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Resident urges review of charter referendum threshold for capital expenses during ordinance-review discussion
Summary
A resident raised concerns that the city charter's referendum trigger for capital expenses is tied to assessed valuation, which may have moved the threshold out of reach for voters; councilors agreed to consider the point as part of a broader ordinance and charter review.
A resident urged the council to review the city charter's referendum trigger for capital expenses, saying the threshold is tied to assessed valuation and has risen with property values to a level that limits citizens' ability to require a referendum.
The resident cited what he identified as “section 5 1 0 7 referendum for capital expenses” and said the assessed-value basis meant the referendum trigger now corresponds to a very large dollar level that the public could not meet. He suggested councilors consider revising the charter or code so citizens have a workable path to bring major capital expenses to a vote.
Councilors responded that the point raised was worth examining as part of a broader ordinance review. One councilor said he had supported requiring referenda for both sides of the budget in the past and that a systematic review of ordinance thresholds could be included in committee or workshop work. Staff said they had received a bid related to ordinance review and that council champions could work together on the issue and present proposals to the rest of the council; the matter was referred for further work rather than being acted on immediately.
No formal charter amendment or ordinance change was initiated at the meeting; council members asked staff and council champions to include the referendum-threshold issue in the ordinance-review work and to bring draft language back for consideration.
