce Carr Assoc.Professor cc: Allen Scale,Mayor John Dann,City Administrative Officer L Jack Penrod,Cal Poly,College of Business. 6 s.Dir.of Advancement -3 THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY CAL POLY California Polytechnic State University College of Business San Luis Obispo,CA 93407 (805)756-1488—FAX(805)756-1473 January 6,2000 Department of Community Development City of San Luis Obispo I an requesting your approval to use space offered by the Marigold Center for a Cal Poly service learning course. I am the coordinator/supervisor of this Accounting Area--College of Business senior project course, referred to as VITA(Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). This course utilizes senior accounting students as volunteers to prepare basic federal and state income tax returns for low income individuals in the community (this includes elderly,non-Enghsh speaking individuals,etc.). The VITA students also answer questions or review returns taxpayers have prepared themselves. These services are provided free of charge and the returns are prepared at a community site while the clients are there. As the student volunteers complete the returns,they are reviewed by local CPAs and Enrolled Agents who have also volunteered their time. The VITA program has been offered by Cal Poly for the past eight years. It is overseen by the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board. The program provides a valuable community service by helping taxpayers who could not otherwise complete their tax returns because of the complexity of the tax laws. Many of the program's clients are eligible for tax credits and other deductions that would be overlooked or miscalculated if it were not for the VITA program. For the past several years,the Cal Poly VITA program has assisted approximately 700 taxpayers each year at our San Luis Obispo site. We also have a site in Santa Maria and have assisted a similar number of eligible taxpayers. Our program will operate this coming year every Wednesday from 4:30-8:30pm and every Saturday from 1- 5pm beginning February 2°d and ending March 15". A Cal Poly faculty advisor is at each site from opening to closing to supervise the program. Each Wednesday and Saturday approximately 40 students,working in pairs, prepare or assist 75-100 taxpayers during the four hours the site is open. Each taxpayer is at the site an average of one hour. Most of the students carpool to the site each week and many of the taxpayers use public transportation. Also, many taxpayers come with other taxpayers who are related or are friends. We would very much appreciate your help by approving our request. If you have any questions,please contact the program's coordinator and supervisor, Dr.Janice Carr at 756-1488 or by email i t�raftlly.edu Thank you for considering our request. Sinerely, ?ZLCIG C.�i�/1i Janice Carr Assoc. Professor of Accounting P.S. Please contact John Dunn regarding the application fee required with this filing. 6-4