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Manager Taylor that the council could decide against the levy and choose to fund the service with another <br />revenue source before the levy expired. Ms. Taylor thought the council should do something along those <br />lines. She asked what would be saved by closure of the branches. Ms. Bennett estimated $1.5 million. Ms. <br />Taylor wanted more branches but thought it was important to have a library with decent hours and good <br />service. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked what happened if the voters did not support the levy. Mr. Taylor said the council would <br />have to make some very hard choices across the General Fund. Ms. Taylor suggested that it might be better <br />to start making those hard choices now. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling thought the council was considering a fiscally responsible approach that would not cost the tax <br />payers any more than they were paying now; in fact, it would cost less. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling thought closing the branch libraries would be a gross injustice to residents of those areas, noting <br />that use of the branches was very heavy and they were valued by residents, particularly seniors. He also <br />thought closing the branches would place additional stress on the downtown library. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling appreciated the flexibility the council had in regard to amending the levy in the future or under- <br />levying the local option levy. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to direct the City Manager to prepare a meas- <br />ure for the November 7, 2006, general election ballot to fund library services with a tax rate <br />of $0.41 per $1,000 of assessed value, and bring the proposed ballot measure to the council <br />for consideration on the Consent Calendar for May 8. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Papé, Ms. Bennett said the revenues from the coffee shop in the library <br />lobby go to the levy element of Library operations and they were being used to repay the levy. She said the <br />library received less than one percent of its revenues from sources other than the levy or General Fund, and <br />those revenues were generally from gifts. Revenue from library cards purchased by nonresidents goes into <br />the General Fund and those sales realize about $60,000 annually. City Manager Taylor said that the City <br />could direct those revenues back to the Library if the council chose to do so. Mr. Papé thought that was a <br />logical approach and encouraged staff to consider it. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor thought branch libraries should be everywhere and that it was an injustice that some areas of <br />town did not have branches. However, she thought reductions at the branches would be preferable to <br />reductions at the main library. She thought it unjust that the bookmobile was discontinued, and that there <br />was no fine forgiveness for poor people who ran up library fines. She would support the motion but wanted <br />to find another way to fund Library operations. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman reiterated her support for library services and her opposition to reducing them. She believed <br />that relying on levy revenues put all those services at risk, and at some point a levy would fail and the <br />council would have to cut library services or services added during “rosy times.” She thought it prudent to <br />put as much of the costs of the Library into the General Fund as possible and indicated her intent to pursue <br />any additional money outside public safety to reduce the cost of the levy and make library services more <br />secure for the General Fund in the future. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman, Finance Director DeeAnn Hardt recalled that the Budget <br />Committee discussed the City’s pending obligations of other post-employment benefits and staff provided <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 12, 2006 Page 3 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />