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Council tables grocery tax ordinance after public opposition and council debate
Summary
Public comment opposed retaining the grocery tax and the council voted to table an ordinance implementing a municipal grocery retailer's occupation tax and retailer's service occupation tax; a speaker urged spending cuts rather than new or continuing taxes.
The council considered an ordinance implementing a municipal grocery retailer's occupation tax and a municipal grocery service occupation tax but ultimately tabled the measure indefinitely after public comment and council discussion.
During public comment, Steve Holman spoke for three minutes urging the council to vote down the grocery tax. Holman said residents and the city are already overtaxed and argued the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. He criticized city staffing and pay levels as examples of unnecessary spending and said he hoped the council would reject the grocery tax.
On the ordinance, council members debated timing and fiscal need. Some members said it was premature to make a decision ahead of an October deadline and recommended waiting for additional data and the next round of fiscal receipts; others argued for using grocery-tax revenue (estimated by staff at $1–$1.2 million) to relieve property-tax pressure. A motion to table the ordinance indefinitely passed.
Outcome: Ordinance to implement municipal grocery retailer and service taxes was tabled indefinitely by council action on March 3, 2025. The public comment record includes opposition urging spending reductions rather than maintaining or extending the grocery tax.
