Commissioners, City Manager- Mr Ruiz responded with alacrity to my email about the Benny's lease and I thank him for that. 

(1) The 2% increase he calls an escalator is an inflation adjustment, and the 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate was 2.36% in February of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve

(2) I'm especially grateful that he pinpointed a policy question for the city commission to consider.

Shall the city in future commercial leases, consider including a percentage of gross revenue as recommended in the Anderson/Carr report

"The development of the subject leases should include a clause minimum rent is set at a percentage of gross sales ranging from 5% to 6%. Based on the percentage of gross sales, we have found that the market typically rents restaurant space based on a minimum rental at around 6% of gross sales. This is prevalent on municipal leases."

(3) With respect to Benny's shouldering the property tax, and as a business owner in the city who has seen annual property tax rise greatly, I say hard cheese.

That's literally a cost of doing business and based on the menu prices Benny's might already be factoring it in to their costs. 

Follow good business practices. We are not as a city here to provide bargains, but square deals.

John G's left and the beach complex did fine. They were not a good partner. I'm glad if the city has found one in Benny's but the beach is what attracts people. That bears repeating. The beach is what attracts people.

Respectfully Sam Goodstein