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Department of Finance
Reference: Food Sales Tax Rebate Account
To: Mayor Richard N. McLean and Members of City Council
Through: Philip Rodriguez, City Manager
Prepared By: Jean Starr, Finance Director
Date Prepared: December 6, 2017
PURPOSE
Pursuant to Brighton Municipal Code Section 3-28-15 (d), to adopt by resolution that no additional amount be added to the Food Tax Rebate Account for the fiscal year, ending December 31, 2017.
BACKGROUND
In 2001, the City Council approved, by Ordinance number 1764, an amendment to the Brighton Municipal Code Section 3-28-15(d), providing that all or a portion of the Food Sales Tax Revenue collected in the previous year may be placed in the Food Sales Tax Rebate Account and may be rebated back to the eligible tax-paying residents of Brighton. This rebate is not mandatory, and City Council may determine that insufficient revenues are available for rebate. The General Fund sales tax collected on food for home consumption is not placed in the Food Sales Tax Rebate Account until City Council approves the dollar amount. Once approved, determination of usage is made by City Council.
As of 12/31/15, $264,728 had been placed in the Food Sales Tax Rebate Account. On 4/30/16, the City Council approved a $39.00 Food Sales Tax Rebate, which was paid to 6,463 Brighton households a total of $252,057. After direct expenses of processing the rebate, the Food Sales Tax Rebate Account had a zero balance. On December 20, 2016 by resolution, $134,000 was approved to be redistributed from the General Fund Unassigned Balance to the Food Tax Rebated Committed Account. The current balance of the Food Tax Rebate Account is $134,000.
In prior years, the amount of rebate placed in the Food Sales Tax Rebate Account has been determined by the following formula:
1. List all the sales tax collected from businesses located in Brighton that sell food (not fast food or restaurants) and identify the General Fund portion (2%).
2. For each b...
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