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began as a $9 million wish list had been narrowed to $3.8 million, and negotiations were continuing among <br />the different jurisdictions. Mr. Solin further confirmed, in response to a follow-up question from Mr. Pap6, <br />that the City would know itS share of the grant dollars before the grant was submitted. Mr. Solin noted that <br />interoperability was a priority for many Lane County cities. <br /> <br />4. Review Pending Legislation <br /> <br />Priority 1 Bills <br /> <br />Referring to Senate Bill (SB) 0412, which would eliminate the tax increment generated by school district <br />revenues from urban renewal districts, Ms. Bettman said while she understood the staff recommendation to <br />oppose the bill, she believed that anything that increased school funding was a good thing. She supported <br />the bill with amendments to ensure that the money was directed toward schools. <br /> <br /> Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to change the status of the bill to Support <br /> with Amendments. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap6 indicated opposition to the motion. He asked Ms. Cutsogeorge to explain the statement in the <br />agenda materials that the bill did not guarantee the schools more funding. Ms. Cutsogeorge said that <br />currently, school taxes were included in the urban renewal division of tax calculation. The State school <br />funding formula gives schools a certain amount per pupil no matter the source, so changing the amount of <br />property taxes schools receive would not necessarily mean they receive more funding. That was the reason <br />for Ms. Bettman's amendment. Ms. Bettman said the bill would increase school funding. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Pap6, Ms. Cutsogeorge said staff recommended opposition to the bill <br />because it would reduce urban renewal revenues. She noted that it was a council-adopted legislative policy <br />to oppose such bills. <br /> <br /> The motion passed, 2:1; Mr. Pap6 voting no. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked why staff did not recommend support for SB 0555, which would eliminate the mixing <br />zone provision in National Pollutant Elimination Discharge System (NPDES) permits. Mr. Ruffler said that <br />the question was one of whether the costs that would be incurred by the City to meet the requirements of the <br />bill would have a commensurate benefit. He did not think so. Mr. Ruffler understood it was unlikely the <br />bill would come out of the House of Representatives. He said that those involved in municipal wastewater <br />treatment had discussed the possibility of providing additional information to the lawmakers about how <br />permitting was done now to protect public safety and health and the environment, and the costs of moving to <br />the higher level of protection called for in the bill so they could make a better-informed decision. He said <br />that while a generalized ban on mixing zones might have some environmental benefit, it would not produce <br />the cost-benefit return one would want to see. He believed a better approach was a site-specific approach <br />that was based on the pollutants being discharged. <br /> <br /> Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to change the status of the bill to Support <br /> with amendments to allow phasing of the requirements. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruffler explained that the bill already contained a phasing element for municipal agencies. The City <br />would go through one more permit cycle under the current program before the law would apply. He said <br />that the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission's (MWMC) facilities planning effort projected <br /> <br />MINUTES--Council Committee on INtergovernmental Relations February 24, 2005 Page 2 <br /> <br /> <br />