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CC Minutes - 04/09/08 Work Session
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CC Minutes - 04/09/08 Work Session
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City Council Minutes
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Work Session
CMO_Meeting_Date
4/9/2008
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B. WORK SESSION: <br /> <br /> Lane County Budget Issues <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy welcomed Faye Stewart, Chair of the Lane Board of County Commissioners, to the table and <br />expressed the council’s appreciation for his willingness to join them. <br /> <br />Ms. Jones explained that Mr. Stewart was present as a follow-up to the request for a report on the county <br />budget made by the City Council at the Joint Elected Officials meeting held on February 12. <br /> <br />Mr. Stewart thanked the council for the opportunity. He noted that he had provided hard copies of the <br />information to the councilors and ascertained they had received them. He said the Board had asked staff to <br />prepare three budgets, one with renewal of the “Save Our Rural Schools” funding which would hold services <br />at the current level, one that averaged the drawdown that would happen over the course of three years that <br />was included in the proposed Wyden-DeFazio four-year extension of the act, and one that addressed a $50 <br />million loss to the budget. He explained that the money was specified so that approximately $20 million <br />went into the General Fund budget, comprising approximately one-third of that budget, and the remainder <br />was allocated to the Public Works Department for road funds. He stated that the latter was mandated to be <br />spent on the transportation system. <br /> <br />Mr. Stewart reported that during the United Front lobbying effort in Washington, D.C., also attended by <br />Mayor Piercy and Ms. Taylor, he met with Senator Reid’s office and also with Speaker of the House Nancy <br />Pelosi’s office. He had heard from both of them that they were not certain of the timeline for reauthorization <br />of the funding or if it would be reauthorized at all. He related that concern had been expressed in the <br />Speaker’s office regarding how long the need for this funding would continue, given that the act had been <br />designed to be a transition from the timber harvest payments to something else. He stated that on the senate <br />side there was not a level of support in the Senate to attach the funding to any type of bill or pass it if it was <br />included in a bill. He said since his trip it looked like the only vehicle that could help the County prior to <br />July 1 was the supplemental war funding, which was being worked on by both houses. The County had not <br />heard confirmation that the funding would be proposed to be renewed as part of that budget, but the <br />commissioners had been encouraged with recent news that the House of Representatives bill could include a <br />one-year extension of the payments and the Senate bill could include the proposal for the four-year <br />drawdown level of funding. He stressed that it was already April 9 and there was no bill moving forward at <br />this time. He noted that at this same time last year the bill was in the house and had been voted on, though <br />the President vetoed it. <br /> <br />Mr. Stewart stated that the County was required to have a balanced budget by July 1 and because no <br />funding was imminent they were forced to prepare to downsize the county services. He provided a report on <br />the potential ramifications. He related that because Lane County had $37 million in reserves for the Public <br />Works Department transportation funds the County would be able to keep those funds whole for three years. <br />He added that in the 2007 session of the State legislature Lane County had been able to gain $9.9 million in <br />road funds. He said they were optimistic that in the 2009 legislative session the County would be able to <br />gain more relief for road funds. <br /> <br />Continuing, Mr. Stewart reported that there were no reserve funds that could accommodate the loss to the <br />General Fund and it would have to downsize. He explained that approximately 67 percent of the General <br />Fund went into the public safety system, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), the District Attorney <br />(DA), Department of Youth Services (DYS) and associated programs. He said the remainder of the money <br />went into the reserve fund at a level of 10 percent of the General Fund balance in order to keep the bond <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 9, 2008 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />
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