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<br /> <br />ATTACHMENT A <br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />th <br />Harris Hall, 125 East 8 Avenue <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br /> <br />May 22, 2013 <br />12:00 p.m. <br /> <br />Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, <br />Claire Syrett, Greg Evans <br /> <br />A. WORK SESSION: Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) Program Panel Discussion <br /> <br />Panel Members: Corey Dingman, Bill Morris, John Texter, Rob Bennett, Mia Nelson. <br /> <br />The panelists introduced themselves, stated their jobs and relationship to the topic, and gave <br />some background about their work as it relates to MUPTE. <br /> <br />Discussion highlights: <br /> <br /> <br />The University area is attractive to developers because projects there are viable and can be <br /> <br />more easily financed. <br /> <br />The degree of uncertainty in the current MUPTE process causes many developers to <br /> <br />withdraw their applications. <br /> <br />Project costs are tight and profits speculative – developers often break even or incur a loss. <br /> <br /> <br />Downtown development is often more difficult and more expensive to undertake. <br /> <br /> <br />Development in the Coburg Road area may be viable if the land is already owned. <br /> <br /> <br />Student housing is/has been the primary driver for MUPTE projects. <br /> <br /> <br />University student populations are becoming more dispersed around the community, <br /> <br />causing rental rates to shift. <br /> <br />Consider creating a small, independent advisory group to screen MUPTE applications prior <br /> <br />to the council's sign-off. <br /> <br />Put criteria in place so that developers will have some assurance that if they meet the <br /> <br />criteria their project will receive the tax exemption. <br /> <br />Acknowledge the local hiring: issue: there are not enough employees available to meet need. <br /> <br /> <br />For some parts of a construction job, qualified companies outside of Eugene or even outside <br /> <br />of Oregon must be used. <br /> <br />A certified payroll program is fairly burdensome: the cost is high and it’s difficult to monitor. <br /> <br /> <br />Banks and finance agencies already track all the financial info the council is seeking. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />The shortage of multi-family housing andbuildable land on which to build multi-family <br /> <br />housing in Eugene is critical. <br /> <br />Inclusion of affordable housing units in market-rate development is largely unfeasible. <br /> <br /> <br />Affordable housing almost always involves families with children and requires a specific set <br /> <br />of amenities. <br /> <br />There is support among appraisers, developers, lending institutions, builders and <br /> <br />community planners for continuing the MUPTE program in some form. <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 22, 2013 Page 1 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />