12/02/1987 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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- --- Mr. Byrne said the Tax Allocation Fund came from the Downtown Renewal Project, a central Eugene project covering about 20 percent of the Downtown Plan area. e The remaining 80 percent of the Downtown Plan area was covered by General Fund activities, he said, adding that the Downtown Development District was a separate district, not coterminous with the Tax Allocation District, but of about the same size and incorporating many of the same properties. Mr. Byrne sa i d all three funds contributed to recrui tment and development efforts downtown. He said the Tax Allocation Di stri ct allowed recrui tment and development of property owned by the renewal agency (currently surface parking lots). The Downtown Development District had a major focus on recruitment and development in the downtown, central core area, he said, adding that much recent activity in the district had involved a centralized retail management strategy and a transition from the Eugene Downtown Association to a new group incorporating a greater emphasi s on property owners. The Genera 1 Fund contributed to recrui tment and development for the area of the general Downtown Plan outside the other, specialized districts, he added. Mr. Byrne reviewed the relationships of the three base funds and parking funds. He said a major focus of the Downtown Development District ordinance was to provide free parking downtown, and the district accomplished that by purchasing parking spaces from facilities owned by the City and providing them free to customers. He said the Overpark Fund, for example, had a separate enterprise fund and several di fferent sources of revenue. The Downtown Development District currently purchased 200 of the 600 spaces in the Overpark garage, he said, and the Overpark enterprise fund received that income, in addition to that of other sources, such as lease of commercial space, sale of monthly parking permits, and interest income on working capital. Mr. Byrne noted that the funds for the Overpark and surface parking lots overlapped e with, and were related to, the Downtown Development District Fund. He also said the fund for the Parcade garage was related to the Downtown Development District Fund, adding that the Parcade's debt service was paid out of the Tax Allocation Fund. Responding to questions from Mayor Obie, Mr. Byrne said the City owned its surface parking lots and received no return on its investment. He said the lots were incorporated into the free parking system at the cost of providing for ope rat ions and ma i ntenance. Mr. Byrne said no property tax or tax increment income was received from those lots, and that was the reason for the City's focus on development of those sites. Mr. Whitlow said the district had purchased the spaces, which were provided free of charge to the public. Mr. Byrne added that costs of operation and maintenance were included in the annual fee of $3 per space charged to the district. He said the City managed its own properties, which included about 2,000 surface lot spaces, of which about 1,300 were free. He said properties privately owned and leased by the City had been eliminated from programs. Free parking was provided on private property owned by the Bon Marche and by Sears, he said, and although those lots were managed under the City's free system, the City did not pay for use of that space. Mayor Obie asked whether the district paid the costs of developing parking structures. Mr. Byrne said the district paid the full cost of operating, maintenance, and replacement reserve. He said no debt service was owed on the e MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 2, 1987 Page 2