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EUGENE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Work Session: Discussion Concerning Metro Plan Amendment for Public Safety Special District Meeting Date: May 23, 2005 Agenda Item Number: C Department: Planning and Development Staff Contact: Kurt Yeiter www. cl. eugene, or. us Contact Telephone Number: 682-8379 ISSUE STATEMENT Lane County proposes a Metro Plan text amendment to allow formation of a countywide special district limited to public safety activities (i.e., police patrol, enforcement, and corrections). Each Metro agency (Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County) will act separately. Direction by the Eugene City Council is requested at this meeting so that an appropriate ordinance can be prepared. BACKGROUND The three Metro agencies' elected officials held a joint public hearing on this proposed amendment on April 19, 2005. Responses to questions asked at that hearing have been prepared by Lane County, and those responses, as well as draft minutes of the hearing, are attached. The Eugene Planning Commission recommended approval if the proposed text were amended to limit the extent of the special district. The commission acknowledged that the relevant Metro Plan policies were written prior to major changes in Oregon's property tax structure, and that many of the services covered by the proposed amendment were already provided by the County. On May 10, 2005, the Lane County Board of Commissioners adopted the ordinance as previously drafted, without the policy text changes as recommended by the Eugene Planning Commission. The Board directed the County Administrator to prepare a letter to the cities offering alternate policy language addressing the loss of funding due to compression. The County ordinance will not go into effect until the board holds a fifth and final "reading" of the ordinance. Springfield is scheduled to consider the amendments on Monday, May 16, 2005. Metro Plan policies regarding service provisions are currently structured to closely follow land use laws. The two cities are expected to eventually provide all services within their respective Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and provide few services outside the UGB. Several circumstances have arisen in recent years that question whether these policies are too strictly written and enforced; for instance, new property tax limits (Measures 47 and 50) for which special districts may offer some relief, re- examination of regional fire services, and attempts to form countywide rural library services. There has not been a comprehensive evaluation of services in light of Eugene's existing Metro plan policy structure. L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M050523\S050523C.doc