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<br /> e As a member of the Council Committee on Development Services, Councilor Boles <br /> provided the council with a report on the committee's recommendations. <br /> He pointed out several basic principles which guided the committee's <br /> deliberations. The committee felt that it was important that any change in <br /> the current method of fee support be implemented gradually. Also, the <br /> committee felt that hardships and/or additional costs associated with the <br /> appeals system should highly influence the ultimate fee to be paid. <br /> When considering the amount of fees which would be levied, Mr. Bennett asked <br /> whether the committee compared the proposed fees with fees currently charged <br /> by other jurisdictions. In response, Mr. Boles said that the committee did <br /> some comparison with other jurisdictions. <br /> Mr. Bennett pointed out that one benefit of General Fund support is that it <br /> allows an annual review of the cost to the City of providing a service. He <br /> voiced concern that without this annual review, the City's ability to monitor <br /> fees would be reduced. Mr. Boles responded that the committee recognized <br /> this concern and suggested that the City contract with an independent auditor <br /> to serve that evaluative function. <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Rutan, Mr. Boles said that there are <br /> administrative caps on the amount the City can charge for some services. In <br /> some cases, the committee has suggested that the City pursue legislative <br /> action to raise these cap limitations. Mr. Mounts also noted that in the <br /> case of building permits, if a jurisdiction can show that it needs to charge <br /> more for the services than the present ceiling allows to recover the full <br /> e cost, it may be able to do so. <br /> Mr. Boles summarized the committee's recommendations: <br /> A. Direct Customer Services <br /> 1. Annexation <br /> The committee recommends that the current level of general tax support be <br /> maintained. This recommendation supports the council's policy to encourage <br /> annexation activity within the urban growth boundary. <br /> Mr. Bennett pointed out that the presence of individual annexation requests <br /> demonstrates that annexation provides some benefit to individuals. He felt <br /> that the current level of tax support should be reduced and that fees should <br /> be increased. <br /> Mr. Holmer disagreed. He felt that the City should be encouraging annexation <br /> and said that increasing fees would only discourage annexation. <br /> 2. Business/liquor licenses <br /> Mr. Boles stated that business license fees are established to recover the <br /> full cost of providing the service. The committee recommends that liquor <br /> license review fees should be increased to the State ceiling and that the <br /> e City pursue legislative action to raise the ceiling. <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 24, 1990 Page 2 <br />