The Fulton City Council meeting Tuesday evening addressed implementing new city taxes and council liaisons advocating that commission and committee recommendations be approved by the council.
Fulton Mayor LeRoy Benton said the council expressed interest in pursuing the parks and recreation and stormwater sales tax, as well as the public safety property tax, at the recent council retreat.
Based on the support for the taxes, Benton made a motion for an ordinance for the stormwater and parks and recreation tax. First Ward Councilman Mike West seconded the motion with all council members voting in favor.
Fulton City Administrator Bill Johnson said it would be a 25-cent levy on the property tax, which would generate about $250,000 a year. Johnson said the capital would be designated for public safety.
"My only concern about that is putting both at once," Second Ward Councilman Lowe Cannell said. "Better chance of failure for both of them or either."
Cannell wanted to hear from public safety leaders - Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers and Fulton Fire Chief Dean Buffington - to get their input on when they'd prefer to add the tax on the ballot before setting on the April 2016 ballot, since the deadline for the November ballot has passed.
Benton said he knows both department heads advocate the public safety tax.
"I think it's a matter of where in the community you can put together the support for that," Benton said. "I know we definitely have it for the stormwater and parks and rec sales tax."
In other city business, the council was updated on committee meetings by council liaisons.
Fourth Ward Councilman Steve Moore's update on two Fulton Human Rights Commission recommendations involved a lengthy discussion of perceived issues in the community.
Moore said the commission decided to endorse Myers' current policy for all patrolling officers to wear body cameras. Moore asked the council to consider his recommendation because it's the police chief's policy - not the city's.
At the Aug. 31 meeting, Myers told Moore he would need seven more cameras, which cost about $900 each, or $6,300 total.
"I'd hate to set a policy when we don't necessarily have the funds set aside to make it," West said. "I think it'd be a good thing to include in the budget for next year."
Other council members asked to hear from Myers, who said his policy states that wearing a body camera is necessary as long as cameras are operational and available. He said two cameras were down two weeks ago, which caused a shortage in the department during the time they were being repaired.
"Something internally was or messed up in the circuitry or something," Myers said. "They said they (cameras) would cost more than they're worth and so they sent us two new ones for probably about a third of a new one would have cost straight out."
Myers said the department typically has them available to cover a day or night shift unless some are broken, but there would be a shortage for special events or during an emergency situation.
Third Ward Councilman Richard Vaughn asked Myers if he included the extra cameras in the department requests for the 2016 budget.
"I thought we were going to get some on a grant, so I didn't put them in the capital budget," Myers said. "We're probably not going to get that grant, but my capital budget was turned in already."
"I can't set policy for the city, obviously," Myers said. "I do set it for my department, and I can set it to exceed city policy, and I do in a lot of cases. I think my people are professional and they should be held to a higher standard, and I think they are, but I can't set it lesser than city policy, but that's just for my department."
Cannell recognized Myers' request for more cameras as a legitimate department need and a small expenditure and that he would like to find money for them "at some point."
Vaughn said that waiting for discussion on the 2016 capital budget would be the best option before considering the recommendation for approval.
Moore made a second recommendation to require occupancy permits for landlords with rental properties. According to commission notes from the March 30 meeting, Moore said he was aware of incidents in the city that called for reviewing rental policies. He told the commission that requiring rental properties to pass an inspection similar to Section 8 housing would deter landlords from renting out properties deemed unlivable for habitation. Moore said the city could charge a fee for each general inspection before a property could be rented out and that several other cities already do so.
"We just want it to be safe for the person that rents the property," Moore said. "We are talking about a yearly inspection or every two years."
The council expressed uncertainty, so Moore said he would ask a committee representative to lay out the plans more coherently and to explain why the proposal is a community need. Council members agreed, and the mayor suggested sending the proposal details to the planning and zoning commission for further review and feedback.