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Mr. Poling agreed that any changes to this section of the charter should be by the public who <br />supported the initial charter amendment. He would support moving the issue forward at this point <br />with the caveat that it would create no substantial charter changes. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor agreed with most of what had been said around the table. His support was based on the <br />consistency point and he believed the proposed changes were consistent with the spirit of the initial <br />charter amendment. <br /> <br />The motion passed 8:0. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor stated she recently met Richard Owen, the son of the man who donated the land for the <br />Owen Rose Garden. Mr. Owen said the family would not want the City to construct a building on <br />the site for meetings, because the purpose of the rose garden was to be a place where people could <br />smell the roses, be quiet and relax. <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: MULTI-UNIT PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION PROGRAM, <br />BOUNDARY AND SELECTION CRITERIA <br /> <br />Mr. Corey said the council had requested a work session on the Multi-Unit Property Tax <br />Exemption (MUPTE) program, and introduced Richie Weinman from Planning and Development <br />(PDD). <br /> <br />Mr. Weinman offered the staff report. The MUPTE program was enabled by state statute, for <br />which the enabling legislation would sunset in 2012 unless extended during a future legislative <br />session. The program was adopted to encourage new, higher-quality housing in the core area.. <br />To be eligible, development must be five units or more and should provide a public benefit, as <br />determined by the local jurisdiction. The program enables a ten-year property tax exemption on <br />new housing. The land and any non-housing improvements continue to be taxed. The exemption <br />applies to taxes owed to all jurisdictions because School District 4J also formally accepted the <br />provisions. This was permissible under state law because Eugene and 4J together collect over 50 <br />percent of local property taxes. Each application for an exemption must be approved by the <br />council on a case by case basis. Mr. Weinman reviewed the history and criteria of the program in <br />the City of Eugene. He then responded to questions from councilors. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy circulated an article from that day’s Register Guard which described the current <br />construction activity in the university area and which illustrated the need for student housing in <br />the area. Mr. Weinman noted two of the three apartments cited in the article were being built with <br />MUPTE support. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz stated it was important to discuss the tax exemption program, noting it was important <br />to weigh both the public and private benefits of the program. She asked if there would be interest <br />on the part of the council to expand the MUPTE into her ward, noting nothing had been built in <br />the ward in a long time. She opined there needed to be other ways to attract the construction of <br />multi-unit housing outside of the downtown area. While she understood and supported the <br />philosophy of building student housing, she wanted to see the program connected to low-income <br />housing because lower income people had fewer choices. Much of the low-income housing had <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 27, 2008 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />