01/10/1972 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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It was the consensus of the Council that an income tax was a justifiable source of revenue for local government. ~ " Mayor Anderson explained the alternatives, and the obligation to proceed with capital projects. He felt that Alternative /11 set forth a plan to present to the voters for future expendi ture of the funds. Mrs. Beal was concerned, regarding capi tal improvement projects, whether the Ci ty Ioiould bond or would pay as it went. . She felt the capital improvement budget should be on a permanent basis, that a fund should be buil t up, rather than pay interest rates on bonding. Hr. Gribskov felt that Alternative ill appeared to be favored by the Council, and. that it might expedite discussion if .some action were taken. Mayor Anderson suggested that Council arri ve at a decision so that staff could frane a statement th;at would indicate the Council decision. Mrs. Campbell felt the Auditorium Center should be included in the iteias in the statement as this appeared to have voter appeal. Hayor Anderson sai d the Council does not n(M have a proposal from the Audi tori um comm:ittee and therefore cannot make decisions on its funding. Councilman Williams did not feel the political body should strongly tie a source of revenue to any specific purpose, but to tie it in general to capital purposes was logical. He felt the Council did have an ob-ligation to give the voters an opportunity to vote on another way to provide fUnds for local government. ' Mr. Williams moved seconded by Mr. Gribskov that the Council adopt Option I lIS a bM1s 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 govemment in th~ future, and that the property tax is clearly an inequitable way of raising those funds; that Council endorse this mellSure to the citi- zens of Eugene as a way of relieving some of the burden of property tax, both natI and in the future; and to pro vi de funds to meet the needs of this communi ty. IIrs. Campbell was not in disagreement w1..th the motion, but felt there should be some way to infoFm the voters that, even with this proposed tax, the school levies wil substantially affect the property tax rate. lIayor Anderson could see no way of offsetting this problem, and said all the City could do WIIS express its intent to hold the line. In answer to Ci ty Manager, Councilman Williams said his motion was bllSically to apply the revenue equally to the capital needs of the City and to operating c:os". lIanager suggested that, IISsuming the matter was submitted to the voters, the Council should list specific priorities on projects so that voters would have an J.dN of the intent behind the proposed tax. IIr. Williams agreed that voters needed to be convinced that govemment needs mon money. He did not thJ.nk they believed it. Mayor Anderson suggested that, in the statemsnt being prepared, the Council indicate arellS when they felt the City WIIS currently lacking and wen falling behind because of budgetary limitations. He did not feel a need to identify priorities at this point. . Ed Kenyon, Register Guard, CODIDIel2ted that the motion did not make a statement en- dorsing the inClOlJle tax proposal. A re-reading of the motion indicated it did en- dorse the proposal. Councilman Williams said the intent of the motion WIIS to provide voters wi th an. oppartuni ty to say what they want to do about theJ.r govern- msJ1t and how they want to fund it. 2'he proposal is a way to pay less property taxa and put dollars into the hands of the govemmsnt needed for public purposes. Vote taken on motion. Notion carried. Hayor requested staLf to Co"DlJvey the Council act10n to the County Co.a81onen. In answer to IIrs. Campbell, llanager aaid it WIIS not necessary for the cOuncil to consult the eight budget conafttee ~erir. B. lIemorandum, County-wide InCOlJle 2'ax - A rough draft of a stat..-nt to endone the proposed County l%~ inCCM118 tax w. forwarded .to .Counci.l wJ.th the ,agena. Counc:U- woman Campbell suggested that a tims Uaattcould'be illlpOSed for use of half tlie ' revenue for J)aymsnt of city operatJ.ng .e1lllfUl8es, J.n J)lacw of property tax rewnue. 12/29/71 Approve Mayor said it w.. his understanding that it would be left o~ and that Luncll{ for capital iJqprovement would be placed in an aCClDunt to aCCWDUlate. 2'here ".. Lur- ther discussion of the _,.,randum and 1. ts "ording. 2 J/JO/7~ '- 2 j ....'" , .'\, '" " "" " ,. I i' i i I ! . j 1 I f ; i : '. I ! ' -. i I I I i I I I .~. '. ,~ I