02/25/1987 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Answering questions from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Gleason said hauling companies need a license to operate in Eugene, but a license is easy to obtain. e IV. WORK SESSION: DISPOSAL OF FORECLOSED BANCROFT PROPERTIES City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the item. Finance Director Warren Wong gave the staff report. He said the City finances public improvements by assessing property owners who benefit from the improvements. t1Bancroftingll is a financing device for property owners who wish to pay the assessments over a period of time. In that case, the City issues Bancroft bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the city to pay for the improvements and then uses payments from the property owners to payoff the bonds. He said the City now has about $13 million in outstanding Bancroft bonds. Mr. Wong said the City uses short-term warrants for interim financing of public improvements. He discussed the uses of the Warrant Redemption Fund. Answering questions from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Wong said the Finance Division and the Public Works Department manage the properties on which the City has foreclosed. Most of the properties are undeveloped land. e Mr. Wong said the Warrant Redemption Fund is not recovering the engineering costs or the costs of obtaining interim financing for public improvements. The fund is also not recovering the cost of foreclosing on properties. He said the fund accumulated a cash balance because many assessments were paid off in the late 1970s but now the cash balance is almost exhausted and projects in progress will cause about a $200,000 deficit if nothing is done. To prevent the deficit, he suggested that the engineering and financing costs of public improvements be ldentified and recovered, that funds for the City's share of public improvements be transferred when the projects are begun, and that foreclosure and disposal costs be recovered. Answering questions from Mr. Bennett and Ms. Bascom, Mr. Wong said foreclosure costs, increasing costs, and changing financing rates caused the deficit. He said the changes he suggested to prevent the deficit mean the council will not have to consider levying property taxes to pay for the bonds issued for public improvements. O;scussing the Bancroft Bond Funds, Mr. Wong said they are in good condition and all the bonds would be paid off by 1995 if no more bonds are issued. Replying to questions from Ms. Bascom, Ms. Ehrman, and Mr. Holmer, Mr. Wong said only 8 to 13 percent of the Bancroft loans were past due in 1980. He said the criteria for Bancroft loans have been changed so that the loans are not approved easily for unimproved properties. He said Bancroft loans can be obtained in tax increment districts. Mr. Wong said the City continues to plan and construct capital projects and next year's budget includes projects totaling about $4 million that will be assessed to property owners and, consequently, for which Bancroft loans may be approved. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 25, 1987 Page 7