CC Minutes - 08/08/07 Work Session

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Ms. Ortiz said she was ambivalent about abandoning an appeal as the City had followed the same process for 30 years and the court's ruling was disconcerting; although she did not want to spend taxpayer dollars if there were other options available. Mr. Zelenka said he would support the motion but found the court's ruling “ridiculous”. He said the time and resources necessary to appeal the ruling could not be justified when an ordinance would also fix the problem. He felt it was irresponsible for petroleum interests to oppose steps that could fund repairing the transportation infrastructure. He pointed out that local governments could no longer rely on state and federal resources and would need to ways to meet that need. He thought that the entire funding package should be placed on the ballot. He said that if one portion of the package, such as the gas tax failed, he would not support the rest of the package and the public would have to deal with roads that were not repaired. Ms. Taylor said she would support the motion, although her inclination was to pursue the appeal. She was willing to put the gas tax on the ballot and felt it would pass as people realized it was a fair approach to raising funds for roads. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Interim City Manager Angel Jones said that staff would bring back to the council suggested language for an ordinance. Ms. Bettman said that a $.03 increase was chosen because it could be done by ordinance and adjusted by ordinance in the event other funding options were not available; once the increase was on the ballot it could not be changed. She asked how other councilors felt about a $.04 increase instead of $.03. Mayor Piercy interjected that in a conversation with Commissioner Faye Stewart, he had expressed interest in a countywide measure that would "hold Eugene whole." She said there appeared to be support from petroleum and gas station interests in a countywide gas tax. Ms. Jones added that the City of Springfield was also exploring options for funding its transportation system. She said interest from the County and Springfield presented an opportunity to collaborate on a regional concern. Mr. Pryor recognized Eugene's willingness to take the initiative on transportation funding. He said that while some councilors might prefer a higher or lower gas tax, a $.03 tax had been agreed upon and that was what should be referred to the ballot. He did not want to change an element of the funding package at this point. Mr. Clark said he agreed with the need to generate funding for the transportation infrastructure. He was willing to refer the gas tax to the voters, but objected to equating lack of support for it if the measure failed to a lack of interest by the public in repairing streets. He thought that more General Fund resources should be directed to road repair, but in the interests of supporting a package he was in favor of a $.03 gas tax. He suggested referring all parts of the package to the voters at the same time. He agreed it was good for Eugene to take the lead on transportation funding, but would favor the possibility of decreasing Eugene's gas tax at a point in the future if a countywide tax would make Eugene whole. He said that there was support among other jurisdictions for resolutions that would urge the Board of County Commissioners to enact a MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2007 Page 2 Work Session