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<br />Railroad Quiet Zone Implementation <br />Potential Funding Sources <br /> <br />General Fund <br />Description - The General Fund is the largest fund used to account for discretionary expenditures and <br />revenues. The fund is flexible and relies upon stable revenue sources, primarily property taxes. Use of <br />General Funds is at the annual discretion of the City Council. <br />Impacts to Existing Services - Public safety represents 55% of total General Fund spending, followed by <br />culture and leisure, central business functions, and infrastructure and planning. While the fund has <br />stabilized postrecession, there are still insufficient resources to sustainably fund existing services. <br /> <br />Street Repair Bond Measure Add On (General Obligation Bond) <br />Description - A general obligation bond is a debt instrument that allows the City to raise additional <br />revenues for specific purposes by getting voter approval to raise property taxes to repay principal and <br />interest on debt. This is a familiar funding mechanism that would require voter approval of new taxes. <br />Bond issuance costs for an addition to the street repair bond measure would range from about 1% to <br />1.5% of the additional project amount. <br />Impacts to Existing Services The City has passed two consecutive GO bond measures (2008 and 2012) <br />to fix streets and is on track for a third bond measure in the fall of 2017. The Street Repair Review Panel <br />(SRRP), a citizen advisory group, reviews the annual bond measure expenditures and advises staff on <br />future bond measures. The SRRP strongly believes the success of the bond measure is attributed to its <br />almost singular focus on repairing streets and does not support including additional capital projects such <br />as the railroad quiet zone safety measures in the next bond measure. <br /> <br />Railroad Quiet Zone Bond Measure (General Obligation Bond) <br />Description - A general obligation bond is a debt instrument that allows the City to raise additional <br />revenues for specific purposes by getting voter approval to raise property taxes to repay principal and <br />interest on debt. This is a familiar funding mechanism that would require voter approval of new taxes. <br />For a bond measure ranging from $5 million to $10 million the bond issuance costs would range from <br />$100,000 to $200,000. <br />Impacts to Existing Services This would be a new revenue source and would not impact existing <br />services. However, consideration should be given to coordinating other tax increase requests for capital <br />bond projects (streets, parks) or operating levies. <br /> <br />Community Development Block Grant Funds <br />Description The Eugene-Springfield 2015 Consolidated Plan presents a strategic vision for housing and <br />community development for the period beginning in July 2015 and ending in June 2020. The priority <br />needs and goals outlined are based on an analysis of community needs and an extensive community <br />outreach process. <br />The cities of Eugene and Springfield must complete and adopt a Consolidated Plan every five years to <br />receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME), <br />and other HUD grants. The purpose of CDBG and HOME is to advance the following statutory objectives <br />principally for extremely low-income, low-income, and moderate-income residents. <br />One of the six priority needs identified is - Low-Income Areas & Areas of Slums and Blight Geographic <br />areas defined as areas of slums and blight or as low-income areas need additional support for <br />rehabilitation and public facility improvements. One of the strategies to address this priority need is <br />Make strategic investments to improve low income neighborhoods and other areas of slums and blight. <br /> 21 <br /> <br /> <br />