Milpitas council advances permit-process review, job fair and business tax study in quarterly prioritization vote

The Milpitas City Council used its quarterly prioritization process on Jan. 21 to choose three items for staff attention: a review of the city—s permit process, a city careers job-fair or open-house program, and a study into modernizing the city—s business license tax schedule that could lead to a ballot measure.

The vote followed staff presentations outlining scope and potential costs for each item. Assistant City Manager Matt Cano summarized the options and estimated costs: the permit-process review would focus on customer-service surveys and possible in-house improvements; a job fair could be staged quickly as a career open house with HR outreach; and a modernization study for the business license tax would likely require consultant work and polling, with a preliminary staff estimate of about $264,000 to complete research and, if recommended, put a tax measure on the ballot.

The council—s prioritization vote was unanimous. Council Member Evelyn Chua moved the motion to accept the prioritized list; Vice Mayor Barbara Dio seconded. The city clerk read the tally as 5-0 in favor (Vice Mayor Barbara Dio, Chua, Lam, Lien, Mayor Montano).

What the items mean: - Permit-process analysis (CC-1): Staff will review the city—s development-review and permitting workflow, collect feedback from applicants and stakeholders, and recommend procedural or staffing changes. Cano said the city completed a consultant study in 2019 and has implemented several recommendations; staff suggested in-house customer surveys and targeted training as near-term steps. - Job fair for city careers (CC-2): Human Resources will expand outreach to recruit for full- and part-time positions, explore tabling at community events, and consider a city-hosted career open house. HR staff told council they average roughly 30 full-time vacancies at a time and suggested a career open-house format to attract applicants and inform residents about application processes and part-time/seasonal positions. - Business-license modernization (CC-4): Staff outlined options for updating a business-license tax schedule last revised decades ago. Finance staff estimated modernization, consultant polling and possible ballot placement could cost roughly $264,000; staff noted a successful reform could increase general-fund revenue an estimated $2B1$3 million annually depending on structure, but council discussion stressed protecting very small businesses and exploring tiered approaches (employee-count, square footage, or other bases).

Items removed or deferred: Two items that had been sponsored by a former council member (an arts-commission review of the City Hall statue and a charter-city evaluation) will not proceed unless a current council member re-sponsors them. Council asked staff not to include the proposed car-transport impact fee item in the vote after staff and the mayor noted existing pavement design specifications address heavy truck impacts; the mayor requested council members avoid voting on that item.

Next steps: Staff will return with implementation plans, scopes of work, and estimated timelines and budgets for the three prioritized items. The business-license item includes multiple decision points and would require Council direction to proceed to polling and possible ballot placement; the job-fair item will be coordinated with HR—s recruitment schedule and community events planning.

Vote at a glance: - Motion to accept prioritized list (CC-1, CC-2, CC-4): Mover: Council Member Evelyn Chua; Second: Vice Mayor Barbara Dio; Outcome: approved, 5-0. - Consent calendar (earlier in meeting): approved, 5-0. - Approval of agenda (earlier): approved, 5-0.

Council members indicated they want quicker follow-up on recruitment given current vacancy levels and asked finance and HR for detailed breakdowns of business-license account sizes and vacancy data to inform the business-tax analysis.