The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutBYL 03-20Cfy ot DICKERING Report to Council Report Number: BYL 03-20 Date: June 29, 2020 From: Paul Bigioni Director, Corporate Services & City Solicitor Subject: Pickering Markets Request for Reduction of the Market Licensing Fees - Council Resolution # 315/20 - File: L-2000 Recommendation: 1. That Council receive Report BYL 03-20 for information; and 2. That the appropriate City of Pickering officials be authorized to take the necessary actions as may be directed by Council. Executive Summary: At the May 25, 2020 Council meeting, Council considered correspondence from the Pickering Markets (Corr 16-20) regarding a request to reduce the market licensing fees from the current $1,000.00 per day of operation to $100.00 per day of operation. Councillors had a number of questions regarding the request and referred the matter back to staff for further information. Based upon the information provided by Erik Tamm, General Manager of Pickering Markets, it appears that any reduction in the City's fees would assist Pickering Markets, but would not assist its vendors. Financial Implications: Based on the information provided by Erik Tamm, Pickering Markets hosts over 300 vendors, each paying rent ranging from $175.00 to $225.00 per week. Assuming an average weekly rent of $200.00 is paid by each of the 300 vendors, Pickering Markets generates revenue of approximately $240,000.00 per month. Out of this revenue, Pickering Markets pays its landlord rent of $150,000.00 per month (please note that if all of the vendors paid the lowest weekly rent of $175.00, Pickering Markets would still generate revenue of $210,000.00 per month). The licensing fee Pickering Markets pays the City is $8,000.00 per month. Pickering Markets was already provided a credit for two weeks licensing fees, as they were required to shut down in the middle of March and had already paid the monthly licensing fee. They have a $4,000.00 credit with the City to be utilized upon re -opening. If Pickering Markets re -opens on the first weekend in July, it will pay the City $4,000.00 for July licensing fees (after applying the $4,000.00 credit). From August through December 31st, the license fees owing to the City will be $44,000.00. Total fees payable to December 31St will thus be $48,000.00. BYL 03-20 June 29, 2020 Subject: Pickering Markets re Fees Reduction Request Page 2 Pickering Markets seeks a fee reduction. It proposes to pay $100.00 per operating day until the end of 2020. After applying the $4,000.00 credit, this equates to a payment of only $1,200.00 to December 31St. This represents a fee reduction of $46,800.00 for the City to December 31St Discussion: Set out below are the questions raised at the May 25th Council meeting. These questions were forwarded to Erik Tamm, and his responses are noted below in red. 1) The City has not collected the licensing fee while the market is not in operation. Have your tenants been required to pay rent to maintain their spots during the same time period? We have not charged our tenants a single dollar of rent since we have been closed. This simply was not an option for us to keep tenants. 2) Can you please provide the regular rental fee each tenant/operator pays for their space, and the amount you are planning on reducing it to if your licensing fee is reduced to the amount requested? If the fee varies by the size of the space, please provide the ranges in rent. The regular rental rate ranges from $175-$225/week depending on location, with the majority being $175. The rent once we open will be increasing by $10/month to allow us to recover a very small portion of expenses while we are closed. 3) Can you advise whether Pickering Markets is receiving any funding subsidy from either the Federal or Provincial governments in relation to COVID-19 relief for businesses? We are currently receiving the wage subsidy, however we have laid off all of our staff with the exception of myself and 2 others as we cannot afford to have any other staff. We also received the $40,000 small business loan. Our landlords are not taking part in the commercial rent subsidy as we are considered a large business (rent is $150,000/month), therefore we are on the hook for over a half a million dollars...we are trying to appeal to provincial and federal government for some answers on this. 4) Based on the current Provincial Emergency Orders, the Pickering Markets are not permitted to re -open to the public. Once the Province rescinds the emergency order, how long do you anticipate before you re -open? That is a tough question to answer as we are trying to find answers about what the requirements will be for us to open. Without clear guidance, it is impossible for me to answer that question. The answers we are looking for are the following: - How many people will be allowed in the building at any given time? - Will we need to have controlled counters and security at our doorway? - What are the PPE requirements for vendors and customers? - Will there be a limit on the number of people in each booth at one time? There are more questions that will be required, as well, but I would anticipate 1-2 weeks to start back up. BYL 03-20 June 29, 2020 Subject: Pickering Markets re Fees Reduction Request Page 3 Councillors' major concern was confirming that reducing the licensing fees would benefit the small business owners operating from the Pickering Markets. The information provided by Erik Tamm indicates the Pickering Markets are actually proposing to increase their vendors' rent by $10.00 each month, which will bring in an additional $3,000.00 per month. Attachments: 1. Pickering Markets Letter (Corr 16-20) Council Resolution # 315/20 Prepared By: Kimberly Thompson, CMM III, CPSO Manager, Municipal Law Enforcement Services KT:ks Approved/Endorsed By: Paul Bigioni Director, Corporate Services & City Solicitor Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council Marisa Carpino, M.A. Interim Chief Administrative Officer ,oray For The Weekend To Members of Council: Attachment 1 to Report BYL 03-20 Corr. 16-20 Established 1973 The Pickering Markets have been an incubator of small business in the Durham Region for almost 50 years, and in this trying time, we are struggling to stay alive, and in turn, save our 300+ vendors, over half of which are Durham region constituents. Our vendors have opened store fronts and developed into national chains (like Kitchen Stuff Plus) and The Market has been a long-term attraction to the City of Pickering. Our vendors are reporting sales that are down 30-40% from the last year and are struggling themselves to stay open and maintain their small businesses. Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, it resulted in increased operational costs, with The Markets doing their best by hiring extra cleaning staff and providing sanitizer to all customers as well as gloves to vendors. It resulted in a lower customer turnout in January, February and March due to people being selective about their shopping habits and the constant reminder to stay home. We closed our doors March 15th (before the order from Provincial Government) in the belief that the health and safety of our vendors, staff, customers, and residents within Durham region was to be put first. We have laid off the majority of our staff, in an effort to try to keep our lights on and be able to reopen our doors and continue to be an attraction as well as a home to our small businesses. In the past few years, I have been asking for support from The City of Pickering with regards to the Market License fee (By-law 1887/84). We are now asking that for the remainder of 2020, that this fee be reduced from the current $1,000/day to $100/day to allow us some financial relief once we get back to business. I thank you in advance for your consideration and we look forward to re -opening and continuing to be an attraction for The City of Pickering. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Erik Tamm Managing Partner The Pickering Markets Erik@pickeringmarkets.com (905) 426-3387 x 223 -52-