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Councilmember Howell stated that she has spoken with a small business employer who noted this <br />is a great concern of theirs. She noted that she would like to see a way to have employers with <br />small numbers of employees being exempt from this. <br /> <br />Councilmember Woestehoff asked if the League of Minnesota Cities has commented on this. <br /> <br />City Administrator Hagen said he does not think so. He shared that this topic was discussed at the <br />Operating Committee of the North Metro Mayors Association and they discussed some <br />suggestions of different kinds of businesses. He noted that the Operating Committee believed that <br />there may not be any changes to this law this year. <br /> <br />Councilmember Woestehoff shared that he is looking at this from the City’s perspective as it does <br />affect the City. <br /> <br />City Administrator Hagen said that they offer more hours per year as Councilmember Musgrove <br />stated previously; however, the ESST requirement expands the allowed use to a certain degree. He <br />noted that Staff had not discussed opening up the allowed uses. He said that the argument that they <br />offer more hours per year may not be a great argument as the legislature would look at the allowed <br />uses. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove shared that she still thinks that there needs to be a limit of what they <br />offer and they are already offering their employees more benefits and more hours than ESST. She <br />noted that there may be a workaround for this where they give employees more vacation time to <br />use however they like. She stated this is a lot of stuff that they have to rethink and move around <br />when they already have a better product. She added that there are also a lot of small businesses in <br />the City and she believes these businesses would appreciate them looking at this for their sake as <br />well. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell agreed with Councilmember Musgrove and reiterated the stress that this <br />would put on small business owners. She added this could also hurt taxes coming in as businesses <br />will start going under. She noted that this does affect them more than just considering the number <br />of employees that they have at the City. <br /> <br />Mayor Kuzma suggested adding an exemption for businesses with less than 25 employees. <br /> <br />City Administrator Hagen asked if they want to list a specific number of employees or just <br />generally recognize small businesses. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove suggested leaving this open for debate for small businesses. <br /> <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan shared that they have all seen what has been happening <br />with property values and noted that they will begin seeing rents increasing for small businesses <br />that are renting retail space. He noted this will be tough for small businesses and this will be just <br />another thing that will be added on top of this. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / January 9, 2024 <br />Page 6 of 9 <br /> <br />