Agenda - 04/19/05 JEO Mtg. - Laserfiche WebLink

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for review were that the proposal was consistent with the relevant statewide planning goals and resulted in internal consistency with the Metro Plan. He said staff had found that both of those criteria for amending the Metro Plan were met and supported a recommendation for the amendment. He said that the planning commissions could deliberate following the staff presentations and either act as a joint body or deliberate and act separately. Bill Van Vactor, Lane County Administrator, stated that when the Metro Plan was acknowledged in 1982 funding of local government was significantly different and consisted of a tax base system that could grow at six percent per year. He said that Lane County, Eugene, and Springfield all had a funding mechanism that allowed for a reasonable amount of growth to occur each year; subsequently ballot measures had capped property taxes at $15 per thousand, with $5 for education and $10 for general government. He said that when voters approved measures that exceeded those limits compression occurred, first of local option levies and then of permanent rates. He said that subsequently Ballot Measure 50 had the effect of rolling back assessed values statewide by 17 percent and capping growth at 3 percent annually, creating permanent tax rates for which no legal mechanism existed for requesting a permanent rate increase from the voters. He said that the service district was a permanent solution to stabilize funding and preferable to a local option levy that would be limited to five years. He stated that Lane County's current tax rate of $1.27 per thousi~nd was completely inadequate to provide the necessary services for 325,000 county residents. He said that the addition of Secure Rural Schools revenue still left Lane County with almost the lowest tax rate in the State and one more appropriate to a limited or special purpose district than a unit of general purpose government charged with providing critical life, health, and safety services. He indicated the public safety district would be established as an Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 451 financing vehicle and the Board of County Commissioners would remain the governing body with a five member citizen budget committee. He said the language was very narrowly drafted to avoid raising policy issues with regard to urban growth or the creation of other districts. He stated that the planning commissions' review was the first step in a lengthy process; when the proposal went before the Boundary Commission it would focus on the compression issue and viability for financing for the proposed district. He pointed out that in order for the district rate to apply inside the corporate limits of a city, the city would have to provide a resolution of support for inclusion in the petition formation application; a resolution of consent and approval would be required from all 12 cities within Lane County and a collaborative process to set the rate and services was anticipated. Commissioner Arkin asked if revenue from the district would be overseen by the county commissioners. Mr. Van Vactor said that a budget committee composed of the five commissioners and five citizens would provide oversight. Russ Burger, Lane County Sheriff, stated that the public safety system included services ranging from prevention, enforcement, arrest, incarceration, prosecution, treatment and transition, and supervision. He said the system was broken and he and other County department heads were there to discuss degradation of the system currently utilized to address public safety in Lane County. He said that there were 119 empty beds at the jail, no burglary or property crime investigators, the domestic violence position was in jeopardy each year, and the interagency narcotics enforcement team was closed last year due to budget cuts. He said those were issues faced by the Sheriff's Office and similar problems existed throughout the system. He stressed the importance of the fact that the system had degraded to the point that a permanent solution was critical. He said the Metro Plan amendment to allow for a public safety district was the opportunity for citizens to decide if they wanted dedicated funding for public safety in Lane County. Lisa Smith, Lane County Department of Youth Services (DYS), declared that the public safety system in Lane County faced persistent and significant financial and resource challenges. She pointed out that the challenges did not occur in isolation within any department but were interconnected; what impacted one part of the system impacted all other parts of the system and ultimately affected citizens and communities. She said that DYS was the sole juvenile justice provider, by statute, for detention and probation services MINUTES-Joint Planning Commission Public Hearing February 1, 2004 Page 2