01/10/1972 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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,...- 2 e I' II :1 I, .. , 'I It was the consensus of the Co.uncil that an income tax was a justifiahle source of revenue for local government. I Mayor Anderson explained the al ternati ves, and the obli gati on to proceed wi th capital projects. He felt that Alternative #1 set forth a plan to present to the voters for future expenditure of the funds. Mrs. Beal was concerned, r@garding capital improvement projects, whether the City would bond or would pay as it went. She felt the capital improvement budget should be on a permanent basis, that a fund should be built up, rather than pay interest rates on bonding. Mr. Gribskov felt that Alternative #1 appeared to be favored by the Council, and that it might expedite discussion if some action were taken. Mayor Anderson suggested that Council arrive at a decision so that staff could frame a statement that would indicate the Council decision. e Mrs. Campbell fel t the Audi tori um Center should be incl uded in the items in the statement as this appeared to ha~e voter appeal. Mayor Anderson sai d the Council does not now have a proposal from the Audi tori um committee and therefore cannot make decisions ,on its funding~ :i' :1 ;1 Councilman Williams did not feel the poli tical body should strongly tie a sou,rce of revenue to any specific purpose, but to tie it in general to capital purposes was logical. He felt the Council did have an obligation to give the voters an opportunity to vote on another way to provide funds for local government. I Mr. Williams moved seconded by Mr. Gribskov that the Council adopt Option I as a basis for using funds if the proposed tax is passed; and direct staff to prepare a statement that could be issued which would say roughly that Council feels funds are needed for providing for local government in the future, and that the property tax is clearly an inequitable way of raising those funds; that Council endorse this measure to the'citi~ zens of Eugene as a way of relieving some of the burden of property tax, both now and in the future; and to provide funds to meet the needs of this. community. Mrs. Campbell was not in disagreement with the motion, but felt there should be some way to inform the voters that, even with this proposed tax, the school levies wil substantially affect the property tax rate. Mayor Anderson could see no way of offsetting this problem, and said' all the City could do was express its intent to hold the line. In answer to City Manager, Councilman .Williams said his motion was basically to apply the revenue equally to the capital needs of the City ,and to operating costs. Manager suggested that, assuming the matter was submi tted to the voters, the Council should list specific priorities on projects so that voters would have an idea of the intent behind the proposed tax. I Mr. Williams agreed that voters needed to be convinced that government needs more money. He did not think they believed it. Mayor Anderson suggested that, in the statement being prepared, the Council indicate areas where they felt the City was currently lacking and were falling behind because of budgetary limi tations. He did not feel a need to identify priorities at this point. e Ed Kenyon, Register Guard, commented that the motion did not make a statement en- dorsing the income tax proposal. A re-reading of the motion indicated it did en- dorse the proposal. Councilman Williams said the intent of the motion was to provide voters with an-opportunity to say what they want to do about their govern- ment and how they want to fund it. The proposal is a way to pay less property taxes and put dollars into the hands of the government needed for public purposes. .Vote taken on motion. Motion carried. Mayor requested staff to convey the Council action to the County Commissioners. In answer to Mrs. Campbell, Manager said it was not necessary for the Council to consult the eight budget committee members. 12/29/71 Approve I B. Memorandum, County-wide Income Tax - A rough draft of a statement to endorse the proposed County l~% income tax was forwarded to Council with the agenda. Council- woman Campbell suggested that a time. limit could be imposed for use of half the revenue for payment of city operating expenses, in place of property tax revenue. Mayor said it was his understanding that it would be left open and that funds for capital improvement would be placed in an account to accumulate. There was fur- ther discussion of the memorandum and its wording. e 1/10/72 - 2 ~