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EUGENE CITY COUNCIL <br />AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY <br /> <br /> Action: An Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees for <br /> the Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2004 <br /> <br />Meeting Date: March 10, 2004 Agenda Item Number: C <br />Department: Fire and Emergency Medical Services Staff Contact: Glen Potter <br />www. cl. eugene, or. us Contact Telephone Number: 682-7118 <br /> <br />AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY <br />This is an action item to adopt an ordinance adopting hazardous substance user fees for the fiscal year <br />commencing July 1, 2004 <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Council Action History <br />Since 1998 (the first year such fees were assessed), the council has annually approved the fees <br />recommended by the Toxics Board, with the exception of 2003, when the council amended the <br />recommendation by directing that staff support for the program be reduced from 1.0 FTE to .75 FTE. <br />(Initial program support, through FY99, was 1.5 FTE.) Because state law prohibits assessing these fees <br />on the basis of quantities of hazardous substances reported, the Toxics Board has always recommended <br />fees based on the number of persons (converted to FTE) employed by each fee-paying business. The fee <br />assessed in 2003 was $13.92 per FTE. <br /> <br />The council held a public hearing on the proposed 2004 fees on February 23 of this year. Draft minutes <br />of the hearing are attached, along with written comments that were provided either at the hearing or via <br />e-mail. By City Council action, the record on this matter remained open through March 1. <br /> <br />Policy Issues <br />None noted. The policy of assessing fees on the basis of FTE is well-established, and is based on a <br />desire by the Toxics Board to assess fees based (at least roughly) on ability to pay, and on the board's <br />recognition that there is some correlation between companies' employment levels and their quantities of <br />hazardous substance use. That policy is again applied in the current recommendation, to the extent <br />possible given the $2,000 fee cap imposed by the Oregon Legislature. <br /> <br />Council Goals <br />The Toxics Right-to-Know Program was established by citizen initiative in 1996 as an amendment to <br />the Eugene City Charter. The program makes detailed information available to the public regarding the <br />inputs and outputs of hazardous substances at certain local manufacturing facilities. <br /> <br /> L:\CMO\2004 Council Agendas\M040310\S040310C.doc <br /> <br /> <br />